’t IJ Plzen

Brewed by Brouwerij ’t IJ
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Serve in Flute, Footed Pilsner

[Sampled with Thomas in Söderåsen, Skåne, Sweden.]
Light hazy yellow look with a nice head. Very hoppy aroflavor + yeast and citrus. Very wellbalanced pilsner with a lot of yeast at the bottom compared to other pilsners. High drinkability!

Date is Dec 2005. I wish I had a fresh one! Slightly hazy golden orange with a large rocky head... funky stuff going on. Good lacing and excellent retention. Aroma is their funky yeast with lesser grass and bread notes. A trace of fruit in there, but for me this one was all about a clean pilsner with a funky yeast. It worked really well. Now to actually check the date on the next bottle..

Early 2006 bottle, at O’Briens on 3/23/07
Unfiltered/unpasteurized, bottle conditioned beer has an immense white head that is quite fluffy/rocky and slow to recede. Retention is very high, with plentiful lacing. Brilliant gold and maize body has a high clarity, with tiny bubbles rising vigorously in the liquid. Looks like a most delicious pilsner...
Fantastic brett nose is strong, highly sniffable and incredibly clean and polished. No thick yeast dullness/paperiness, no alcohol and no flaws of any kind. Tart and full of dry fruits (pear skins, green grapes, limes) with lightly herbal hops (oregano, dill, basil sort of thing) sitting lightly on the finish. Malt is wonderfully clean and attenuated, leaving only spare traces of honey that tickle the nose and keep the beer very dry and refreshing. I’d give Orval the leg up due to its hoppiness and better malt complexity, but it’s not a fair comparison, as this one has a lager grain bill, while Orval more a trappist pale ale.
Not surprisingly, the flavor is full of brett fruitiness and light tartness. A bit more malt apparency in flavor, but again it’s a very clean, honey-like pilsner maltiness, soft and supple, with minimal graininess or doughiness. No flaws at all and a medium amount of very tight carbonation make it almost creamy. Divinely drinkable stuff, with one of the most clear and striking brett flavors I’ve encountered. Hops are again mostly dry and reserved, though still quite flavorful for what’s there, leaving herbs and a light wet grassiness on the finish. In place of the normal bitterness, you have the brett adding tartness. Flawless and very refreshing.

Tap at T´Ij, march 07. Soapy, perfumey aroma, but a bit restrained. Peppery, bitter flavor witn and acid, woody, curious finnish. Medium to light MF, dry, bitter acid aftertaste, refreshing. Slightly cloudy yellow-light golden color with a bubbly, creamy white head. Nice, sessionable, approachable kellerbier.

Bottle 0,33ltr:Splendid pilsener from Amsterdam, well balanced bitter , citric aftertaste.

Bottle at home. Really nice pilsener. Creamy orange colour with nice foam head. Orange, citrus flavour with hints of marsepijn. Nice prickly mouthfeel with buttery finish. One of the first pilseners I’ve really enjoyed (along with the one in Oslo). I should really make it over to their brewery soon as it’s across town for me...

(Bottle) Pours a cloudy yellow body with an average egg-white head. Aroma of lemon, mustiness, florals, and pear. Flavor of yeast, orange peel, floral hops, sweet tarts, and herbs.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Stockholm) Golden yellow colour, rather cloudy, with firm white head. Strange fruity nose with sourish notes of lemon and underlying buttery malt. Malty, bready taste with a rather long, dryish finish with notes of hay and grassy hops. Bitterness comes through well in the finish. Strange, almost musty, aroma reminding a bit of wheat beer, replaced by a rather interesting, more pilsner-like, taste. Interesting.