Belgian-Style Blonde Ale

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Location:Belgian and French
Category:Ale
BJCP Comparable Category:25A - Belgian Blonde Ale

Beer Style Description

This is the description of how the Belgian-Style Blonde Ale style of beer should taste, feel and look. However, there may be perfectly fine beers in this style that fall outside of these ranges and descriptions. This information is just to show the most commonly accepted ranges for the Belgian-Style Blonde Ale beer style.

  • Color: Pale to light amber
  • Body: Low to medium
  • Malt Flavors & Aromas: Malt aroma and flavor are low
  • Hop Flavors & Aromas: Not present to low. Noble-type hops are commonly used.
  • IBUs/Bitterness: Very low to medium-low
  • Fermentation Characteristics: Low to medium fruity esters are balanced with low level malt attributes. Low level yeast-derived phenolic spiciness may be present. Diacetyl and acidic character should not be present.
  • Common Ingredients: Belgian Pils malt, aromatic malts, sugar, Belgian yeast strains that produce complex alcohol, phenolics and perfumy esters, Saazer-type, Styrian Goldings, or East Kent Goldings hops. Spices are not traditionally used, although the ingredients and fermentation by-products may give an impression of spicing (often reminiscent of oranges or lemons). If spices are present, should be a background character only.
  • Commercial Examples: Affligem Blond, Grimbergen Blond, La Trappe Blond, Leffe Blond, Val-Dieu Blond

Brewing Properties of Belgian-Style Blonde Ale

These are the functional brewing properties of Belgian-Style Blonde Ale beers, as descided by the Brewers Association. These guidelines reflect, as accurately as possible, the historical significance, authenticity or a common profile in the current commercial beer market.

ABV
The alcohol by volume is shows the amount of alcohol this style of beer should have.
6.3 - 7.9%
Bitterness
The International Bittering Units (IBU) scale is used to approximately quantify the actual (not perceived) bitterness of beer.
15 - 30 IBUs
SRM
SRM is a scale for measuring the color intensity of a beer. Low SRM grains impart a pale straw color while higher values mean it will add a darker color to the wort. Learn more »
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4 - 7 SRM
(8 - 14 EBC)
Original Gravity
Original Gravity (OG) is a measure of the sugar content in the wort before alcoholic fermentation has started to produce the beer.
1.054 - 1.068
Final Gravity
The Final Gravity (FG) is how much sugar is left over in the beer when fermentation is complete.
1.008 - 1.014

If you see an error in our data, please let us know!

Based on Brewers Association 2020 Beer Style Guidelines with changes. Used with permission of Brewer's Association.