Appearance: clear gold with a moderate white frothy head of medium retention. Aroma and taste: cracker malt, grassy and spicy hop. Light dweet, solid bitterness. Mouth feel: medium body, soft to average carbonation. Overall: OK.

Draft. Straw beer with a whitish head. Light malt aroma. Malt and light caramel flavor with light grain. Medium bodied. Malt and light caramel linger. Avenue Pub in NOLA

Glass, 25 cl, cask, drunk at Restobières, after the 4th International Conference on Administrative Data Research, savoured on December 13, 2019; eye: golden, limpid, no effervescence, ring of beige head, slight lacing; nose: corn, malt, slight hops; mouth: corn, malt, slight hops, light caramel, finale in corn with slight presence of caramel, light-medium body, average carbonation, slightly bitter, lightly sweet, slick texture; in summary: correct

FRANÇAIS
Verre, 25 cl, en fût, bue chez Restobières, après la 4th International Conference on Administrative Data Research, savourée le 13 décembre 2019; œil : dorée, limpide, pas d'effervescence, anneau de mousse beige, très légère dentelle; nez : maïs, malt, très léger houblon; bouche : maïs, malt, très léger houblon, léger caramel, finale en maïs avec très légère présence de caramel, corps léger-moyen, carbonatation moyenne, très légèrement amère, légèrement sucrée, texture coulante; en résumé : correct

Bottle.Golden colour with large white head who stays.Aroma is sweet malty with light body aroma of hops and straw light body and mild finish.

At last I meet this old (since 1986) Belgian classic, after having seen signs of it on pubs in Western Flanders for many years and having read about it in Michael Jackson's books about Belgian beer culture years ago - strange that this oldtimer has apparently eluded me so far. Snow white, irregularly edged, mousy, quite loose head, disintegrating and eventually all but gone; cristal clear (old) gold robe with some thin strings of sparkling here and there. Aroma of soggy barley, sourish grains, touch of old bread crust even but very subtly so, freshly cut grass and sowthistles, minor lightstruck effect (cat pee), damp cotton cloth, hints of straw bales, minerals and rainwater. Neutral onset with only light cereally sweetishness, sourish edge too but very grainy, relatively soft carbonation for the style, but still tasting minerally; slick grainy body, sweetish but not corn-like, feeling quite genuine. Ends with a dash of grassy, even slightly floral hoppiness, providing a bit of drying, soapy, quenching bitterness to the finish, at least (a little bit) more so than is averagely the case in standard pale lager. Glad I finally 'ticked' this one: this has quite an 'honest', all-malt character and subtle yet noticeable hoppiness to it. Granted, everything remains very understated and subtle, but this clearly is of a different level than e.g. Jupiler, Maes or Stella: it feels more old-fashioned, like the pale lagers that were so proliferous in the fifties, sixties and seventies in Belgium, and less industrial. Very subdued, all in all, but I am comparing and judging here on a 'micro' level, i.e. within the standard pale lager paradigm - and in that particular context, tasted from a close angle with no prejudice hindering me, I can see why Michael Jackson deemed it one of the better pale lagers of Belgium (not that this means anything, mind you). For a standard pale lager, this is not the worst choice you can make, by far, but it does remain a simple, plain pale lager, of course...

Van de tap (een stuk of 8) in café De Bontekoe in Leiden op 15-2-2019 met Ruud en Harry. Helder geel, goed wit schuim. Een lekkere doordrinkpils, had iets bitterder gemogen.

Straw yellow beer, small head. Aroma is malt, grain, slightly metalic. Taste is the same, bitter, somewhat sweet.

Bottle at Eurostar lounge, 3rd November 17. Straw colour. Aroma is typical lager, taste is hay, slight yeast, clean and refreshing.

At Brussels Beer festival September 2017. On tap. Had this before i was on Ratebeer so needs a fresh rate. Clear gold colour lasting white head. Yeasty lager aroma. Very light in mouth. Cold. Drinkable in that its a cold drink. Some good bitterness on finish from hops and not carbonation. Dullish but ok. Good finish.