UPDATED: SEP 3, 2021 Belgian strong blonde from the Savoie region in eastern France, many thanks to Stéphane for the bottles! Thick and foamy, pillowy, egg-white, dense and rocky head, lacing in thick patches but eventually thinning and opening over a crystal clear, warm and pure 'old gold' coloured beer with lots of fine sparkling. Aroma of baked banana, 'honingwafels', fried red apple, powder sugar, cooked sweet potato, tulips, stewed white celery with sugar sprinkled over it, cooked paksoi, chewing gum, pronounced iron (iron pipes - likely head stabilizer and unambiguously proven by the 'hand test' as well), caramel, candyfloss, rubber, and, heavily draped over it all, that 'cooked cloth' smell of pasteurization. Sweet onset, lots of banana ester, very bubblegummy, mingled with hints of fried apple and candied apricot, medium carbonation (actually on the soft side for the intended style); white candi syrup sweetness moves on over a slick, slender cereally maltiness with slight caramelly edge but also 'hot', indicating pasteurization, the typical odour of which reappears retronasally. A layer of residual honeyish sugariness rests on top, with no intentions to withdraw in the finish, where the banana, sugars and some floral hops linger - the latter incapable of providing sufficient bitterness. Meanwhile that metallic iron effect manifests itself on the edges, and apart from a pleasant flowery note in the end, the finish adds little else than a warming, wodka-like alcohol effect, becoming a tad wry on the tongue, if only in the very end; a very vague DMS (overcooked cauliflower) seems to appear there as well, but fortunately of very short duration. An 'edelbier' indeed, an attempt at creating something largely Duvel-like, but in a somewhat simplistic, crude and semi-industrial way - the pasteurization bothered me here, even more so than the iron effect or the rather monotonous residual sweetness. Feels like a late twentieth-century Duvel epigone, but one of those overly sweet and unrefined ones, like e.g. Alken-Maes' Judas of the time (not sure if that still exists, haven't seen it around in years). Not good, but considering the non-beery region it comes from, still acceptable for what it is; the average Belgian palate, rooted in the previous century, will surely be able to appreciate this as a kind of exotic 'streekbier' more than I do.

UPDATED: APR 21, 2021 This is a backlog rating from 2007 from a bottle shared by Matt, from notes. When I had this beer it was average to below average for the style and not something I wanted to have again or I just didn't get back to my notes because of my technology at the time, work and/or family. Words to describe this beer are fruity, caramel, yeast in the flavor and floating all through the beer.

UPDATED: MAR 11, 2021 Yeti @brasseriedescimes France 🇨🇵 Style : Belgian Ale - Blonde Teneur en alcool : 8° Arômes : caramel, miel notes fruitées Saveurs : malt, pain, caramel, miel notes citronnées

UPDATED: OCT 30, 2020 à la maison. bonne surprise. Bière qui se veut d'inspiration belge mais elle ressemble davantage à une strong lager qu'à une triple belge. Goût de céréales et de miel, peu sucrée.

UPDATED: MAY 15, 2020 Pour ma part le sucre est trop présent. J'ai aussi cherché l'amertume. Je n'y trouve pas un grand intérêt.

UPDATED: MAR 10, 2020 Une bière riche et puissante mais déséquilibrée par le sucre et l'alcool. la bouche manque aussi d'élégance et d'équilibre. Forte mais sans autre intérêt.

UPDATED: MAR 27, 2019 Bottiglia. Il gusto al naso è indirizzato verso lo speziato. La finezza olfattiva è normale e il modo in cui permane è sufficiente. Il cappello di schiuma ha una buona tenuta. La grandezza delle bollicine è medio-fine. La parte liquida si presenta limpida. La frizzantezza si presenta sotto forma di perlage dalle poche bollicine medio-fini. Il colore è giallo ambrato. Il corpo è pieno. L'amaro è deciso. La forza gustativa è elevata e la durata è buona. Il gusto è piacevole. Le sensazioni boccali finali risultano di pronta beva. Il retrogusto è intenso. L'aroma in bocca porta i segni di miele, nocciole tostate, frutta secca, pane cotto di recente, arrostito e agrumi.

UPDATED: MAR 20, 2019 W aromacie oregano, miód, przyprawy. Średnio intensywny i przyjemny. Barwa ciemnozlota, plywa w nim niezbyt ladny osad, piana ładna. W smaku cytrusowe, chlebowe, przyprawowe. Goryczka niska, alkohol dobrze ukryty. Nic ciekawego.

UPDATED: JAN 26, 2019 F: medium, white, quick gone to thin film. C: gold, almost clear. A: sweet candy, sugary fruity, bit caramel lemon, metallic. T: sweet malty, candy, fruity, bit bready, very thin body for the style, bit lemon, medium carbonation, this is not good it tastes almost like cheap imperial lager, bit spicy aftertaste, 33cl bottle from Beerwulf webshop.

Robe dorée et limpide, mousse et carbonation faible. Nez malté, sucré, bouche très corpulente avec des arômes fleuris et maltés, présence d'amertume dûe au houblon en fond. Ensemble riche et légèrement alcooleux.