Christoffel Bier / Blond

Bought this in a gift pack in Indianapolis may not have been in the best of shape. Some hops, some bread, would like to have this in better shape some day. Page 121 of Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide only 427 out of 500 Classic Brews to go.

Pours hazy gold-orange with a one-finger white head. Juicy, citrusy aroma, with a good deal of grassy hops. Flavor begins sweet and bready, but quickly becomes an intense hoppiness. Grassy, woody, and bitter aftertaste. Easily as hoppily good as some of the best American IPAs.

A murky dark golden pilsener with a nicely longlasting head. Strong floral hoppy aroma. Refreshing & dry taste, very nice. The mouthfeel is surprisingly heavy. Probably the best pils I’ve ever had. Nice one.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Stockholm, 2 Feb 2007) Golden amber colour with huge, lasting, white head leaving lots of lacing. Initially malty nose with notes of gooseberries and lots of dusty hops. Malty taste with notes of citrus, hay, white bread, toffee and lots of grassy hops (Saaz?) in a rather dry finish. Nice and malty pilsener with a lovely hoppy undertone.

Cloudy mirabelle gold and crowned in a beautiful white mousse, Christoffel’s craft spews a viscous geyser of honey and pineapple thereby making an impressive entrance. Wheat, apricot, peach, honeysuckle and floral hops add to the vernal aroma and with but a whiff the glass is irresistibly attracted to my lips. The parching flavor of wheat and dry hops is initially aggressive upon the tongue and surprising in its noble bitterness, but eventually reveals a multitude of unique tonalities. White pepper, bay leaf and thyme contribute an herbaceous taste added to pungent Gouda, pine and apricot. On tap in Amsterdam, I noticed more fruit and a generally more enjoyable palate, but this bottled version is a good substitute. Clearly underrated.

large head, some sediment like that they dont filter this, musty with nice refreshing bitterness, slightly fruity finish

33cl Swingtop. Rich honey sweet aroma of caramel, light lemon perfume and effusive pale grape juice, warmed honey teas, and lots of luscious sweet candied malt. And astounding aroma! Crystal clear gold pour, honey-amber center and a sticky lacing cream froth of white. On the tongue, a similar profile to the aroma. Sweet cream pale malt sugars muddled with white figs and almonds. A light edge of dusty grains and a nip of bread and yeast. Sinfully drinkable. I wish I’d bought more than one. It has a real clean lemon and grass hop bite on the back end that draws out the malt sugars into a crisp finish. This doesn’t have any of that gross sticky cloying skank malt that so many pilseners have at least a tinge of. And lots of character both in malt and hops. Delightful!

Bottled at Monk’s Café, Stockholm. Lightly hazy golden, rich head. Powerful flowery grassy hoppy nose. dry with crisp pilsnerish malt, only ramped up in size. Lingering very bitter finish. Almost bordering to become inky. More of an "imperial pilsener" than anything else I’ve tried.