St. Feuillien Blonde

Brewed By: Brasserie St. Feuillien / Friart in Le Roeulx, Belgium

Purchased: 330ml bottle from a St. Feuillien Gift Set bought at West Lakeview Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2013
Style/ABV: Belgian Blond Ale/Abbey Ale/Strong Ale, 7.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

As with many of my purchases, this one was kind of a random, impulsive buy. It's been a while since I've had an Abbey-style beer, so I figured I'd put St. Feuillien through the runner. Speaking of, St. Feuillien has to be one of the most frustrating names to type out. I keep wanting to insert an "r" into the name. St. Feuillien is is an Abbey-stye brewery based out of Le Roeulx, Belgium, founded in 1873. The brewery's history goes back to the 7th century, when an Irish monk by the name Feuillien came to Belgium to preach the Gospel. Unfortunately...while traveling through Le Roeulx, Feuillien was martyred and beheaded. In memory of Feuillien, his disciples built a chapel in 1125, which became the Abbey of Prémontrés, later known as the Abbaye St-Feuillien du Roeulx. The Abbey prospered until the French Revolution. St. Feuillien makes use of natural ingredients, centuries-old brewing methods, and (I believe) all their beers are bottle conditioned. You can read more about them HERE. 

Tonight's beer, the St. Feuillien Blonde, is a Belgian Blond/Strong Ale, described as having a deep golden color and a smooth, frothy head. This beer should be perfumed, with some nice hops and spice. Let's glass this up and see what we get.

4/20 flame my shitty picture: St. Feuillien Blonde

This one pours pretty righteous, with a really nice cloudy orange/blond/gold color, and a finger of thick white head that is creamy and won't die. In bright light, this beer is a hazy blond/gold color, with some hints of orange. There's a ton of carbonation rising upwards in the form of small bubbles, and the head is thick, creamy, bright white, leaving lacing, and sustaining like crazy. Really...just a dynamite looking beer.

The aroma on this is super perfumey, with big floral Belgian yeast fruitiness, apples, pears, and other stone fruits, some white sugar, a bit of dust/powder, ghostly malt heaviness, and yeah. The nose is quite vibrant, really leaning on that yeasty fruitiness.

Wowza, the taste on this is creamy, smooth, and big. I'm getting a lot of yeast fruitiness, some big grain and Pils malt, lots of phenolic spice, perfumey fruits, and a little booze to boot. There's big pears, apples, stone fruit, hints of pepper and clove, grain, biscuit, and boozy smoothness that's pretty complex. There's a bit of hop kick in the middle, with some earthy and bittering hop bite, and a touch of citrus.

This is pretty nice. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, creamy, smooth, a touch dusty, and features complex and subtle booze. At 7.5%, this is appropriately boozy, and should be sipped on/enjoyed slowly. This would be perfect for the winter. The slightly dusty mouthfeel lends all sorts of faux credibility to this, and it really feels like an Abbey Ale, whatever that means. Palate depth is great, complexity is not far behind...up front is perfume, spice, stone fruits; this rolls into grain, Pils malt, bitter and earthy hops, hints of citrus; the back end rounds out with lingering grain, dust/powder, and a dry finish. Really nice stuff.

Rating: Above-Average

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this, and might even go higher on a revisit. I'm a bit surprised, but this is a really solid brew. I would pair this with some strong cheeses, a meat and cheese tray, a burger with cheddar cheese and bacon, all things bacon and cheese, and even something like turkey or chicken. This beer would also work in the winter months, though I feel like I could sip it in the summer as well. Good stuff...not too expensive, would recommend.

Random Thought: It's supposed to be 80 tomorrow. Summer is finally here...at least for one day.