by Mokke Bier
If you ever find yourself looking for a good restaurant, or even just a place to enjoy a beer in Leura in the Blue Mountains, you could do a lot worse than stopping in at Flemish Flavours. It is a Belgian restaurant owned and operated by Belgian chef Wim and his wife Claire.
Not content with serving up some of the Belgian classics at his restaurant, Wim along with his cousin-by-marriage (whose name is also Wim), took over the Belgian beer label Mokke Bier which commenced operations in 2015.
Their first beer is the Blond, which presents as a normal Belgian blond with a slightly sweet malt body with coriander and citrus. It goes a little off-piste with the hint of added honey, then a subtle but gently building hint of saison funk.
At first I thought this to be a pretty standard Belgian Blond, a little on the sweeter side thanks in part to the addition of the honey. It was as the beer warmed a little that the flavours became more pronounced and I started getting the background hits of the barnyard yeast character.
It finishes reasonably dry with a lingering citrus and hop bitterness, and the subtle yeast character inviting you back for another taste.