Belgian Blondes in Dutch Drinking Establishments

I visited the Lowlander Beer Café on Drury Lane near Covent Garden last night for a quick drink after work and had a pretty awful experience with a blonde.

The blonde in question was a La Trappe Blonde brewed by De Koningshoeven which tasted pretty awful. Martin described it best when he said that 'it tastes like bad champange', and it really did taste like a bad fizzy wine with added sugar and a dubiously light frothy head.

So why when given the choice of about a hundred ales and lagers to choose from did I select this travesty of Trappist Ales? For starters it had the relatively low ABV of 6.5%, which considering that there was a beer on the menu with an ABV of 12% was quite moderate. Secondly I have tried the dark version of this ale, La Trappe Dubbel before and it is lovely.

Martin by the way sensibly selected a Maredsous with a lovely flavour. But it was Vasa that scored, with a fabulous double fermented, beer, the name of which escapes me now, 24 hours later.

Fear change I say, it often brings dissapointment, and always avoid Belgian blonds in Dutch drinking establishments! Andy & Taz you've been warned!