Rickard's Blonde (Canada) 5.0%
As regular readers know, I've already reviewed Rickard's
trio of beers. I enjoyed each of them (some bitterness towards Rickard's Dark regarding its replacement of my personal fave Rickards Honey Brown notwithstanding) so I was pleased when Rickard's came out with a new beer about two months ago: Rickard's Blonde.
This German style pilsner is a lovely deep gold colour - exactly the same colour of the can, the matching of the colours is a minor note but done with care taken is a sign of good things to come.
The aroma is malty, floral (a little bit of apple blossoms) and a little hoppy. The taste has a rich malt flavour with a mild sweetness as well as a fairly bitter blend of hops that reminds me of Czech pilsners. The rich maltiness and the pallet cleaning taste of hops make this a great beer to pair with all sorts of food: from gourmet cuisine to pub fare. The hops really come out well as the beer warms, the recommended serving temperature is between 4 & 5 degrees Celsius which is about 5 degrees cooler than the serving temperature of their other beers.
This isn't the most exotic tasting beer but it is a solid addition to the slew of pilsners out there and a good addition to Rickard's existing line of products.
Pokal Lys Pilsner (Norway) 4.7%
Altogether average and very drinkable. Gold in a glass and with a MILDLY bitter aftertaste. It is well on the cheap side of the beer options in Norway and as a result could be a staple during a Norwegian vacation: it is better than Borg Pilsner and almost exactly the same price. The only snag is that the flavour isn't worth going out of your way to find and it is only sold in Coop grocery stores which are not quite as common as the other grocery store chains in Oslo.
