Blondes Are More Fun

This beer brings back many fond memories. Randy and I ventured to France on vacation for 17 days in the year 2000. We were there visiting his family. I already had a taste for fine beer for quite a few years. This beer, Leffe Blonde was everywhere in the south of France. We had countless bottles of this. This is the first time I has seen Leffe for sale in Muncie, Indiana.

If I tasted this not knowing its name I would say it is a little too sweet and too Hefe-like for a Belgium ale. It definitely smells of banana. I have had better. Knowing I am drinking Leffe Blonde puts me back in Montpellier France. Good times.

Manneken Pis

Yes, I am drinking an ancient bottle of Manneken Pis. GBS Studio A has an unbelievable cellar and I ordered up this 10 year old or so white beer. The label of current versions of this beer dropped the "Manneken Pis" and sport "Blanche de Bruxelles". The little peeing boy is still the mascot.
Lots of Belgian beers cellar extremely well and this one is no exception. Instead of "going to sherry" as most do, this one changed in taste to resemble a well-known triple. During the consumption of this all I could think of was Triple Karmeliet. A subdued green apple taste dominated the flavor. Fresh versions of this beer are very cloudy white in color and have the orange peel and clove thing going on. This old one poured a clear beautiful golden hue and tasted like apples. Screwing around with the bottle near the end, I dislodged the sediment into my glass. I gladly swilled it.

Leffe Blonde

Not a beer that I drink very often. Not that I don't enjoy it, it's just not one that I readily see around here, although it's one of the more well-known 'abbey' style Belgian Beers.

The Abbey for which this beer is named was founded around 1152. Many Abbeys developed breweries, one reason being that beer was in fact safer to drink than water back in the middle ages.

After the Abbey and brewery burnt down in the 1700's beer production ceased. However, brewing of Leffe was restarted on a commercial basis in 1952, and has been going ever since, although now brewed at the Stella Artois brewery in Leuven.

It has a delicate, malty aroma and a subtle, sweet finish. The head is creamy, and the beer is a light golden color. 6.6% ABV.