Day 16, 1.16.11, Abbaye de St. Amand

Abbaye de St. Amand is a Belgian blond brewed with juniper berries.  It's 7% ABV. 
In the glass, this beer is blond and hazy, with a big foamy white head.  It's almost a bit astringent on the nose.  Musty notes as well at sour citrus (meyer lemon?) are present too.  To me it drinks like a classic Belgian blond beer.  Its light in color and body, citrusy and lightly bitter on the palate.  Definitely a smooth, easy drinking blond ale.

The selling point for me on this one was the juniper berries.  Immediately I thought of gin of course and it's interesting botanicals and herbs.  What a terrific addition to a beer I thought.  And maybe it's just me but I feel like if the sub title under the name of the beer reads "brewed with juniper berries", the juniper flavor ought to really be a standout.  It should play the staring role.  It should be what the banana is in my banana pancakes.
And I think that the subtle hint of juniper was there; a touch of an herbal bitterness and a fleeting touch of spice.  But it was certainly not a main flavor for me.  In fact, in a blind tasting, I don't think I would have pegged it as juniper. 
And maybe it's cultural.  The Belgians, I think, would be hard pressed to brew a beer that could be considered anything gimmicky or too far from historical and traditional styles.  It seems much more common for American brewers to be more willing to take risks and stray from traditional styles, ingredients and methods.  Dogfish Head, for instance, I think is an inherently new world organization, one that wouldn't likely fly in Belgium.
So maybe I shouldn't have expected the juniper to punch me in the face when I took the first sip.  But maybe also the bottle shouldn't make it seem like 50% of the grist of the beer is juniper. 
The beer was good, albeit a bit misleading.  With so many great beers in the Belgian blond style though, I don't think I'd go out of my way to find  a bottle of Abbaye de St. Amand.  6 out of 10