La Gauloise Ambrée, not a Trappist, but still a popular Belgian pale ale

La Gauloise Ambrée

Brewed by Brasserie Du Bocq
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
Purnode-Yvoir, Belgium

In the year of 1858 a Belgian farmer, Martin Belot, tried his hand at brewing in the quiet months of the winter season, using the pure waters of his surroundings. Naturally these brews became popular in the local vicinity and even though the Du Bocq Brewery bought the rights to the brewery in 1949, nothing much has changed and the values of the company remain intact.

La Gauloise is from Purnode, in Wallonia, and, unusual for that part of the world, not tied in with any Trappist monks or monastery. The family owned and independent enterprise, the Bocq brewery, is one of the largest breweries in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of southern Belgium. Since the 60’s though, the agricultural side of the business was abandoned, with the drinks industry pushed to the forefront as it was seen as a more profitable industry than farming!

The brewery offers a wide selection and, capitalizing on the craze for traditional beers, Brasserie du Bocq successfully exports a lot of their products, harnessing the strong reputation that Belgian beers have gained recently worldwide. Brasserie du Bocq exports mainly throughout Western Europe, and with a current turnover of more than € 12.5 million, the Brasserie du Bocq is one of the largest independent breweries in Wallonia.

Review: 330 ml stubby bottle of La Gauloise Ambrée: ABV: 5.5%

A World Cup of beer silver award winner, coming in a cool looking 330ml bottle and bought in Lidl. Sure why not!

The oldest brand produced by the brewery, and its most successful beer, named after many Roman (Gaul) sites discovered in the area.

On pour, a dark orange looking colour appears, with a large foamy beige head that sticks around for ever, resulting in some decent lacing.

A bit of fizz

Nice reddish hues makes the beer look the part.

A nice beery smell on the nose , smelling citrus and fruity hops and a lot of malts, all well balanced. Nothing too complicated but was nice all the same

The taste was savoury, varied flavours, fruity, caramel, well balanced but very light and easy on the palate.

Smooth enough to drink, not bad, but there was a discount lack of strong flavours in this beer. I did pick up some, they are there but not enough to get the taste-buds going. A little disappointing in that regard. Light and easy to drink, not particularly hoppy or bitter or sweet.

Overall, I like this beer, its decent to drink, and goes down very smooth, but it would be nice to have a stronger edge to it with more discernible tastes. Ok, but not the best I have ever had