The roasted malt lends the beer a slightly bitter taste with touches of candi sugar, caramel, coffee and chocolate. I’m not a fan of blonds. I do prefer stout beers. I’ve never tasted a Leffe beer that I liked (and I already tasted the blond and the triple). But I should try this Leffe Radieuse. At least, seems a little bit different in flavour.

The beer takes on a dark brown colour in the glass, covered by a robust head of froth with the colour of café crème. Leffe Brune is full bodied, close to a Stout or a Porter, but not too heavy, very quaffable. ( Terry Pratchett– one of my favourite authors – describes quaffing as ‘a lot like drinking, but your ears can get wet’.) The flavour of the Brune is altogether richer, fuller, slightly sweet, but ultimately satisfying there are notes of dark treacle, and chocolate, and a hint of coffee, but it’s not too sweet. Against these ales, most lagers and British ales pale (no pun intended) by comparison. Leffe is great when compared to commercial beer manufacturers. But compared with most Belgian brewers with the excepton of Stella, it's not as good...but it is cheaper. So it deserves some overall marks for this.In 1952, the production of beer was continued, when Father Abbot Nys, helped by brewer Albert Lootvoet, brought a brown ale to market. [2] The brewery was later bought by the international beer company Interbrew (now AB InBev). Leffe was then brewed in Mont-Saint-Guibert until Interbrew closed that brewery. [ citation needed] Now all Leffe brands are brewed at the Stella Artois brewery in Leuven. As of 2012 [update], there were five top-fermented brands made under the Leffe brand. Royalties are paid to the abbey. [2] Neil, keep looking! Where I am its hard to find anything other than the Blonde as well. I would just ask the manager of the places you find the Leffe Blonde if they can get the others for you. Once again a type of beer rather than a particular brew, Kriek is made from a base beer to which cherries are added or, in the case of the more commercial brands, cherry juice and perhaps even sugar. It is decanted from a bottle with a cork, as with sparkling wine. The better examples are not too sweet and taste simply wonderful. Other fruit beers are available too, but Kriek is perhaps the most successful. 13. Kwak (8%) Produced in the Ardennes, this distinctive beer is instantly recognizable by the red-hooded gnome (or chouffe) which adorns its label. It's a refreshing pale ale with a hint of coriander and it leaves a peachy aftertaste. 5. Corsendonk Pater Noster (5.6%) Leffe Bruin (Leffe Brown) is an authentic abbey beer with a deep, autumnal brown color and a full, slightly bittersweet taste, both thanks to the dark roasted malt. Experienced tasters will discover a creamy taste with aromas of coffee, vanilla, cloves and other roasted aromas, where brown sugar and caramel can also be discretely used.

There are hints of vanilla and toffee in this flavour, it’s not too heavy, in fact, I was pleased to note that I had a large (75cl) bottle of Blond on my shelf for the weekend. Abbaye de Leffe in Dinant was founded in the 12th century and, like most abbeys and churches, they built a brewery to serve drinks to parishioners and pilgrims. Most people, including children, drank beer of some sort as it was much safer to drink than water. Specific to the Brussels area and representing one of the world's oldest styles of beer making, lambic beers are tart because they are brewed with at least thirty percent raw wheat as well as the more usual malted barley. The key feature is, however, the use of wild yeast in their production, a process of spontaneous fermentation in which the yeasts of the atmosphere gravitate down into open wooden casks over a period of between two and three years. Draught lambic is extremely rare, but it is served in central Brussels at A la Bécasse. The bottled varieties are often modified, but Cantillon Lambik is authentic, an excellent drink with a lemony zip. It is produced at the Cantillon brewery, in Anderlecht, which is home to the Gueuze Museum (see below). Lindemans Lambik is similar and a tad more commonplace. 10. Gueuze (Cantillon Gueuze Lambic 5%)

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For those in or near NYC, I recommend this little Belgian place on 75th between 2nd and 3rd Ave (can’t remember the name) — some decent selections on tap, more in bottles, nearly all in the abbey/trappist style. A fun place to spend a lazy weekend afternoon. Leffe Blond shouldn’t be too hard to find. I don;t know whether you have an outlet called “Total Wine” up there, but they more than likely carry it. Where I am in Maryland, it’s easy to find.

spring water, phenolic, wheat, rye, buttery hopes, roasted hops, corn, and some type of coal ash. Not dry and crisp. Also something instead of caramel something like eucalypti sweet sap.

Well, after reading Bob the Brit’s great review of all these Leffe beers, I knew I had to try one. Fortunately for me, my local shop had the Leffe Blond – which I tried. This was my first ‘Abbey Ale’, and all I can say is that this beer is very different than other beers – special even.

The dubbel was born in abbey breweries but the name is now used as generic term for a strong brown beer.The flavour is well rounded, slightly sweet, slightly spicy, but with all these brews there is something that is distinctively ‘Belgian’. Okay so not quite trappist, but once you’ve tasted a Belgian beer, you’ll spot that flavour whenever you are fortunate enough to encounter it.