La Binchoise Blonde

The last of yesterday evening’s selection of six blonde ales, La Binchoise Blonde was the only one I’d actually ever heard of before. And having tried and enjoyed La Binchoise Brune earlier this month, my expectations were high.

Andrew G wrote:

I’d been expecting a bit more of this. The smell was neutral, and the taste kicked in quite late. For me, there wasn’t all that much going on, though there were some interesting herbal elements that I couldn’t quite distinguish.

Interesting that, because Fiona compared it to the great French beer, 3 Monts, which has lovely lavender notes.

Toby and I were elsewhere with La Binchoise Blonde, however. Rather than herbs, we were thinking citrus. Toby wrote, “tangerine”, and though I first jotted down, “orangey”, I then quickly noted, “grilled mandarin orange”. Now, I don’t normally go around grilling small fruit, but that’s what came to mind. Actually, knowing the Carnival tradition of the town of Binche, an orangey taste should not surprise anyone.

And then, I detected yet another layer of flavour: marzipan. La Binchoise Blonde is a definite keeper.