
The Brewery
The Beer
La Trouffette Belle d’Eté is a summer beauty perfect for enjoying on a sunny terrace. A thirst quencher from the Ardennes, this wheat or white beer is brewed with the utmost care and expertise, owing its distinctive taste to coriander and lemon peel. Like most witbiers, La Trouffette Belle d’Eté is unfiltered with a cloudy appearance. It is around the same strength as a pils at 6% alcohol by volume. Its zesty and fruity touches ensure that the Trouffette Belle d’Eté is an excellent degustation beer, surprisingly rounded with a slightly bitter, dry finish. The beer was initially only on sale during the summer months but is now available throughout the year.
The Trouffette beers are inspired by the carnival traditions of Bastogne, their home town in the Ardennes. The label is adorned with an image of a lad riding a wild boar with a barrel around its neck. He’s quite the rascal and depicted much in the way of folk hero Till Eulenspiegel.
The Trouffette name is simply one that used to be very common around the beer’s home region - the city of Bastogne counted around 100 Trouffettes in the year 1800. Local tall stories always featured a character named Trouffette. The Giant of Bastogne, paraded around the city at carnival time, also bears this name. In addition to the Trouffette Belle d’Eté, the brewery produces an IPA (India Pale Ale), the Bastogne Pale Ale.
Alcohol
6.0% ABV
Fermentation
This is an unpasteurised, unfiltered top-fermented beer that re-ferments in the bottle.
Ingredients
La Trouffette Belle d’Eté is brewed with water; yeast; pils malt and wheat malt; Warrior, Cascade and Motueka hops; coriander and lemon peel.
Colour & Transparency
This unfiltered beer is pale yellow in colour and is cloudy in the glass below a white frothy head.
Serving Temperature
6 °C / 43 °F
Serving Glass
Just like the Bastogne Pale Ale, La Trouffette Belle d’Eté is served in its own elegant, proprietary degustation glass bearing the Brasserie de Bastogne logo.
Character, Tastes & Aromas
When tasting this beer, the slightly sour aromas of wheat, citrus and coriander come to the fore. This beer is a thirst quencher through and through, but will surprise you with a dry, slightly bitter character that shines through in the finish.
Culinary
This white beer makes a delicious pairing with soft goat’s cheese, grilled sole, apple pie or a zesty Herve cheese.
Keeping and Storage
Witbiers are definitely not suited to being stored for years in a dark cellar. The best before dates recommended by the brewery are two years for bottles and six months for beer on tap. We can only agree.
Availability
Bottle ✔ On Tap ✔
La Trouffette Belle d’Eté is available in 33cl and 75cl bottles and on tap (20 l)
This is a Belgian specialty beer that may take some tracking down. In the region around the brewery it will be relatively easy to find, but the further away you are from Bastogne, the more difficult it will be.
Nevertheless, you will be able to purchase it through the familiar, specialised channels, from beer traders to online shops.