Beer of the Weekend #557: Leffe Blonde
The beer tonight, and one of the last of the San Antonio custom sixer brews (I have sampled most of those in the second sixer before), is Leffe Blonde, brewed by the Abbaye de Leffe of Dinant, Belgium.
Serving type: 330 ml bottle. The “Best before end” date on the back label is “14/01/15.”
Appearance: Poured into a tulip. The color is clean, clear gold with a rouge tint. Two fingers of billowy, eggshell-colored head leaves a spotted froth and spots of lacing stuck to the glass.
Smell: It seems a lot like hefeweizen — which is cool. Apple, banana, and clove and white pepper spice greet the nose. It is yeasty and bready as well. Very pleasant and inviting.
Taste: It mostly mirrors the smell. Apple, banana, clove and white pepper spice, a little yeast and yeast spice, and pale malts. It offers a nice bite at the end that lingers in the aftertaste and alcohol is also noticeable.
Drinkability: This is not a bombastic, snooty Belgian. It is unpretentious, light, refreshing, and tasty. It is definitely decent and drinkable, but nothing special.
Fun facts about Leffe Blonde:
-Style: Leffe calls it “blond abbey beer.”
-Price: Dogsitting.
-Serving temperature: According to the beer’s website, it “is best served at 5-6°C in a beer chalice, which will allow all the flavours to come through.” That’s 41–42.8ºF for us metric-impaired.
-Alcohol content: 6.6 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Via the beer’s webpage:
-At some point during the Winter Olympics, I would like to try a beer from Russia. However, I am unsure if any Russian beers are available in Iowa City. Hartig Drug, the John’s of the west side, has quite a selection of Eastern European beers so I think my best bet is looking there. We’ll see. If it comes to it, I will settle for something from a former Soviet state.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
Serving type: 330 ml bottle. The “Best before end” date on the back label is “14/01/15.”
Appearance: Poured into a tulip. The color is clean, clear gold with a rouge tint. Two fingers of billowy, eggshell-colored head leaves a spotted froth and spots of lacing stuck to the glass.
Smell: It seems a lot like hefeweizen — which is cool. Apple, banana, and clove and white pepper spice greet the nose. It is yeasty and bready as well. Very pleasant and inviting.
Taste: It mostly mirrors the smell. Apple, banana, clove and white pepper spice, a little yeast and yeast spice, and pale malts. It offers a nice bite at the end that lingers in the aftertaste and alcohol is also noticeable.
Drinkability: This is not a bombastic, snooty Belgian. It is unpretentious, light, refreshing, and tasty. It is definitely decent and drinkable, but nothing special.
Fun facts about Leffe Blonde:
-Style: Leffe calls it “blond abbey beer.”
-Price: Dogsitting.
-Serving temperature: According to the beer’s website, it “is best served at 5-6°C in a beer chalice, which will allow all the flavours to come through.” That’s 41–42.8ºF for us metric-impaired.
-Alcohol content: 6.6 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Via the beer’s webpage:
While this is a perfect aperitif beer, it also tastes delicious with a wide variety of dishes, especially red meat, sweet and sour dishes and white mould cheese, such as Camenbert, Brie, Brillat-Savarin or Saint-Marcellin. There are countless soft-centred cheeses that are a good match for the fresh and fruity Leffe Blond.
-At some point during the Winter Olympics, I would like to try a beer from Russia. However, I am unsure if any Russian beers are available in Iowa City. Hartig Drug, the John’s of the west side, has quite a selection of Eastern European beers so I think my best bet is looking there. We’ll see. If it comes to it, I will settle for something from a former Soviet state.
The Quiet Man’s grade: B-.
