Cristal

Following on the tasting notes for Leffe Blond, here’s another write-up of an all too obvious beer, and the first pilsner-style beer ever reviewed in this blog: Cristal, from the Alken-Maes Brewery.

We’re enjoying this one on the terrace -- a fantastic late-day sun-trap -- after a hard day of gardening. Spring feels like it’s here to stay now.

The beer at first doesn’t seem much different from any other pilsner-style beer. It’s crisp and clear and low alcohol (4.8%). Not challenging the palette, though refreshing enough.

Then the aftertaste kicks in and pow: your mouth is full of blood. Not literally the red stuff, mind you, but an overwhelmingly strong flavour of iron. Fiona noticed it when she had a Cristal at the bowling alley last week. I imagine it’s the water they use rather than anything the brewery does during production. It’s not exactly unpleasant. For us, in fact, it evokes memories of visits to Bohemian spas, where the curing waters are always iron-rich.

With that, I’ll leave you with a few snaps from our garden...