by Brouwerij De Hoorn (Palm - Swinkels)
Palm is a traditional Belgian beer brand, most well-known for the Palm Special Belge. But over the years, Palm as a brand has been in decline, losing relevance in the fast-moving Belgian beer scene. Something was needed to save the brand, and that turned out to be Cornet.
The beer is a Belgian Strong Blond Ale, introduced to rival the market dominance (or get pulled along on the coat tails of) Duvel. And it has been a success with the Cornet label being plastered across cafes and beer bars all around Belgium. It also helps that it’s a decent beer.
It has a nice golden body, that gives off hints of banana, vanilla and grainy malts.
The flavour is the same, at first a little sweetness coupled with the familiar Belgian yeast characters. The oaked aspect isn’t too strong, as it is only aged on oak chips rather than in barrels, but there is definitely a vanilla note, along with a little woodiness to the flavour.
It is smooth, although quite highly carbonated. It sits atop the tongue, with the flavours free to travel the length of your tongue. In the aftertaste there is a little minerality, and a decent level of hop bitterness to linger.
I wouldn’t swap it for a Duvel, but it is a nice beer to drink all the same.