La Blanche
Brasserie O'Neil

Brasserie O'Neil "La Blanche"
€4,40 / 40cl during Happy Hour at the brewery/restaurant on 21 June 2018

Notes: Typical witbier appearance. Good head retention. Mild aroma of wheaty malt, subtle citrus, and delicate woody spiciness. The flavor delivers more of everything and the orange peel and coriander come through. Tart and spicy with a moderate bitterness level. Dry finish. Medium-light in body and effervescent. A touch more malt would be nice to balance the acidity but it's certainly not out of bounds. Pleasant and refreshing.

A watery wheat ale with poor balance. Badly executed.

High D+ / NOT RECOMMENDED

 

On tap at the brewpub. Demi (small) for 3.20 Euro.

Hazy white with 1.25 finger foamy head. Belgian yeast aroma is very welcoming - first wit on a trip where I've been trying to track one down in between glasses of wine. Rich mouthfeel. A touch sweet on the finish but no complaints here. This is the best of their beers that I had.

Served on tap in a tapered mug. One of the cloudiest beers I've ever seen - you can't see your fingers through half an inch of this stuff. Small white head with some lacing. The smell is very light, mostly of floral hops. The taste has a light citrus flavor, lemony, with a touch of coriander spiciness. There is some bitterness, though very light, and some malt sweetness reminiscent of crunching pilsner malt. Light bitterness in the finish. Overall the taste is rather subdued. The mouthfeel is relatively full for a blanche. It's very drinkable, though not particularly exciting. But an exceptional value for Paris.

Pour: Draught to pitcher to pint glass. A healthy white head tops a pale orange, honey colored foggy body. Visible carbonation and active head had my mouth watering.

Nose: Hard to gather this data w/ all the (2nd hand) cigarette smoke I was inhaling, but it had a very citric nose and was very dry. Didn't play games, didn't mislead.

Mouth: As the aroma implies. This is a very drinkable, straight forward yeasty wheat beer with the common coriander and a strong lemon flavor (no, there were no wedges!) that was a refreshing break from the heavier hefes that carry the sweeter orange & banana flavors.

I could make this a session beer if I had regular access to it. Very enjoyable.

Very pale color, litchi like, milky, oscillating between white and yellow. The head was very thin, but had a good retention. The smell was wheaty and yeasty (hard to tell more, as the place was smokey). The taste wheaty, with light notes of banana and sour cream, with non sour lemon, some grapefruit juice and subtle notes of bubble gum, all enjoyable and fresh. The mouthfeel was thick enough, full and round. Quite a decent brew.

What a nice beer. I was expecting just another failed attempt to emulate a proper weizen but it obviously surprised me.

Though the appearance and smell were just as similar to any other large bavarian Weissbier, the taste gave off the surprise. Its fruity, limey and lemony spin was a refresing turn from what could still, without it be a great hacker pschorr competence. Niiiice.