Blanche des Honnelles 1979

Blanche des Honnelles 1979 is billed as a “Dubble Wit”. It’s a 6% wheat beer from the Belgian Brasserie de l’Abbaye des Rocs. Sold in 330mL bottles, the beer is a dull bronze colour. It pours with an almost non-existent white head.

1979 has a hefty sweet wheat and yeast aroma. The flavour is also quite sweet—it has a yeasty vibe with notes of citrus, banana, and spice. The finish remains fairly sweet and has spicy, with not a lot of bitterness.

 

Honestly, I didn’t love this beer. I found its limited carbonation to be a major drawback. Similarly, the flavour was not nearly as assertive as I was hoping for. The double wit style—if there is such a thing—isn’t one that I have any experience with, but if 1979 is an exemplar, I’m not keen to dig much deeper. To my mind, witbiers ought to be crisp and light. Adding weight doesn’t totally float my boat. That said, if you’re a witbier zealot, this stuff might be really interesting to you.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10.