Christoffel Bier / Blond

Brewed by Sint Christoffel Bier
Style: Pilsener
Roermond, Netherlands

Best by Feb 2005. Cloudy orange body with a large head, decent lacing. Aroma is European hops with bready malts and yeast... also getting some aged hop notes. Flavor brings this with a fairly sweet finish. I wish I had this fresher as there was little to no bitterness or real hop presence. Rerate pending a fresh bottle...

Bottle. Poured cloudy straw color with a large frothy white head that was mostly lasting with Excellent lacing. Moderate sour citrus and tart fruit aroma. Light to medium body. Medium sweet flavor with a medium sweet citrus finish of moderate duration. Very refreshing beer.

Medium white head over hazy light orange body. Light fruity aroma with grassy hop notes and some sweetness. Taste is bitter, grassy hops with aftertaste of resiny, honey-like sweetness. Quite a lot of hops in this one, but it’s very nice. Good balance, and very interesting character. Not a typical blond at all (because of the hops). I like it! (0.3l on draft.)

Swing top bottle purchased at Coaltrain Wine and Liquor, Colorado Springs, CO. Pours straw yellow with a patchy white film, edgy. Aroma is yeast (sweat, dough, barn) and malt (hay, straw, meal) with notes of grass and grapes. Moderately bitter, medium acidity, mild sweetness, heavy yeast and grainy, straw malt with some barn and earth notes, hint of citrus. Light bodied and clean, chalky palate.

On tap @ t’ardenest, Amsterdam. Pale golden body with a small white head. Weak aroma; some hops, grain and hints of spices. Served a bit too chilled... Hop-flavored. Also malts and a light sweetness. Dry and hoppy finish.

Pours a hazy gold into a tulip. Bright white micro head quickly dissipates to skim rim. Apricot, pit fruit and yeast aromas. Bitter front-to-back with a sharp fizz. Bitter lasting finish. Almost Orval-like...

Bottle. An unclear, golden beer with a white head. Butterscotch, nuts, apples and pears and some tropical fruits in the aroma. The flavor is much the same, with the added joy of bitterness. Not much though. Medium body. Fruity finish with some butterscotch. It’s a nice beer, just don’t "my" beer. Rating: 6-4-6-3-13-3.2. (080620)

Bottled. Hazy, orange beer with a white head. Spicy aroma with sweet fruitiness. Alcohol, spice, apples and fruityness in the flavor. A bit too thin body. Nice beer, but pils? (060819)

A pils? OK, I’ll bite. Very, very hazy deep gold, slight head, but active carbonation present. I expected to find a glop of yeast in the bottom of the glass, but it was clean. Aroma of bread, hay, and grass. Flavor is hop oriented, with hay, grass, a bit of anise, and a floral bitterness on the finish that wraps around bready malts. Significantly better as it warms, this was quite nice. The hops sort of creep up on you, and by the end you realize you have a lingering flavor left behind long after the beer is gone. This sort of transcends style boundaries. Really glad to run across this, as I had wanted to try it for a long time now due to the over the top reviews I had seen here. Worth a good bit of the hype.