La Brabançonne Bière Blonde Au Miel
Brasserie Du Brabant

BB end 2005. Good and lasting head and clear golden beer. Nose is very sulphuric but looses that quiet soon and the better pallet shows, good drymalty nose, alcoholic and quiet some yeastspice. Taste is also quiet dry but with a good maltbody. Quiet alcoholic and don't believe there is only 6.5 %ABV in this one. Litle bittrness in aftertaste but like most in this brew not overdone. Honey is now tastable a litle but overal disapointing biere au miel. Good and full mouthfeel though and yes quiet good drinkable.

Presentation: Sampled during a specially arranged Brewery Visit to La Brasserie Du Brabant on Saturday 10th April, 2004 with fellow members of Wakefield CAMRA during their annual Easter Belgium Trip.

Served from a nicely chilled 750ml green glass bottle that was crown capped and only had a small tall thin 1” x 3” white label. A thin yellow line border encapsulates much information. Described as ‘Bière Artisanale de fermentation haute’ and labeled as ‘La Brabançonne Blonde au Miel’. Listed at alc. 8° (the Brewer told us, and indeed the Website states that this is actually 6.5% by vol.). Recommended to be served at 7°C (44.6°F) and the label stated Best Before end 2005.

Appearance: A gorgeous cacophony of fizzing and released carbonation can be heard for a short while as this effervescent beauty is poured into a fresh clean Goblet. The chilled surroundings of the brick brewery were a little dark, but once outside into the stainless steel tank covered farmyard, the early morning sun revealed a fantastic gold body with some darkish yellow hints. Lightly hazed, the turbidity doesn’t worry, as this is basically a Honey Beer. An expansive pillowy white head slowly collapses but remains stiff and egg-white in character leaving a sponge like head at first. When swirled, the beers carbonation sweeps away the crusty head to reveal a solid ½” thick uniform head. Yet again, another great looking beer in the Glass from Brabant.

Nose: Smells like a Golden Ale with the merest hint of honey set against what smelled like a very light Pilsner Malts and Saaz Hop sharpness. No sweetness at all, sharp nose if anything. Some hints of the alcohol in the honey back end. Restrained in strength, but nevertheless very nice.

Taste: Made with Pale Malts and Artisanal Honey, this is not the usual sickly sweet honey beer that tastes like mead. It is in essence an unfiltered and unpasteurised Golden Pale Ale with a hint of honey. This gives the Golden Pale Ale the upper hand, and relegates the Artisanal Honey to a more traditional background role. The sharpness of this Blonde au Miel cuts through thirst and makes for a very refreshing beer.

Mouthfeel: A nicely balanced smoothness coats the tongue ever so lightly with a soft feeling blanket of Pale Ale with a hint of Honey. The carbonation helps to give much life, but this is never overwhelming, thick or even sticky. Perfect poise.

Drinkability: Exceptionally refreshing and the lack of overt sweetness really gives this Blonde au Miel a very respectable rating for drinking on hot afternoons.

Overall: A really nice Golden Pale Ale that does benefit from the addition of Honey in the manner best suited to Ales. It also benefits from the fact that it is not filtered or even pasteurized, but incredibly quaffable. The third beer I had whilst at the Brasserie Du Brabant, and I was impressed by the quality of all them. But thanks to its strength and thirst cutting qualities, this is one in the range to safely drink in quantity on a warm sunny day. Nicely done.