Contee: 3.5 – Along with Schwazbier if we asked brewers to make more of a certain style – it would be Kolsch. We say this to frame the context of this being a poor outing as a great tragedy for us. There is an orange citrus flavor here that overrides so much of the beer you can barely even tell the style, just orange + ale is all you get.
Price Average: $13 for 4-pack
Website: https://www.definitivebrewing.com/
Ruby Tart Blonde Ale: 3.5 – The name thimble may be the company but in terms of this ‘tart blondge’ I suspect only a thimble of a true sour is in this beer. It is otherwise just a slightly odd but basic ale. While that makes it easy to drink it’s not stellar.
Price Average: $10
Science Fiction: 7.5 – That is most certainly a funky blonde. It’s got some wild yeast and some tart sour going on, but there’s other flavors as well. It starts off a bit like grapefruit but the aftertaste is almost wine like. It’s certainly got some style, and overall is quite nice.
Price Average: $12
Website: https://rhinegeist.com/
GFB: 4.5 – My god. That is such a ‘blonde ale’ it’s almost painful how average it is. It’s fine, I mean there’s little to complain about, but it is about as forgettable as – wait what were we talking about again? Honestly this is the worst kind of beer for us, not because it’s bad – but because it’s so boring and average.
Price Average: $9 for 6-pack
Website: https://www.greenflashbrew.com/
Queen of the Seven Kingdoms: 7.0 – Now we are a more long form review site, very rarely paying attention to hip new things, but we have fallen into the Game of Thrones Marketing trap with this purchase. (Being from Ommegang helps immensely) We will be continuing this 4-pack for the next 3 weeks because we already reviewed one.
As for the beer itself as a sour it’s not too crazy, but as a blonde it’s quite unique. The citrus is lovely and overall it’s simply a well executed beer as expected from Ommegang.
Price Average: $25 for 4-pack with glass
Website: http://www.ommegang.com/
Honest Weight Lightworks: 3.5 – It’s a blonde ale, but it’s more like a blonde ‘joke’ ale (as in there’s not a lot of substance there and it feels cheap). Beyond the small bit of a malt-ness, there’s just not much to go on.
Price Average: $8 draft
Website: http://www.honestweightbeer.com/
8 Days a Week: 3.0 – It’s light, but it’s not a good beer so the infinitly drinkable tagline falls flat. Overall as a blonde ale this is just weak, has nothing that stands out, and lacks flavor.
Price Average: $10 for 8-pack
Website: https://www.stbcbeer.com/
Derniere Volonte: 7.0 – That smells very interesting, and the taste matches. Its sort of banana but a more cocoa like. You can claim the abbey style is doing this to what should be a blonde, but this is unlike a typical blonde.. it’s closer to a quad in some respects but not fully. Tastes nice though.
Price Average: $10
Website: http://dieuduciel.com/en/
Maredsous 6 Blond Ale: 7.0 – It’s definitely an incredibly complex beer, even more so for being an abbey blonde ale instead of a quad or tripel. That aspect though might be what kills it, because while it has complexity it lacks the depth and power you would hope it to have, that alone would take it from an admittedly great level into near-perfection.
Price Average: Maredsous 6 Blond Ale $12
Website: http://www.maredsousbieres.be/
Wychcraft Blonde Ale: 5.0 – I was saving this beer for Halloween but instead of being spooky it was a slightly sour but normal blonde ale.
Google Shop Average: Wychcraft Blonde Ale $00
Website: http://www.wychwood.co.uk/