Ardwen Blonde

http://www.ardwen.fr/en/

Brewed by Brasserie Ardwen
Style: Blonde Ale
Launois-sur-Vence, France

The Ardennes in northeastern France, close to the Belgian and Luxembourg border, is a sparsely populated region mostly covered with dense forest, small mountains and not much else.

But mad as it is, this area at the beginning of the 20th Century, was France’s leading region for brewing beers with no fewer than 230 breweries, mostly small enterprises. It might be due to the lovely fresh waters and rivers emanating down from the hills and valleys in the area.

But the two World War’s put a sharp stop to a lot of this and brewing was beginning to look a thing of the past here. That was until, in 2003 some locals came together to start up some brewing in the area after all those barren years. That brewery was called Ardwen, using the local knowledge of the past in their pursuit of rekindling the traditions of yesteryear. Production followed shortly after, and with it some immediate success winning prestigious beer awards in France (Golden medalist at 2007 Concours Général Agricole).

Review: 33cl bottle of Ardwen Blonde: ABV: 5.6%

High fermentation and also re-fermented in the bottle, using local spring waters this beer won a gold medal at the Concours Général Agricole de Paris in 2007, just so you know, ok.

On pour looks fine, has a nice frothy white head, colour is of a deep cloudy golden beer

Head maintains well. Some small carbonation going on.

A good bit of lacing present.

Lovely beer smell, can get the typical blonde smell of the malts, the fruits, and the hops, and caramel, over all a nice start.

Taste, not bad, a beer to saviour, a nice feel to it.
Typical blonde taste, but not too strong, or overbearing. Very easy to drink.
Nice beer overall, smooth, goes down well, got the malts, some fruits and the caramel
A light beer and refreshing enough to drink, Not bad.