Belle Gueule Pilsner

Brewed by Brasseurs RJ
Style: Pilsener
Montreal, Canada

small head, I was actually pretty impressed by the nice taste of this one.... wasnt expecting much but still. Not a bad aftertaste and good carbonation.

Bouteille. Arôme de malt pâle et de houblons. Couleur jaune dorée avec belle mousse qui colle au verre, le col mince reste très longtemps. Goût très floral, bien houblonné, faiblement malté. Arrière-goût de houblons, de malt et tout légèrement d’alcool. Bonne rondeur, l’effervescence est moyenne.

On tap. It was listed as "blonde," which I’ll assume is this. Dry, hay, mildew aroma. Semi-sweet taste, dank, slight caramel. Not too bad.

Hazy golden yellow, moderate head with poor retention. Perfumey-floral aroma on top of typical grainy aroma. Moderately sweet pale malt with little true hop character other than a peach-pit bitterness in the finish. Not bad, but no competition for the Czech pilseners that it seeks to emulate.

Bottle (341ml). Pale gole with an average frothy white head. Standard Canadian pils - sweet, dry hops, grainy malt - boring, quick finishing, entirely forgettable. Light body, decent carbonation, no ugly aftertaste. Get out the LawnBoy ...

2006 bottle partially consumed on 8/27/06.
Light copper, mostly blond-colored beer with a high clarity. Head is white and about two-fingers high, receding to cover, fairly steadily. Not much lacing, but the carbonation does not seem overly aggressive in the liquid.
Aroma shows a sweet, almost sourish pale malt. A touch adjuncty or mineral-like, though I wouldn’t think there to be adjuncts in here. Hops are noticeable, but very dusty, a bit skunky and a bit muddled overall, not fitting in well with the already sour-sweet, odd (for lack of a better term) malt aroma. No vanillin or creamed corn, no vegetal character, thankfully, so in that regard, it seems well-brewed, I just think the recipe needs some work.
Flavor confirms, as the grainy, slightly sour six-row-like flavor provides a moderately harsh note. Some sweetness arrives late, but it’s abrupt and almost syrupy. Hop bitterness is mild, while hop flavor is again dusty, old, very much like yellow/dying grass. In the end, too much of the souring effect, adding acid to the palate and not providing for a refreshing experience (the syrupy light-caramel notes do not help either). A cleaner, more crisp yeast and higher attenuation and probably some softer water would go over better here. Alcohol is not noted. Carbonation is moderate, wateriness is minimal.

What to say about this beer!!! Maybe that it is a oohhhhhh soooohh normal beer. Better than molson and labatt product, but no much more. I categorize that beer in the piss (urine) categorie.

Une bonne bière rafréchissante, légère mais assé savoureuse. Pas mal meilleur que la Bleue qui se dit "pilsener" sur son étiquet.