Christoffel Bier / Blond

Brewed by Sint Christoffel Bier
Style: Pilsener
Roermond, Netherlands

Rerate: 5-12-09.
Long lasting medium beige head slowly collapses to a craggy mountain of foam before finally settling down. The most astounding suspended yeast I’ve ever seen in a beer (similar to Two Hearted Ale but better). A couple years and several bottles later, and I’ve yet to find anything to compete with this in the pilsner category. I find it hard to imagine a better pilsner available in North America. Incredible herbaceous hop character, long aftertaste. Water, barley malt, hops, yeast, you can taste it all in high definition. Full-bodied for the style. This one always reminds me why I love beer in the first place.
9 5 10 5 20 4.9

Orig. rating: 7-22-07.
Medium frothy head on a hazy pale gold beer. Nothing in the aroma stands out either way. Full-bodied pale malts backed up with solid grassy herbal hops. Actually very tasty! Certainly refreshing and supremely balanced. I just wish I didn’t have to go all the way to Toronto to get this.
6 4 9 4 17 4.0

330mL bottle: Clear orange-amber with white head. Musty aroma of fruits and nuts. Flavor is a bold, complex and very robust mixture of malts, hops and fruits. Has a lingering aftertaste similar to burnt rubber. Palate is light and water with hardly any carbonation. Good stuff, but not my cup of tea. A bottom fermented pilsener?

This beer really impressed me. Pours a nice hazy gold colour with a small head that lasts throughout the whole session. The aroma is hoppy, some malts, a little alcohol, and even some yeast. The flavour is very Pils malty upfront, with some yeast thrown in. Then quickly comes the bitterness from the hops to finish it off The aftertaste is a lingering bitterness from the ample hops, man this one is hoppy when fresh! Very nice brew.

Pours a fairly thick light golden head. The aroma is a sweet and sharp one. Has a very hoppy taste but retains its sweetness at the end. I very fine beer to relax with.

330 mL bottle from LCBO, served cold in a tulip.

App.: Slightly hazy (really??) golden, with a modest white meringue. Aroma: Strong, green grassy hops, some grapefruit/citrus, a touch of biscuit and toffee malt. Palate: Moderate carbonation and body, some sharp effervescence. Flav.: Resinous, herbaceous and grapefruit hops; undertones of biscuits and bread; solid bitter finish with light lingering maltiness.

This is lovely stuff!

Draught at the Arendsnest, Amsterdam. Slightly hazy deep golden color. Strong and thick hop aroma with tobacco and some butter. Malty, grainy and firmly bitter flavor with restrained fruitiness and some diacetyl.

330ml bottle - pours light cloudy yellow gold with a foamy white head. Aroma of crisp hops, fruity and fresh. Some sweet malt and bread make up the rest. Flavour is sharply hoppy off the top, moving to a bitter yeastiness that then turns slightly sweet right at finish, closing out with a nice amount of bitterness. Leaves a slightly citrusy aftertaste. This is a very fine pils, probably one of the very best and pretty much a perfect summer beer.

330 ml bottle - pours a slightly cloudy gold with a short lived bubbly white head. Very surprising aroma of fresh and fruity hops along with some sweet malt. Has an almost candy-like aroma. Wonderfully juicy and bitter (for the style, of course). I was surprised by the U.S. west-coast hopping of this one - or at least a hybrid of fresh hops. Saaz and Cascade? This is pretty much the pinnacle of the style. Very well put together. A superb pils - second only to Victory’s Prima Pils. Excellent stuff. I WILL be buying more.