Christoffel Bier / Blond

04-Feb-08 (330-ml swing-top bottle: Purchased 18-Nov-07 for $3.79 at Holiday Wine Cellar in Escondido, CA) The beer pours golden-amber in color and very cloudy from visible chunks of suspended particles. Not what I would expect from a "blond" lager. The off-white head, however, is tall and creamy, very gradually settling to a thin layer and wide ring with large patches of dense lace left on the glass. Smelling the beer, the hops aroma dominates and is redolent of dry hay and musty magazines stored up in the attic, but the nose also offers a bit of sweet honey-like maltiness in the background. The flavor is more traditional lager: clean, grainy malts with minimal sweetness, but this is balanced wonderfully by bright, grassy, moderately bitter hops. A slight toastiness emerges in the finish as the beer warms a bit. Dry, dusty and slightly chalky mouthfeel, clean bitterness and moderate carbonation complement the medium body of the malty base for a beer that is refreshing, easy and fun to drink.

Bottle, from BSF at the GBBF. Pale honey pour with a lot of clean white ultra-fine head. Herb garden on a cold dewy morning, tangerine, a little bile note. Ultra-soft grainy malt sweetness blended seemlessly with minty herbal hops. Hopping is brisk, but the balance still leans slightly toward malt. Lingering husk and mint. Well-crafted and interesting.

Brown bottle, 33 cl, best before 04 2009, purchased at the la LCBO, savoured on August 7 2008; eye: golden with a orange hue, hazy, light effervescence, voluminous white head that falls and turns into a blanket to protect the beer, a bit of lacing; nose: refreshing hops, grapefruit, resinous hops, light grainy malt, pine; mouth: assaulting, resinous hops, pine, grainy malt, lots of carbonation, yeast, fizzy, clove, banana, dry hops, alcohol, finale in hops with a lightly sweet malt and a bit of clove and banana, rather bitter, quite carbonated, medium-full body, slightly grainy texture; overall: quite likable FRANÇAIS Bouteille brune, 33 cl, meilleure avant 04 2009, achetée à la LCBO, savourée le 7 août 2008; œil : dorée avec une teinte orangée, voilée, légère effervescence, mousse blanche abondante qui tombe et devient une petite couverture pour protéger la bière, un peu de dentelle; nez : houblon rafraîchissant, pamplemousse, houblon résineux, léger malt granuleux, pin; bouche : agressante, houblon résineux, pin, malt granuleux, beaucoup de carbonatation, levure, pétillante, clou de girofle, léger banane, houblon sec, alcool, finale en houblon avec malt légèrement sucrée et une touche de clou de girofle et de banane, plutôt amère, pas mal carbonatée, corps moyen-corsé, texture légèrement granuleuse; en résumé : bien aimé

Bottled -> Poured a light brown colour with a bit of visible sediment. Had a very strong off white head for a good minute, but eventually settled. Had a nice smooth mouthfeel, and a nice hoppy taste, the only downfall was that I could really taste the alcohol in this one.. Still good though..

On tap @ Café Gollem. Hazy golden appearance, white head. Nose of malts, citrus and hops, flowery. Taste is soft, malty, and a good deal of bitterness. Really smooth and quaffable, excellent beer to start off the evening.

33cl swingtop bottle. pours hazy golden with white head. the aroma starts off rather sweet, honey, with some nice noble hops that are floral, rather green and sometimes minty. the flavors are also sweet of honey, clove, with flroal and spicy hop notes. mild bitterness is pleasing to the palate. full mouth feel and smooth carbonation. this is really great pils reminding me of the great belgian-style pilsners and i bet it even better on tap.

Bottle. Pours a hazy blond with a fluffy white head. Nose of sweet fruits, alcohol, yeast, slight astrigent. Taste is sweet, quickly going extremely bitter with a a fast earthy dry hop finish. Light body, maybe a bit too light for me.

Pours a rich hazy golden color with few bubbles and a large rocky tan head... looks like someone put a scoop of ice-cream in my beer. Floral spicy hop aroma with some rich toasty malts backing it up. Very bready first taste, butterscotch, and bitter earthy hops. Rich finish. Velvety medium/full body. A good beer and an interesting pilsner, malty.