The Weekly Pint: Bon Secours Blonde
Posted by Roger the Beerist at 5/9/2008 12:00 AM and is filed under Great Assortment,Beer review,Blond,Weekly Pint 
Ah, blonds. What is it that makes them so appealing? The body? The effervescence? The deceptive aura of innocence? Yes, all those things. This time 'round I had a French version of a Belgian blond. It was from Brasserie Caulier and it's called Bon Secours.
I'm not really sure what Bon Secours means. "Healing" is apparently part of the meaning. The beer is also labeled 'bier vivante' which I believe means "this beer is alive ... IT'S ALIVE!" (to be shouted in your best Gene-Wilder-as-Dr-Frankenstein voice). So, this "live beer" (or bottle conditioned, as we say in the industry) will "heal" you from whatever ailments you may have. Please note, I'm not French at all, so I'm not positive about the above meanings. I'm fairly certain, of course, but not positive. After all, I'm not French. These meanings were lifted from various online dictionaries. I tried contacting the brewery itself, but they've not written back to me - probably because I'm, you know, not French.
However, I do know that the beer was bottle conditioned for I got bits of sediment in my beer. It poured a deep yellow; in fact, it was slightly brown - a well tanned blond.
. It had a pure white head. It smelled like paint thinner. Or perhaps a better analogy would be nail polish, since we are talking about blonds. There was a very slight hops aroma, a European variety. To be fair, I was brewing the same day I took this blond, so the Sterling hops I was using to brew my Belgian strong ale were wafting through the air. Fortunately, I did not taste any hops. I think the nail polish aroma and taste overpowered any hops that might be present. It tasted sweet and spicy like a peppered liqueur. The body was viscous and effervescent. Despite the effervescece, the carbonation felt subdued. There was no aftertaste. The 8% abv sneaks up on you. It was absolutely wonderful.
The Belgians have superb beer styles and this French brewed version was really a lot of fun - just like a blond should be.
Until the next pint ...
Comments