Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week:" Brunehaut Organic Blonde Ale

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Aug 5, 2009 8:40PM

The adjective to describe Sunday was "epic." There was a lot of eating involved with going to Fiesta del Sol; there were two trips alone Sunday. In between was a visit to LUSH Wine & Spirits University Village location for their free Sunday wine tasting (2-5 p.m. every Sunday). After we ran through the wine selections, a palate cleanser was needed and another customer cleaned them out of Gumballhead. Scouring the cooler we came upon some organic beers. Our history with organic brews is not a good one, but we're anything if not an equal-opportunity drinker and one bad experience won't deter us.

Before we say hello to Brunehaut Organic Blonde Ale, a little backstory on the brewery is in order. This Belgian brewery is relatively young: 119 years old and counting. Brunehaut grows their own barley and wheat for brewing, using water from a well located on the brewery premises for mashing. Brunehaut makes abbey-style ales and traditional Belgian brews. The problem we've had with organic beers is that they seem to taste overly sweet, the line from Peak being an exception. Brunehaut's organic blonde ale joins that short group, with a nice yeasty nose, long-lasting head and a spicy, earthy note on the palate that was perfect. We can't wait to get our hands on brunehaut's other two organic ales to sample.