Beer of the Week - Oct 18 - Christoffel Double Hopped Beer

330 mL bottle
Price: $ 2.65
6.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 4
Made in: Netherlands, Netherlands
By: Bierbrouwerij St.Christoffel Bv

Although Grolsch is on my favorite beer list, I have never reviewed a beer from the Netherlands, so this week I choose Christoffel Double Hopped Bier. I'm glad I did as when I got home and looked it up, I found that the LCBO lists this as a discontinued product. Whether I like it or not, this will be my only chance to try it, barring a trip over to Holland.

I searched the Net and could find very little about this brewery online. They have an old, partially working website at the link above or, if you click here, you are taken to a website currently under construction. All I could find out was that the brewery opened in 1986 and this was the first product they brewed.

The beer is brewed to the German Purity Law or Reinheitsgebot in which "The Reinheitsgebot orders the brewer to use only water, barley, hop and yeast. Using additives for conservation or other chemical additives for e.g. influencing taste or colour are not allowed."

The beer poured a cloudy brown colour, which I found surprising as I expected an clear light amber colour for reasons I cannot describe. After looking closely at the labelling on the neck of the bottle, it does say in very small font that it is unfiltered, unpasturized and bottle conditioned. Usually these qualities are huge part of marketing the product. Not with this one.

The first beer poured with a nice head that did not last and did not leave any lacing on the glass when I drank it. This may have been due to a dirty glass or a poor bottle, as the second one had a nice head which lasted and when sipped left nice lacing on the side of the glass this time.

Both bottles had the same taste. The beer starts with a nice nutty taste and has a slightly bitterness to its finish. This is a nice flavourful beer. A good beer but not a great beer.

I'm glad that I had the chance to try it.