t IJ Plzen

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

Bottle acquired in Florida at Knightly. The beer pours to a hazed flat yellow colored body with visible carbonation and a gorgeous rocky/fluffy white head and nice lacing. The aroma has grassy hops with light yellow apples and yeasty silage. Very aromatic and quite nice. The flavor is hoppy, yeasty, bananas, and grassy hops. Sort of like a Belgian ale mixed into a hefeweizen and a pilsener. The palate is mineral laden and extremely over-carbonated. A medium body and bitterness hit later.

A Mes rate: Bottle at Lowlander. Cloudy golden with a big white head. lovely Belgian type hoppy nose. Nutty and spicy flavour. Crisp clean and very hoppy. Tangy and aromatic with an almost bretty sourness in an Orval type way. Salt and pepper finish. Interesting and enjoyable pils that is in my opinion one of the best offerings from this brewer.

Draft - Clear a little thin corn colored body, creamy white head, lacing; Fresh a little lemon like, very malty: Slightly sour fresh, slightly bitter body; Very long very bitter finish, first hoppy later malty. Great, fresh and very drinkable.

bottle from uto. I grabbed this because it is one of the few newbies at uto and ’t IJ has yet to let me down. I don’t know why, but I was not expecting what came out of the bottle. I got very worried as soon as I smelled it and sussed that it was a pilsner - a quick ratebeer search confirmed my fear. Totally shocked that it is actually quite good. Pale gold with signature IJ head - massive, sparkling and ever-swelling. Yeasty pils aroma. Refreshing light taste of yeast, grass and citrus. Salty grass finish. Drinkable indeed.

Interesting. Straw colored. Yeasty smelling, with some fruitiness. I wonder if they used a Belgian yeast for this. Lots of Belgian type overtones to the flavor. There is a slightly bitter after taste, but the flavor is largely fruit and yeast. Nice take on a pils.

[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.