Bitterblond (Johnny)

Bottle from The Bulldog. Clear amber body with a thin off-white head. Low carbonation. Nice lacing. Aroma of copper, bread and brown sugar. Flavour of earthy hops, bread and figs. Thin body with a watery texture. Soft fizz. Bland but drinkable.

Apparently named after Amsterdam’s ’folk singer’ Johnny Jordaan, this beer has meanwhile been renamed to ’Bitterblond’ (no idea why but this is the name under which I taste it) and pretends to be a Kölsch, a name which cannot be used in the Netherlands, so the brewery toned it down to ’traditional beer’. Curious to find out to which extent it corresponds with the ’true’ German Kölsch beers. Cloudy deep ochre blonde robe with separate ’columns’ of sparkling, creamy and dense, irregular, egg-white head. Aroma of crabapple, redcurrant, soap, lime zest, stale sweat, nettles, freshly ploughed earth in spring, sourdough, yoghurt, skunky touch of wet hay fortunately (just) not descending into that horrible ’cat pee’ smell, hint of plastic, relatively low (but notably leafy and grassy) hops presence contrary to what the name may suggest. Restrainedly fruity onset, mineral water with hints of green apple, gooseberry and grapefruit, medium carbonation, not as refined as expected from the style; smooth and supple middle phase, slightly bready pale malt sweetishness, spicy yeasty and hoppy notes increasing into a leafy, herbal bitterness in the end, surprisingly more hoppy than expected based on the aroma, bit phenolic, very long and drying, with an earthy, resinous bitterness sticking to the throat. Pleasantly bitter, in an earthy, leafy way and in that sense a good example of what can be called ’Belgian bitter blonde’, but not a Kölsch to me (quote Ratebeer’s own definition: "many beers that consider themselves to be Kölschbeers, are not"). It completely lacks the refinement, restraint and delicate balance which typifies the style! So in terms of ’truth to its style’, a near failure - if anything, this is even closer to an English bitter than to a Kölsch; but as a bitter blonde, quenching beer in general, certainly decent, if not much more.

On tap at the brewpub
Cloudy straw with a medium sized white head, good lacing. Mild aroma of malts, cereal and straw. Taste is malty, cereal, straw and grainy
Good and clean

Draught (De Prael, Amsterdam) - Golden with a slight haze and a white head. Lemon, grassy hops and a twist of lime in the aroma. Crisp taste with lemon, grassy hops and grain.

Keg at De Prael. Pours hazy yellow amber, taste is light and fruity, sweet.

[Ratebeer: Alias to Bitterblond] From tap at De Cantine. Nice beer to go with the stamppot.

33 cl bottle @ Old Nickel, Amsterdam. BBE 12/2014. Aroma has grainy malt, grassy hops and hay and sweet fruits. Feels like a kellerbier. Flavour is crisp with citrus, some grassy and herbal hops. Finishes with apricot tones, which stay at the top with tart citrus at the middle of the glass. Not the most typical Kölsch, but I seem to enjoy this.

Tap @ Prael Proeflokaal (but I had this many times in the past). hazy dark yellow color. White head, not much. Aroma’s: sweet malts, toasted, hops, some fruit. Flavor is moderate sweet, toasted, light bitter. Light to medium bodied. Delicate bitter finish. I do think that the next time it might be tasting quite different...

Clear golden with light greyish hue and big white head. Light malts, touch of yeast, ligfht lemon, stone fruits, grass. Medium sweet with a herbal and slight metallic bitterness in the finish that is not very strong buit tastes very ’deep’ for lack of a bteer description. Light to medium bodied with pretty good full feel.