BRASSERIE DUYCK-JENLAIN OR BIERE BLONDE. $7.50, LCBO

The final review in our Winter Beers Round 1 comes to us from France. This bottle caught my eye at the local LCBO, and I just had to have it for the collection. Here's hoping the beer inside is every bit as good!
After marveling at the bottle for a few minutes, and trying to read the French label (I failed), I poured this into my favourite pint glass and let it sit to warm up a little, as the suggested serving temp is fairly high, 6-8 C.
The colour is really something, a luminous, crystal clear deep yellow. There is a small, white sea foam head that dies off quickly, leaving only a thin cap on top, fed by a lot of carbonation. It smells very yeasty, with grains, honey, corn, clove and birch tree. The first sip catches me off guard, over carbonated and unbalanced, but not complex. I decided that it is still too cold, and let it rest some more to research the brew and the maker. Going back a few minutes later, I find it a little easier on the palate. Yeasty and bready, honey, light fruit like apricots, and warm on the tongue with a boozy undertone. There is a little bit of savoury in there, clove-like as you would find in many Belgian and German brews. The finish lingers more and more as the beer warms, with a small amount of herbal and floral hops poking through. The booze levels off as it warms too, and combining with the hops and a slight metallic aftertaste, give a hint of perfume in the finish. When it was too cold, I wrote that it was overly thick and cloying, but overly carbonated as well. Those factors seemed to centralize as it warmed up, and I'm happy that I don't have to write something bad about the mouthfeel. While it remains a little thick and sticky, it really fills out as you work through the pint, and the headiness of the 8% ABV really makes you slow down and appreciate the flavours as they work.
Overall, this beer is more interesting than most blonde ales, but less complex than Belgian beers. The flavour is somewhere in between an Pale Ale and a Tripel.  The overall experience is a little underwhelming, but nothing about it is bad, and is likely overshadowed by the great bottle.  I don't know if I'd buy it again, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone looking to try something different. 6/10