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I get the distinct impression that I've had a beer that specifically targeted 6.66 ABV for the pseudo-occult reference that it is. I don't think it was this beer, as I didn't find it in a brief search, but maybe I just don't know what I'm doing. I find the search on this site builder is not great, despite the fact that Google is hosting it and running the search. I really don't know how to fix that. Nevertheless, I have this Belgian blonde in front of me, and Duvel produces a fine beverage, so I expect near perfection.
I would say the beer is gold rather than blonde, and it has a bit of haziness to it. It produces quite a bit of head, and the points of nucleation are going to be refreshing that head for probably my natural life. The aroma is very much like a blonde, and it has coriander over top of malt. There might be a slight tartness to the aroma, and I think I can tolerate that in the smell. Let's see if we can tease that out in the actual taste.
First sip is delightful. The coriander mixes very well with the malt, and there's just a slight tart-bitter taste that finishes it off with a little complexity. It is smooth, certainly easy going down, and I would argue it is approachable. I wasn't sure if carbonation would really enter the mix, but it is barely a sizzle on the tip of the tongue as the beverage slides right on down the gullet.
Tip-in is very light carbonation with coriander on top of lemons and a cracker malt lying underneath. The middle brings a mysterious tartness that lingers on top, and it appears to be coming from the yeast, as the coriander, lemon, and cracker mixture flows underneath it. I normally really enjoy Belgian yeast, but it doesn't seem to be gelling particularly well with the other flavors, for some reason. The finish is a wash of bitterness that comes down on top of the coriander and yeast, washing all of the other flavors away.
Bottom Line: I wanted to like it better, but it's still not bad.
2.5/5
