ST. DENISE LA RESERVE DE L'ABBESSE

St. Denise la Reserve de l'Abbesse. For a minute there I thought I'd found a Belgian beer I didn't hate. That's a rare day for me, given that fruit is for dessert or something to nibble on in the afternoon, rather than beer.

But I didn't find anything of the sort. This is a doppelganger beer, brewed in The Netherlands. If you've ever had Sterkens Smokkelaar, you'd find this very similar. Very similar indeed.

Because it's the same beer, rebottled to trick people into thinking it's a Belgian abbey beer when it's really a Dutch beer brewed nowhere near an abbey. Sneaky bastards.

It is, though, Belgian Ale in style, which is as close to Belgian as it gets, and pours with a thick, white head that can easily get away from you if you're not concentrating. So tick the gas box.

For all that, the carbonation feels soft and the taste hints at banana, malts, cereal and a bit of lemon. And that's how it drinks.

It's OK. Just. You won't hate it and you won't rush back for another one. Especially given that it's pretending to be something it isn't.

5/10