Beer Review Leffe Blonde from Abbaye de Leffe.
Beer Review 5
A cold and rainy day here in Melbourne, Australia, has prompted yours truly to visit the ‘fridge and sample another of my Birthday Beers and add another beer review to FortyBeers.com.
Unwrapping this one revealled another Belgian Beer – Leffe Blonde from Abbaye de Leffe in Belgium.
The label has a stained glass logo in an old traditional 15th century kind of look and feel. This is most likely a tribute to the history of the old Belgian brewers. Beer brewing in the middle ages was mostly done by Monks. More on this in a moment.
Almost immediately upon opening the bottle the aroma of this beer hit my nostrils…. a fruity, sweet beer smell. A very clear blonde beer produced an impressive head of foam… although this may possibly be my lack of pouring skills more than anything else. Tasting was also fruity… a visit to the Leffe website suggested that this fruity flavour was actually banana with a hint of clove, vanilla and caramel. I’m not sure if I could taste any yellow bent fruit, but there were fruit hints of some description none-the-less. A strong beer – 6.6 % alcohol – Leffe Blonde is quite good if you like the fruity varieties of beer.
The Abbey monks brewed ale made from natural ingredients based on a recipe that had been passed down though several generations. The first reference in historical records to the Abbaye de Leffe brewery dates back to 1240. Monks in middle ages Europe were seriously into brewing for several reasons. They were expected to “fast” (ie not eat for a period of time) regularly, so they brewed up a healthy concoction of water, hops, barley, malt, wheat (with the occasional banana or orange thrown in) and sugars which sustained them over these days without food. Apparently, man can live on beer alone. Presumably there were some fairly “happy” Monks if all they lived on was beer for a week or so…. Also, several hundred years ago, the water from rivers and wells was not known for its sanitation. Diseases spread quickly and often in middle ages Europe. The Monks – for example from this Belgian Abbaye de Leffe – often cared for the sick. They discovered that the beer brewing process killed all of the germs and nasties in the water, and on the equipment they used. Thus, beer was often used as a medicine and as a “health tonic”. And rightly so.
It’s been a long and tiring week – hence the odd and confused state of my commentary in the video…. I mentioned “taste” when I meant “smell”, and I mistakenly mentioned “Germany” as opposed to the correct “Belgian beer” at least once… :-0
On the whole, while I can see this beer is very good, personally the fruity types of beer are not my favourite. Don’t get me wrong – this is a good beer and well worthy of a sample, even if only for therapeutic or health reasons. As a result, it gets a 6.5 out of 10 on the Forty Beers Cheers O Meter.
Thanks,
Matthew – Another Beer Review from FortyBeers.com
Tags: Beer Review, Belgian Beer, Blonde
