Finkbrau Pils

I had crashed this one when I first reviewed it. Now, with my palate slighty more extended and a proper presentation, things were not so dramatically different, but at least, significally improved.

ABV 4,9%


Can of 500 ml from Lidl. Poured into a pokal glass.
Pours a deep golden yellow beer, with something more than two fingers of white, thick head. Heavy lacing left behind as the foam disappears very slowly. Medium activity in the glass. Malty smell, with mostly a grass aroma.
Sweet taste with a strong bitter aftertaste. Slighty metallic and hints of alcohol, although it's only 4,9% ABV.
Thin on the body with high carbonation.
Not so bad, especially if you take the price into consideration. It's not anything great either, but It could fool you on a blind test.

2.85/5
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Best Bier

ABV 5%.

Made from Bavaria Brewery.

I got this one in a supermarket about a kilometer from my neighboorhood, where I had gone just to check out if I could find a new beer. Well, I got me a new beer but I was a bit disappointing from my findings, since they only had it in cans (where I prefer bottles), the beer looks cheap and also it's called Best and any product which is called Best is going to be average, if you're lucky.

Poured into my standard glass for pilseners. Pale golden yellow colour, with lots of bubbes rising to the surface and two fingers of white head, froathy at first but as it was losing in height, it was gaining in density. The end result was one finger of thick, soapy head, which left some light lacing around the glass. Not bad at all. 

On the aroma not uch to report, typical smell of an average pilsener, maybe with some more hay aroma.

Taste is neutral, nothing too offensive either, but at least leaves behind a nice, bitter aftertaste.

Thin on the body with average carbonation, but far from the watery beer I was expecting.

All in all, a decent brew, not the Best in any case, and for the price of 1,14/liter is a very good choice if you want a cheap beer for parties etc. To my surprise, it turned out to be pleasantly drinkable. So I guess as we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, we shouldn't judge a beer from its can.

3.03/5

look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Budels Organic Pilsener

ABV 5%

Best before 3/2013.

This beer is made of organic ingredients. The lat biologicI tried was quite disappointing, so let's see if it was just that or all the bio beers taste equally bad.

Standard dutch bottle of 300 ml, poured into a nirmal glass.Golden yellow colour with a small white head, one finger in height, quickly gone,leaving just a thin strip around the beer's surface. Average activity in the glass.

Nice aroma, a bit hoppy, but other than than I couldn't perceive anything else.

Taste i very nice too, on the bitter side. A great difference from my previous bio-beer, which tasted more like wet hay. This one is actually pretty good.

Nice body, medium thick and just the right amount of carbonation.

Overall, I found this one pretty decent brew. Usually when something is biologic or made with organic stuff, it doesn't have any taste or it tastes really bad, but that was not the case with this beer. Too high of a price for a pilsner though, so I don't see myself buying any time soon in the near future.

3.38/5

look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

New Beer In The House II

  I went to the doctor the other day for the first time since I moved here. I don't think I have met a more indifferent doctor in my life, plus when I asked him if it would be okay to take the pills he had prescribed me, because of a deficiency I have, he gave me a blank stare, and looked it up on Wikipedia, using Internet Explorer, for God's sake! Then, not being able to find what he was looking for, he shrugged it off and he told me that they probably know at the pharmacy and I should ask there. And allright, maybe it's logic not to know everything medicine and every deficiency by heart, but I think you should have checked before he prescribes me the pills, since when I registered with him to be my doctor, I gave him my patient history and pardon me, but I think a patient's history plays a significant role to the medicines and cure processes he is supposed to take and follow.

 Anyway, when I got out his office and took my pills from the pharmacy upstairs, I notice an Asian Supermarket so naturally I think "Let's check for beers!!". And yes, they had some asian beers allright, the ones you can see in the following photo.

  From left to right, that's a sort-of-nutritional drink, made of malts but the ingredients are also hops, so I myself consider it a non-alcoholic beer. Then there is a Trio Extra Stout, which is supposed to be from Suriname (not so asian after all, huh) but I see now is brewed in the Netherlands, then a Chang Beer Export from Thailand, an Iki Beer that's supposed to be japanese but it's brewed in Belgium and it seems very hazy, a Sapporo Premium Lager which actually is japanese and a Bintang Pilsener from Indonesia.
  Looking forward to try them, in about fiffteen days when I will be done with the darn pills.
  When I paid and went out I discovered my bike was stolen, during the ten minutes I was in the supermarket. I was a bit frustrated of course, but eventually all worked out well, as I was able to find a second hand bike in a much better condition than mine (it even has brakes!) for only fifty euros. For the thief, I hope he breaks his neck in a tragic accident, after he has unsuccesfully tried to brake with my faulty brakes.

Carlsberg

ABV 5,0%

 I got this beer in a WORLD OF BEERS packet (possibly the worst beer related buy I ever spent money on - the packet itself I mean, beers were alright).
 A small green bottle of 250 ml, with only its neck covered with a label, while a relief of the word CARLSBERG can be found four times around the bottle.
 I crack the bottle open and a smell of malts goes straight into my nose. The head is white in colour when I pour it, one finger in height and seems thick in texture. A lot of bubbles rising hastily to the top. The head disappears after a while, leaving a thin film covering the sutface of the beer, but no lacing around the glass.
 The aroma of this beer comes mostly from the malts, with a nice strong smell. Some hops aroma too, but very faint.
 The taste is very malty too, thus sweet. But only at first, since the aftertaste is pleasantly bitter. Very refreshing on a hot day like this one.
 Dry on the palate, quite thin on the body and light carbonation, give this beer a high drinkability.
 Overall a very nice beer. I had it many times before but mostly straight from the bottle and I could also easily find a cold one at my local bar. Now that I can't find it around the corner anymore (except in cans which I'd rather not) I appreciate it much more.

3.35/5

Pilsner Urquell

ABV 4,4%

Even from within the green bottle, you could tell that this beer is crystal clear. And so it was when poured. A deep golden colour, very clear, with some bubbles rising to the surface. The one thing dissapointing though was the head, because it didn't have any. Okay, it had maybe half a finger and that dissaperaed straight away. I read some other reviews though and almost everyone was ecsatic about the creamy head, which I obviously miss. I'll try to get my hands on another bottle, just to make sure that it was only my bottle. 

edit:once again, a small white head that disappears completely, very fast

A nice aroma of slighty roasted malts, with maybe some floral notes.

Taste is also on the malty side, but on the small amount of time that stays in your mouth, manages to appear quite balanced between the malts and hops, and to that certainly helps the bitter aftertaste.

Urquell has a full body and just the right amount of carbonation. It leaves a dryness on the palate. 

Overall, a nice and refreshing beer. I had it once on tap and the colour was hay golden, while it had a very average taste. From the bottle it's like I am drinking a totally different beer, which might be true, you never know what a bar owner serves as X beer.

3.7/5

The beer that defined the style Pils, when it was first brewed on the Czechish town of Plzen. I think I read once that the water there plays a significant role to the crispiness of this beer. Long ago before I get interested in beers (other than just drink'em) I had a girlfriend from up there and she was telling me how cheap beer is in Czech Republic and how much better than the ones we had. Well, maybe I would be there if it wasn't for life's strange games.

Keizerskroon Premium Pilsener

ABV 5,0%

This specific brand is exclusively sold only into two specific supermarket chains, the EMTE and the GOLFF. The closest branch to me is sixteen kilometers away.

Colour is golden yellow, with two fingers of white head that disappears completely, very fast, leaving no lacing on the glass. Some bubbles rising to the top on a steady pace. On the official website I saw a nice photo with a creamy, thick head, I wonder why I didn't get the same too. Oh, well..

Pleasant aroma of malts, but very faint. 

Some sweetness from the malts is traceable into its taste, but again, very faint. All in all this beer has a very neutral taste. 

Very clear on the body, medium thin and right amount of carbonation for my taste. 

Overall a beer that was very pleasant in drinking it, and maybe the lack of a unique taste works on its favor.Still, much better than the majority of pilsners on this market.

2.9/5 

Jupiler

Bottle of 250 ml.

Pours a golden yellow color with a thin head that slowly dissolves, 

leaving light to almost none lacing on the glass. 

Medium amount of bubbles rising and lots of them on the glass's wall.

Mostly malts on the aroma.

Taste is very flat, sweet at first, with the tiniest amount of bitterness on the aftertaste.

Nothing to celebrate about, I didn't like it the first time I tried it (on tap) and I am

not very enthusiastic this time either.

Thin on the body and light carbonation.

2.78/5
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Bavaria Pilsener

    ABV 5%

Bottle of 300 ml, ABV is 5%.
Pours a golden yellow colour, with a two finger head that won't last long.Some bubbles in the glass.
Smell of malts, nothing special.
Lightly bitter taste.
Medium thin on the palate and slighty carbonated.
Just another average pilsener, good thing that is so cheap you can buy 36 bottles for 9,99.

One of the cheapest beers in the Netherlands and the most likely to be on offer, in a supermarket's weekly brochure. Quite often is three small crates for 9,99 as I state in my review. Bavaria Brewery produces so many beers, is really difficult to keep track of all of them. Just visit this link to take a look for yourself


2.63/5
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Gulpener Pilsner

For some reason I am fond of Gulpener, maybe because I don't find it so often in my local supermarket, maybe because the first crate I bought came with some tupil bulbs..
Appearance is typical for a pilsner, golden yellow colour with a two finger head, average retention, and quite an activity in the glass.Smells as any other cheap lager out there, this is not how I remember it, or I wasn't as educated in beer as before I join BA. Drinking it out the bottle played its role too.
Taste is better but nothing above the average, slighty bitter and malty.
Average thickness and carbonation on the body, leaves some dryness on the palate.
Overall, pleasantly drinkable but Gulpener has better ones to offer, then again if you just want a pilsnerer this will cover you. And as their slogan is "To the future" (where hopefully this beer wil improve a bit).

ABV 5%
 That was my old review, posted on beeradvocate, and things haven't change, maybe because it's only two months before. Last week I got two crates of this, since they were on a Buy 2 - Pay For 1 offer, but unfortunately they were a bit skunked. Maybe that was the reason for the offer. They are once again on offer this week, but I think I'll skip it.
Standard 300 ml bottle, poured into a Heineken glass, as you can see on the next photo.

2.9/5
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Albert Heijn Pilsener

The house brand of the Albert Heijn supermarket chain in the Netherlands.
A bottle of 300 ml, the standard small bottle of the Netherlands, poured into a Heineken glass.
Deep golden colour on the appearance, with a rich white head. Some bubbles rising to the top to feed the head while others are stuck on my glass's walls. Head after a while loses 3/4 of its size but stills is more than enough to cover the beers's surface, whilst leaving light lacing on the glass.
Not much on the aroma front, some malts and some a smell of old bread, not unpleasant though. Preety typical aroma I would say.
On the taste is quite neutral, very difficult to distinguish something. Maybe some light bitterness, mostly notable on the aftertaste.
Light on the body and medium to light carbonation, leaves your palate dry.
Not a bad beer with this hot weather, served ice cold and for 34 cents is one of the better options out there that follows the triptych of thirst quencher-good quality-low price

Appearance 3,5
Aroma 3
Taste 2,5
Mouthfeel 3
Overall 3

2.8/5
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3