Trappist Westvleteren Blond
Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)

For a blonde, it's quite viscous. Somehow savory while citrusy and velvety while light and refreshing. Combines classic Belgium flavor and feel while providing slight bitterness. Very, very good.

 

Every ingredient on full display in this deceptively light blonde ale. Hop zest on the nose. Bitter on the palate, with the same hoppy bite and some sweet molasses. Unlike most others in its style

 

Initial pour was very clear, pale yellow, then the residue poured and mixed making it more of a cloudy orangeish color. Nose is floral and zest-like. Taste is somewhat similar to a pilsner with a malty heaviness.

Copenhagen 7/6 2018. 33 cl bottle from Den Belgiske Ølbutik, Vanløse. Simple bottle with no label. Green cap with the name of the beer, ABV and so on.

Pours hazy, golden yellow with a very big, bubbly white head. Settles as a thin but intact layer of foam covering the surface of the beer. Considerable amount of lacing.

Aroma is light and citric. Fresh grass, elder flower and citrus. Fresh and reminding me of summer. Scent of humid basement rummaging in the background.

Medium strong carbonation providing a prickly mouth sensation. Slightly thick texture.

Flavor is medium sweet followed by a surprisingly strong bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter and finish is pretty dry.

Pretty light yet nicely bitter Blonde with a solid foundation of yeast. If this is the Daily diet of Monks at St. Sixtus life seems to be tolerable for the Believers.

Looks: Pours wonderful, small buble carbonation, firm lon lasting white fomay head, straw blonde, opaque, some yeast whirling around.
Smell: malty, peppery, little butter-cookies, and some light monk sweat/cellar notes
Mouthfeel, wonderful refreshing
Taste: starting with light sweet malty notes with hints of citrus ending in refreshing bitterness

Overall: a lovely beer, a little too bitter for my liking.

 

 

 

Bottle 0.33L.
Cloudy golden body with an average, creamy, white head, fully lasting with very nice lacing; some lees are evident.
Complex aroma: moderate malty (cereals) and hoppy (citrus, flowers) and light yeasty (cardboard) with notes of spices (cloves) and fruits.
Flavour is mainly acidic and sweet with some bitterness in the finish.
Light-to-medium body with watery-to-oily texture; average carbonation; some astringency in the finish.

 

Got a bottle from Sterk, Amsterdam. A very good blonde.

 

 

 

I'm glad I finally found this Blond and my Westvleteren trio is now complete.
I also went on their website for the first time (well done) and am starting to see the brilliance of this abbey's reticence with the public. Their reserve is genuine, but it is presented in such a way (perhaps by coincidence) that it employs a key marketing strategy: uniqueness. While the Trappists are unique (and they also employ that brilliant strategy), Westvleteren may be the most unique... or maybe #2 after Orval, your choice.

For this Blond, I'm less impressed than their darks; but still impressed. Looks are only slight above average. Smells are mostly malt with a clear clue that hops are in there. They are in the Tastes, almost in the attack and certainly by mid-palate they dominate. Now, some people like this. But I'm not one of them, but I still don't deduct much because of the Trappist trademark. Medium-mouthed. But the hops do interfere. While Blond was good enough with the appetizers, Blond was not intended and should not be used as a table ale. (Most Belgian Blonds are table ales on my table.)

Overall marks because Westvleteren is who they are.

 

Poured from a 330mL bottle into a Westvleteren XII mini goblet. Pours a cloudy gold with a dense two fingers worth of white foam head. Big Belgian yeast aromas on the nose. Spicy almost peppery with clove, light banana and citrus as well as as some doughy bread. Taste follows with less spice and more citrus. So good. Not a super in-your-face Belgian yeast flavor profile. More subtle but still present and still flavorful. Funny to say a ~6% beer is a sipper but I’ve always felt these Belgian ales are and this is no exception. The bold flavors imparted from the yeast keep me at least from being able to down this quickly. Full mouthfeel with a creamy finished. Ample carbonation to it. A brilliant Belgian blonde.