Blonde

Always excited to try a new Belgian beer when it comes on the market, I was looking forward to getting a bottle of Affligem when it arrived earlier this year. It fell through the cracks as summer rolled by and fall beers hit the shelves... Before I knew it I'd had this bottle of Affligem Blond sitting in the basement for about five months. Not ideal, but at 6.7% ABV I'm hoping the beer held up alright. I decided to start with the Blond rather than going straight for the Tripel because I was feeling a little burnt out on Tripels at the time. Had I known the beer was going to sit around for so long, I would've grabbed the Tripel. Oh well...

I had no idea there was a commercial brewing operation on Nantucket. I've been to Martha's Vineyard a number of times back in the 90s. I remember Pete's Wicked Ale and Sam Adams being a big deal back then. Seeing as the folks back home were barely able to get Boulevard back then, I guess the islanders were a little ahead of their time. Looking back it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch to put at least a brew pub on either island. This bottle of beer says Nantucket at the bottom of the label but on the backside it does say it was contracted out to Ipswitch, MA. Not that it matters either way, the won't taste any different if it's made on the island. The packaging does play up that Nantucket island chic though...

The story behind my bottle of Mélange à Trois is a rather torrid and disturbingly lengthy tale that spans four state lines and three calendar months. What started with a simple text message culminated in my 250th review on this website. I first learned of Nebraska Brewing Company's Mélange à Trois probably about a 9 months ago. I'd heard a lot of good things about the brewery in Papillion, Nebraska and eagerly wanted to drive up there and check it out for myself. They were making some pretty interesting beers and I wanted to try all of them, there was just that small matter of driving three and a half hours... This summer a friend of mine made the trek up to Omaha and stopped by Papillion on my suggestion. He asked if I'd ever tried the Mélange à Trois, saying he was bringing me one back because he found it to be amazing. I was elated.

I had my first taste of Maredsous a month or so back as part of a Belgian flight at a bar. I'd had all of the other beers in the flight before but somehow had overlooked Maredsous. I believe the taster was Maredsous' Dubbel. It really stood out from the other beers in the flight, perhaps because I'd never had it before but it was memorable nonetheless. A week or so later I saw a large stack of Maredsous bottles at my local liquor store. When I saw the 750ml bottles were only $3.99 I figured I couldn't go wrong. The bottle I picked up was a 6% ABV Blonde in a branded paper wrapper.

It's starting to reach 80 degrees and the windows are open, nothing sounds better than a light bodied import with a sweet finish. That's why I reached for a bottle of the Cucapá Honey. It's Mexican and it has a honey right there on the label... next to cerveza, it's gotta be exactly what I'm looking for, a honey flavored beer ... right? Wrong! This beer was full of surprises when I got around to drinking it, and I mean that in a good way... When I poured this beer into my pint glass I quickly realized that it wasn't a light Mexican lager at all... this is colored a bit like an IPA or a Maibock.

I'd heard a lot of good things about New Belgium's Hoptober Golden Ale. I was a little hesitant to pick this beer up because of how it has been compared to Pale Ales. I'm very particular about the kind of strong hop flavors I like and considering how this beer is New Belgium's Oktoberfest seasonal I couldn't help but think of a hoppy Amber or Märzen. Neither of those options sounded particularly appealing but I decided to pick up a bottle of Hoptober before I completely convinced myself that I wouldn't like it. So, for starters, this beer isn't a traditional fall seasonal style. It's really more of a summer or spring Pale Ale. New Belgium calls this a Golden Ale which puts it into the Blonde style. The Hoptober's appearance is rather light, you could even go so far as to call it pale... The aroma is very hoppy, it has that tell tale grassy citrus flavor which pushes this beer closer to Pale Ale territory. After taking the first sip of the Hoptober I'm convinced, there really isn't anything Autumn about this beer...

This certainly isn't a session beer. At 7% and smelling like a jar of deli mustard, the Wostyntje Mustard Ale is... different... The closest comparison to this beer I can make would be with a Bière de Garde. Both are copper colored, a little thick bodied and have a pleasant sour tartiness to their flavor. At first, the Mustard Ale tastes like a Bière de Garde with a few packets of mustard powder stirred in. After a few sips the nuances become more apparent. The beers dominant flavor is, of course, the mustard spice. Behind that is the sour citrus flavor that the Belgians do so well. One might expect the mustard to be overpowering, after all - there is a reason you don't see mustard flavored drinks at every store... but, the sourness of the blonde base really keeps the mustard in check. The combination of these flavors works pretty well.

I first had a bottle of Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde last winter when I randomly picked one up when I was putting together a mix and match six pack at the liquor store. Being winter, I was mostly drinking darker winter warmer type beers, so the Strawberry Blonde was a quite a change of pace. I wanted to drink the Strawberry Blonde while it was "in season" so I could properly enjoy it. I picked up a six pack of this a few weeks ago and I've finally gotten around of giving it a bit of attention... I remember enjoying this beer quite a bit in the winter and I think now that it had quite a bit to do with being different than the other beers I was drinking at the time.