Not yet having developed any sort of craving for Belgium beers after having tried a few different ones, I decided I need to expose myself a little more to them. Being in a current "stout stage", any strong fruit flavours have taken me off guard. This week, when grabbing a few Phillips Beer as I often do, their Surly Blonde found it's way into my cart.
I'll start by noting that I am aware the pilsner glass may not be the best glass for tasting this beer. The beer had a clear and sparkly appearance with an amber hue. I expected it to be more murky. The head was not very big, but seemed to last at that level and was off-white and fizzy. The beer did not produce much lacing.
The first aroma to hit the nose was a bready/grainy note. The hop scent seemed medium to mild with hints of flowers, perfume and a tart resin note. It had an underlying sweet yeasty smell. Secondary notes were of subtle banana, bubble gum and butterscotch.
The body seemed medium with a soft oily texture. The flavour was long and moderate to heavy in sweetness. The acidity was higher than I expected as well, but not too heavy and the bitterness was mild.
The 650 ml bottle has an impression 9.1% alc and rings in an overall (B-) on Beer Advocate from 23 reviews.
All in all, I really enjoyed tasting this beer and the result was what I wanted. I'll definitely be trying to samples more of the Belgium styles and am open for suggestions.
Cheers
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