So my buddy Bob joined the MicroBrew of the Month club that I had been in for 3 months, taking up the next 4 months. I had been sharing with him and so he was going to share with me. Works out nicely for both parties. He decided to do the mixed beer, 2 domestic micros and 2 international micros. So when he got his first shipment he sends me a picture of the four beers. I look and two of them looked very familiar. The BOMC had sent him 4 old beers from previous months, including the two domestic micros that we had both already tried, not the April beers of the month. He called and like I have mentioned about this particular company, they have excellent customer service. They explained that they sometimes do that but Bob said we were sharing and had already gotten these. So they told him they would send him the April selections free of charge. I thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, of the 4 beers they had sent first, I had not had one of the international selections, a Belgian Blonde ale so we sampled that beer the other night.

Grimbergen Beers - Blonde Ale

Stats

• Brewery: Grimbergen Beers - Aiken, Belgium
• Alcohol Content: 6.7% by volume
• IBUs: 22
• Company Description: When the first regular breweries were founded in the Middle Ages, beer filtration was not a common technology and few mastered it. Among these few were the Fathers of Grimbergen Abbey, who became renowned experts in craft brewing. Their masterpiece was the filtrated Grimbergen Blonde – a pure, smooth, blonde ale with ripe fruit flavours and no cloudiness – that stood out from other beers of the time. Today, it’s still an insider tip among beer connoisseurs around the world.

Presentation
This beer comes in a brown 11.7 oz bottle with a front body label and a wrap around neck label. The front label has the Grimbergen phoenix rising logo on the front with the beer name near the bottom. The wrap around neck label also has the phoenix with some wording on both sides. This is a pretty standard labeling for this brewery, stands out with bright colors and standard looks.

The Beer

• Appearance: A golden colored beer with a very nice white foam head on the pour which took its time to recede and left some nice lacing.
• Aroma: Has the standard Belgian beer aroma, might be the fruits or cloves or yeasts.
• Taste/Mouthfeel: Dry and light bodied, a medium feel, moderate carbonation. The taste is classic Belgian beer and I just am not fond of that taste, I am starting to think it is the yeasts they use? I didn't detect a strong clove presence or these fruits that are supposed to be present.
• Drinkability: It is an easy drinker, would have been better had I liked the taste more. Light but the higher abv would limit how many you tried to quaff in one sitting.

Rating and Final Thoughts

I only rated this a 2.5 on Untappd where it is a much higher rated beer by most others with a 3.5 from the other 89k raters. I have said this many many times, and I keep drinking them but I just am not that fond of the taste of Belgian beers. I still haven't id'd the finish taste that is so off-putting for me, might be the yeasts, or corriander (but I'm not sure that is even in this beer) but it just isn't my cup of beer.

2.50/5

Another beer review in the books, not a favorable one but they all can't be. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Love to see comments, so fire away. Cheers!