’t IJ Plzen

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

Serve in Flute, Footed Pilsner

Draft at the brewery. Pours a hazy, glowing, golden orange hue with a thin head of white foam. Broken bands of lacing circle the glass in a jagged fashion. The nose sports a clean grain malt base, with a subtle, floral hop note and hints of orange peel and lemon. There’s a faint whiff of that signature ’t IJ yeast, which borders on lightly musty. Flavors follow suit, with pithy, lemony bitterness showing over a lightly sweet, clean grain billing. It drinks easy, with a relatively light, quaffable body and soft carbonation. Though it’s largely forgettable, it remains a solid session brew.

21/08/2009. Beerstore.co.nz. Hazy gold with a big rocky white "Belgian" head. Peppery herbal hops and quite yeasty on the nose. Malty but very dry, pithy and hugely bitter (hop and yeast contribute). Reminded me a lot of Moa Original from here in NZ but with a bit more of everything (perhaps a shade less refinement). Probably like Plzen would have been 200 years ago. Unique and excellent.

330 ml bottle. From the Netherlands. Pale hazy yellow/golden colour with amazingly huge white frothy head. Quite not Pils-like aroma of citrus, yeast, clove and spices. Aroma is more Witbier-like. Bitter hoppy flavour with fruits (grapefruit/citrus) and spices. Not very Pils-like hoppiness, more like APA. Quite strange but interesting brew.

Slight gushing upon opening, but primordially loosening huge chunks of UFO’s, resulting in towering, dense, off-white head and fully hazy yellow beer with an orange-lightgreen shine. Powerful wafts of noble hops emanating from the glass, grassy, leafy and spicy at the same time. Asparagus shoots. Bitter flavour, but completely different from the aromas - partly chemical/medicinal, parly spiced. Mural coat paint with horseradish powder. What hops did they use?? Weird flavours, ringing association bells I can’t place - but I guess the hops were at least partly oxidized. Medium bodied, beefed up by the yeast (and protein UFO’s?). Well-crafted, but the main taste comes as weird to me. Better than remembered, certainly - but then that dates from their first batch on draught. How time flies...

Massive frothy head that doesn’t quite. Hazy orange / lemon body; looks good. House nose is unmistakable; spice and clove, perhaps a touch of pepper, miles away from typical pils. Palate shows bitter pepper, some hard stonefruits, and just the faintest hint of passionfruit to finish. Very sharp and refreshing.

330ml Bottle - Amber with a slight haze. Fruity and floral aroma with hints of dried apricot and syrup. Bitter and fruity taste, with apricot, grapefruit pineaapple. More like a blonde ale than a pilsner, but very nice all the same.

On tap @ the brewery. Cloudy orange body with a nice white head. Light aroma of citric fruit, yeast and spices. Flavor is light malty, quite fruity, some hops and spices. To funky to be a pilsner, but really refreshing and tasty as an ale.

Misty orange pour good frothy head carbonation strong aroma spicy clove fruit flavour hop bitter fairly strong clove coriander sweet maltiness slight tang citrus peel orange sweetness beer has a bight is a thirst quencher finish bitter orange coriander palate little resinous good pils.