Brewery: Daas
Location: Hainaut, Belgium
ABV: 5.0% / 6.5%
Version: Bottled
Source: Courtesy of Daas

I must admit I've never been all that keen on wheat beer and these days I usually avoid it as much as possible (I have a wheat intolerance) but every so often I make an exception, just on the off-chance I've developed a taste for the stuff. So when the folks at Daas sent a couple of bottles of their organic Belgian artisan beers along for sampling and one of them turned out to be a wheat beer, I thought it would be rude not give it a go.

Daas Witte poured a cloudy golden colour with a thin white head and had a distinctly bread-like aroma. It was quite fizzy out of the bottle, although it settled down to a background effervescence before too long. Flavour-wise it was quite sharp and tangy, with a hoppy dryness, a hint of vanilla and something of a doughy after-taste. Not bad. Not bad at all.

The last wheat beer I tried was BrewDog's Pixie prototype (as far as I know it never went into production) which was packed full of juniper and lemon zest, so it had a bit more going for it in the flavour department. But still, Daas Witte was, if not a beer I hugely enjoyed, one that was more pleasant than I remember Hoegaarden being, back in the day. I'm afraid you'd need to ask someone who actually appreciates and enjoys the style to give you a more meaningful comparison than that, though.

I cracked open the Daas Blonde immediately after finishing the Witte. This one poured a classic golden colour, with (again) a very thin head (I thought Belgians were meant to be... frothier? Perhaps I was using the wrong-shaped glass?) At 6.5%, I was expecting Blond to have a bit more substance to it than Witte and I wasn't disappointed; the mouth-feel was noticeably thicker for a start. Flavour-wise, a honeyed sweetness dominated with a noticeably herbal after-taste. All in all it reminded me of cough sweets and not in a bad way at all (I'm quite partial to a nice lozenge, frankly).

Daas Blond is very drinkable indeed, as long as you've got a bit of a sweet tooth. I'd certainly be happy to try this one again, although I think next time I might chill it a little before serving. I think it's one of those beers that could deliver a pretty good back-of-the-throat hit if it was taken down a few degrees and the lower temperature might help dial down that sweetness, which did verge on the syrupy.

Many thanks indeed to the folks at Daas for sending these two along for me to sample! If you're interested in tracking down a bottle or two yourself, I believe they're on sale in Waitrose, and you could try some of the online retailers. Or, if you're not in a particular rush and are feeling lucky, Daas are running a competition with a monthly draw to win a 24-case of Blond or Witte:

[Click the image to see the full-size version]

Daas Organics around the beerblogsphere:

• FletchtheMonkey was quite impressed and said so over at Real Ale Reviews
• Roger Protz gave the Blond a three-point-five star rating.
• The Beer Nut concludes there's more style than substance to Daas's approach to brewing and marketing their beer.

Related posts:

1. New Arrivals: BrewDogs and Daas Organics
2. Tasting Notes: St Peter’s Organic Ale
3. Tasting Notes: Fuller’s Organic Honey Dew
4. Tasting Notes: Meantime Wheat & Wheat Grand Cru
5. Tasting Notes: Sharp’s Honey Spice Wheat Beer