Bottled. I finally managed to acquire another bottle of this rare treat after my first one was drunk by some idiot with no respect for Iceland during a party at my place. I don’t know which batch this is, but it is best fyrir 050807. Slightly hazy pale amber or dark golden coloured with an OK white head. Mostly bread and malt in the aroma with notes of fruits, blood and caramel. The flavour is very well balanced with bread, malt, and fruits at first. Towards the finish the hops become more prominent. It ends with a light dry bitterness and some malty sweetness. Clean and refreshing. Smooth mouthfeel. Soft medium carbonation. Medium bodied. Very pleasant and quaffable. It goes well with Geyser Brennivín. I am looking very much forward to taste the other products from this promising new brewery. Hopefully, Bruggsmiðjan will brew some more extreme beers in the future as well. And hopefully, this will be the beginning of a beer revolution in Iceland like the one we have seen in Denmark. At last, another good thing about this brewery is that it is not too far from where the ferry from Grímsey docks.

Finally, the first microbrewery in Iceland is born, and this is their first production. I must say, that I was a bit dissapointed they chose a bohemian pilsner to be their first brew, since the two macrobreweries here have tried to do that before, but I guess they have to secure the business with something that is going to sell, although it would have been nice maybe to see a wheat beer or something a but unusual. Anyway, poured into a Budvar footed pilsner glass, much darker than expected, with a thick dence head, which is still in my glass after 5 minutes. Aroma vice, this is the icelandic champion, this must be the first icelandic beer that does NOT smell foul! Maltiness, floral notes, a bit hoppy. Taste is also something icelanders have not experienced before, this is NOT watery. It actually has a plecent palate and is quite typical for the style. All the ingridients except the water are imported from the Czech republic, including the Saaz hops. This is a nice brew, maybe it could have been a bit hoppier but this is very plecent and it does not taste icelandic, which is extremely good. Very good first brew and it will be interesting to see what they brew next..

<i>My Bottom Line:</i><br /> The pillowy pils maltiness and intelligent Saaz hoppiness of this authentic Bohemian Pilsener evolve into a balanced, subtle finish where bready tones and herbal hop bitterness intricately entertain.<br /> <br /> <i>Further Personal Perceptions:</i><br /> -A veil of foam covers the blond golden.<br /> -The nose exhibits what the flavor profile and finish will offer, which is appreciable.<br /> -Some honeyed malt sweetness prances around the bitter Saaz flavor and finish.<br /> -This is perilously drinkable and extremely comfortable on the palate.<br /> -Although this recipe has nothing to distinguish itself from most Czech Pilseners, it has to be proud that it is an efficient replica of the pleasures to be had with this style in the Czech Republic itself.<br /> <br /> <b>Bottle; 12.08.07.</b>

Yes, finally an Icelandic brewery with craft aspirations. I missed out on the first batch (Icelanders will buy ANY new Icelandic beer, so why aren’t the breweries being inventive?) but got a couple of bottles from the second batch. Well, I like my Bohemian Pilsner, even if it’s not from Bohemia and these bottles from the second batch were easily the best Icelandic beer I had tasted. The beer was clean, nicely hopped and flavourful. A beer I’d buy on regular basis. Unfortunately the next batches I sampled seemed off. I was so disappointed a few bottles managed to expire. Well, now I’m dutifully giving Kaldi another go so I can throw in a rating. It’s not in that rude form I remembered from my first taste, but it IS a decent pilsner. The colour is a dark gold or maybe even a light amber. The head’s OK, but it’s soon down to a thin film, although there is a hint of lacing. This time around the aroma seems to be mostly malt, but quite sweetish in a dark caramel kind of way. It extends to the flavour but with the addition of hoppy freshness. Not much bitterness that I can feel, but the hops are definately there in a sense I tend to think is quite American. I like to call it winterfresh in those cases, but it’s still not quite right in this instance. With this example I started thinking Kaldi felt more German than Bohemian, but still, when I think about the malts and hops by themselves it doesn’t make sense. Strange, but the jury’s still out. It might be that my tastebuds have a wandering adjustmen, but I fell like I’ve tasted three different beers with the same Kaldi label now. At least. That first one was the best, with an obviously Czech profile, but still felt like a fresh interpretation of the Pilsner style rather than a lame copycat.

Dark golden colored brew. Malty and fruity aroma, a bit sweet. Malty and fruity flavor too. Not so much. Medium bitterness in the end.