Arend Blond
Brouwerij De Ryck

Bought from Drankceter Schotte (beverage mega-store) in Waremgem along with Arend's Tripel. In that review I acknowledged De Ryck's five generation history as Belgian brewers. But it seems today's market has made it difficult for them and they are restructuring with DKM brewing and bottling De Ryck's recipes. Wishing them well in their next life and for future generations, I give them very good Overall Hugs.

As for their Blond, she Looks only slightly better than the average. Decent foam, but it could last longer given the quality of the yeast. It kicks up some pretty good Smells, apples and their blossoms (since it is Spring.) Tastes are balanced, except the yeast kicks up lots of Peppa that is strong in the finish. So as a table ale, it was only OK with appetisers; but paired better with my soup (which needed more pepper.) Medium-mouthed and smoother than most in the style.

Copenhagen 19/3 2022. 33 cl bottle from Beerdealer web-shop. Arend’s usual a bit heraldic label design with a grumpy Eagle in white and gold.

Pours unclear golden yellow with a small white head. Settles as thin but unbroken layer of foam covering the surface of the beer. Moderate lacing.

Aroma is medium intense with a sweet malty odor mingling with a yeasty scent. Sweet pale malts, sweet banana and sugar. Oranges. Whiff of humid cellar.

Medium strong carbonation. Thin, oily, lively and tingling texture.

Flavor is medium intense with a medium strong sweetness followed by a stronger bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter and lingers for a while. Finish is semi-dry.

Surprisingly bitter and quite nice.

Amber colour, cloudy. White foam, low and generally disappears quickly from the liquid surface.
Aroma sweet, fruity, plum, grape (generally dried fruit, typical of the Christmas period), malty.
Taste sweet malty, fruity. I like it a lot, although it's not a typical 'blonde' taste, and neither is the aroma.
Medium saturation. Full body. Texture smooth, soft. Aftertaste long, sweet, fruity.

 

Pours a cloudy blonde color with a medium top off white head that dissolves slowly. Aroma is of ripe fruits, candy, citrus,yeast, light malts and spices. The taste is sweet and fruity at the start with some light malt notes in the back. It then goes to more spicy and herbal in the flavour before it finishes of slightly bitter. I think it,s a little unballanced in the flavours , and the finish is a little weak. Mouthfeel is soft and smooth with a moderate carbonation and a medium body.
A good and easy drinking blonde ale, but is nothing very exciting about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't want to spoil too much words on this beer. The taste isn't very good, neither is the smell. Foam starts quickly but dies as quickly as it came.

L: between gold and amber; quick foam disappears in seconds;
S: some bread, liquorice and some dull esters;
T: difficult to say, just not very nice;
M: lacking bitterness;
O: disappointing; didn't drink the whole bottle and won't buy it again.

33cl bottle with a December 2012 use-by date, poured at fridge temperature into tulip glass. Almost opaque but light-amber colored, little evident sediment, long beads of bubbles feeding a thin but persistent lacing of foam. Apple pie aromas, a tinge of yeast smell, but none of it strong. The apple, tart and sour, and pie spice thing is more pronounced in the taste, with some hops here but expressed more herbal than bitter. Quite restrained, and I like it for its unusualness, but some may find it lacking oomph. It's on the thin side, little alcohol feel, but clean, quaffable, little sense of coating in the mouth. Its own style rather than ON style.

Beer bottle (33 cl.), tasted in 2011.

Appearance : orange color, with white foamy head (nice lacing).
Smell : yeasty and fruity aromas.
Taste and mouthfeel : Fruity flavour, hoppy and spicy finish.
Drinkability : a good beer in the style Belgian Pale Ale.

Pours hazy orange with an average, frothy, off-white head, somewhat lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (cookie, meal), average hops (perfume, grass), heavy yeast (barnyard, earth) with notes of plum, apple, pear, and ginger. Medium bodied, sticky texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, moderate sweetness, light acidity and bitterness.

A turbid orange beer with a very thin head. Carbonation is high, but the bubbles are small.

Smell is sweet malty with some dextrine notes. The yeast adds great exotic fruitiness of pineapples and the like. A nice hoppy smell is present, which has some raw sides. Initially I thought that there was some Brett in the smell and I still have my doubts, but it is probably the combination of yeast and hops that create a sort of barnyard flavor.

Taste of sweet dextrinous malt to combine with the great yeast profile that gives pineapple and orange. Bitterness is quite mild and in the aftertaste lingering bitter and raw hops. A rural beer, if that is a word at all, but I think this is how typical saison or farm beers used to taste like. The keyword here is balance, the malt, hops and yeast combine into a great symphony.

BB july 08. Nice and lasting head and foggy amber beer. Nose is lots of orange, piny sweet pinapple hops backed by fresh caramellic malts and candy. Fine fresh and inviting for more is first sip and backed well with hops and warming alcohol. Wonderfull and full mouthfeel and imo perfectly balanced. Only the alcohols temper drinkability but IMO one of the better blondes.