’t IJ Plzen

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

Serve in Flute, Footed Pilsner

The best beer in the world, to put it in short. Unfortunately, the general public is not too informed about its existance.

UPDATED: JUL 9, 2010 Cloudy golden colored, thick lasting white head, beautiful. Very flowery nose, hops, hint of honey even. Smooth hopbitter finish, flowery again. Lasting bitter finish. Absolutely phenomenal pilsener, perhaps even the best i know.

Golden hue with little to no head. Citrusy throughout. A great summer beer. Too bad I had it in October...

UPDATED: MAY 24, 2007 Taste has been explicitly described by the others. That this beer is actually a pilsener, i couldn’t imagine. Full of taste, delicious aroma. If this is truly a pilsener, it is a HELL of a pilsener!

Hoppy aroma and flavor. Citrus. Pretty dark and cloudy for a pilsener. Just a bit thin, but with a long hopbitter finish. The definite Czech-type pilsener, brewed in Amsterdam. Highly recommended.

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.

Hazy pale gold body with a huge, fluffy white head. The aroma is fresh canned peaches with some cake donuts. There is also some notes of hay and grassy hops. The taste is a nice earthy note of parsnips with some apples. There is also a little bit bread crust and a hint of sour in the finish. Nice and clean, if it wasn’t for the price, I’d love to have a few of these at one time. Another solid brew from Ij, and a fantastic pils.

Warm-straw body with a uniform, fine load of stewarding yeast and a slowly dissipating, velvety white head. Aroma of sourdough, pineapples, lime zest, spicy phenols, and floral highlights. Flavor is remarkably dry but has plenty of character. Properties include peppery yeast and hops, nice soft, balancing esters, and subdued plastic phenols. A lively pilsner with elegant qualities and ample depth. I can imagine this bottle-conditioned pils being tempermental, but this bottle was spot-on in my book.