Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Ertvelde, Netherlands
Imported by: Global Beer Network,
Middleton , MA
Unpasteurized & bottle fermented, St. Stefanus is brewed from three different yeasts, one being the original yeast strain from the Abbey Jerumanus Sint Stefanus.
ABV: 8.0
ABW: n/a
COLOR: 5
BITTERNESS: n/a
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: n/a
AVAILABLE: AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, IL, IA, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NJ, NV, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI
Burnished spun-gold in color and sporting a thick, winter-white head that clings to the sides of the glass, this Blonde is a real looker. She smells pretty nice, too, with sweet aromas of pear, tropical fruit and banana bread that gently rise from the glass. A first sip brings many of the same flavors, with a welcome peppery spiciness that mingles amicably with the sturdy effervescence to help the beer finish pure and dry—leaving you wanting nothing but another sip.
Known as Augustijn in its native Belgium, this bubbly abbey ale is easy to drink for its strength but packs enough interest to call you back for another. Loaded with fruit—suggestions of melon, pear and pineapple—it’s sweet, but not cloying, thanks to the counterpoints of mildly bitter, herbal hops and that always intriguing, spicy yeast quality that the best Belgian ales deliver. Like Orval, this is a beer that grows more complex with age: The secondary yeast strain is a Brett-like culture known as the Jerumanus yeast that starts to work given time in the bottle.
Lisa Morrison, aka The Beer Goddess, writes about beer whenever and wherever she can and also gets to talk about it on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. More of his writing can be found at www.insidebeer.com.
