Leffe Blonde - Leffe

So, a friend/former-professor brought this to our BBQ we held with the Ag Econ kids a few weeks back. I had one then and he said it's pretty much all he drinks. Of course I had to give it a try (and a review).

Vitals:

Name: Leffe Blonde

Style: Belgian Pale Ale

IBU: ??

ABV: 6.6%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: left at BBQ :-)

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a brilliant gold with about 2.5 fingers of bubbly white head that quickly fizzled out. Light to moderate carbonation is visible to the eye.

Smell: This is a VERY strong smelling beer, which is not necessarily bad (but not good either); it just is what it is. I get bananas and cloves on full blast. You can also detect a certain spiciness behind the cloves, but I can't quite figure out what it is. The spiciness is definitely a Belgian Ale thing (you'll get the same type of thing with a Bedlam! from Ale Asylum). Can't detect any hops here, but you get a certain peppery smell coming through very faintly.

Taste: I'm tasting bananas, cloves, and coriander here - so no real surprises. The beer holds together very well as a complete package, with nearly no bitterness; actually, you mostly get sweetness and then some spiciness at the bite with some alcohol taste coming through. The alcohol taste is usually not a great thing, but it plays well with the spicy bite - it warms you up at the finish. I think ZESTY is a good word for this beer. Solid, but not spectacular, taste.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied; a bit on the creamy side but with carbonation that prickles your mouth. I wasn't expecting this beer to be so heavy, but it's not really a detractor for me.

Overall Grade: B

Comments: I get the impression that this is a standard run-of-the-mill Belgian Pale Ale, but it's pretty solid. The 6.6% ABV is pretty big and you get a nice taste from this beer. You can most likely get this almost anywhere, so I don't believe this one is limited to Wisconsinites! However, I will say, for my money I would take Bedlam! from Ale Asylum over this to get a bit stronger of a taste/flavor and some hoppiness. Solid effort, though - definitely worth checking out.

Cheers,

Hurls