Burgkopf Pils
Brouwerij Martens NV

Burgkopf Pils – from Bockhold NV. 4 pack of 16.9 fl oz (500 mL) cans picked up at Franklin Beer Co, Franklin, PA, 13/04/24, $4.00 (Including tax), $ 0.0591/fl oz. Reviewed 16/04/24 (Review 3257). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Printed on the bottom of the can “00:322 L00929”. Stored at room temperature at the distributor, 34 degrees at home. Served at 46.9 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 51.6 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.5
First pour – Pale Straw (SRM 2), clear.
Body – Straw (SRM 3), clear.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.9 cm, aggressive center pour), white, high density, average retention, leaving a 1.5 – 2 mm crown, and a thin, rocky cap.
Lacing – Fair. Single band of tiny to small bubbles having many short stalactites.
Aroma – 3 – Barely detectable sweetness with corn. No yeast, no hops, no malt, no alcohol (5 % ABV as marked on the label).
Flavor – 3 – Begins slightly sweet with a bit of grain. No yeast, no hops, no malt. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. No ethanol. No gastric warming occurs.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium; watery; soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 Inoffensive beer with two things to recommend it as a lawnmower beer – cheap and nondescript. Hardly any flavor or aroma.

 

16oz can. Poured out a crystal clear, golden color with a small, bubbly head of white foam. It left some sudsy trails of lace. It smelled of caramel, grains, corn and some toffee. Kinda bland tasting with caramel and a mild bitterness.

Poured from a 500mL can with no date.

On the pour a 2 finger, bone white head that gets above the rim of my glass forms then over a few minutes becomes rocky and a bit fizzy, then recedes. Body is a standard pale gold with lively fine carbonation. There was an attempt at lacing.

Aroma is a bit oxidized and Metallic, some mistreated yeast aromas come through. Vaguely hoppy maybe. Some light sweet malts are present. Meh.

Flavor is nicer than the aroma. Almost a pilsner with a slight hit of bitterness, but no flavor from the hops seems to make it through the brewing and import process. A sweet slightly adjuncty lager with hints of diacetyl and somehow alcohol. Not great. Not as bad as the aroma, but still bad just in a different way.

Feel is extremely light although not the most crisp. A bit fizzy but also mouthcoating woth an intense carbonation bite, sort of like a soda. About the only thing this beer gets right is being very refreshing when ice cold.

Overall a bit of a letdown for a cheapo pilsner. For $7 for a 4 pack I expected at least better than Wolters, amd honestly it's not. I can see why Brouwerij Martens didn't put their name on the can, but the city name is right so I know this is the right listing. But why is there a different version of this beer brewed almost 700km away in Germany? Is that still active maybe a German market version? I'm a bit confused by the cheap euro beer market especially international versions.

 

 

First out - this 4 pack of 500mls comes in at 3.99. That's crazy value and really it's laughable to not consider that in this review. Now, as an out and out pils, does it beat out options from say Fox Farm or Hill Farmstead, or sidepours of Jack's Abby? No, it doesn't. But do those beers come in at 3.99? Well, for a single, yes.

So my thinking is, if you enjoy grabbing something you can sip on and enjoy on a Sunday afternoon, watching some sport, tending to something tasty out on the grill/smoker and just hanging out - this is your pick. If you're enjoying something more involved, perhaps go for the other options. At the price you've got great head retention, pleasing to the eye, no off notes, lovely malt/grain character both in aroma and in taste. Carbonation is muted and mild so it's not overly filling.

There's a distinct belge character for some reason, somewhere between the yeast and just the malt bill, hard to pin point but accentuates it for sure. Has a sort of helles, pale lager vibe to it. Beats *most* of what's out there at a budget price. Try it out!

From the can, it pours a clear yellow color with a nice head. Scents of grainy malt and a bit of floral hops. Taste is grainy malt - pleasant but unassuming.

16 oz. can. No freshness date

A: Pours clear pale yellow. Extreme carbonation. Large fluffy bone white head. Nice retention with a little sticky lacing.

S: Whiffs of sweet malts and crispy floral hops. Crackers. Cereal and grains. Not the best smelling Pilsner I’ve had.

T/M: Sweet and breads. Smooth and creamy. Grains. Cereal. Malts. Very light hop bit. Weak overall taste.

O: I don’t think this one is really a Pilsner. Malty and sweeter. Maybe not fresh. Great price tho. Might try again with fresher batch.

 

 

Clear, golden body; plenty of gently rising carbonation; thick and frothy white head; sticky rings of foam along the glass. Light cereal grain aroma. Tastes of biscuit and corn; a bit sweet; some hop bitterness with a bit of metallic edge. Medium body; smooth; semi-sweet mouthfeel throughout.

A drinkable pilsner, perhaps a bit too sweet and not quite as clean tasting as one would hope for, but okay overall.

Aroma is malts/grains and mild fruit. The flavor is fruit/slight dark fruit, malts/grains, lager yeast and a kind of odd/funky/thin/mildly sweet finish.

Saw this on sale at a local for $4 a 4-pack (.5 liter cans), thought I'd take a gamble. With such a German name I was surprised to see Belgium Pils on the can. Not sure why this is listed under Euro Pale Lager when Pils is very clear on the label.

Odd ink-jet coding on the can's bottom, but no real date to be found. Heed taken.

Poured into my medium Becher glass.

L -- Clear, pale straw color with a firm white head that slowly starts to dissipate into a kragy cap, but leaves nice lacing.

S -- Spicy, herbal hops up front. A touch of lemon and even lighter touch of graininess.

T -- Light bread and graininess forward with herbal hops in balance. Mild bitterness and citrus note in the finish and through the aftertaste.

F -- Mouthfeel is soft to crisp with a light body and soft finish.

O -- This beer is closer to a German style Pilsner than a Euro Lager, even though it's not the best example of a German Pilsner I've had. It's very smooth and easy drinking, maybe a touch light in hop bitterness for a Pilsner, but still more hoppy than a Helles or Euro Pale Lager. A good buy at $2 a liter.

 

Above average for the style. I do not understand why these average ratings are so low.
A good value, refreshing and a decent, sessionable beer for those who like more than one.

Looks are a deep gold with generous foam that sticks around.
Smells are not average; malty for the style, but does not pique my interest.
Tastes good; a full malt with just enough bitter hops to keep balance. Refreshing.
Feels quite soft and has contained bubbles, but that's my personal preference.

OA: a value for which I don't mind buying four ... for all the reasons above. A good find.

 

Clear golden ale with a tall white colored head.

Smells malty and of Belgian yeast. Powdery and spicy with some unexpected coriander in it. I do detect the scent of corn. Nobel hops but noting IDs the type smells grassy and that is about it. There is a funk I can't ID. Best I can describe it is "Farm."

Starts out bitter, malty and burned sugar. Light with a bitter snap and a malty finish. Somewhat fruity tasting.

Mouthfeel is light.

Overall a forgettable Euro Lager. Could be accurately called the "Budweiser Of Belgium"

 

500 ml can into lager glass, no can dating. Pours crystal clear pale golden/yellow color with a 1 finger dense and rocky white head with awesome retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of cracker, white bread dough, biscuit, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Some pear/apple yeast fruitiness in the aromas, but not too overwhelming. Okay aromas with pale malt and light earthy hop notes; with decent strength. Taste of cracker, white bread dough, biscuit, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Minimal herbal/grassy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of cracker, white bread dough, biscuit, and herbal/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Good robustness of pale malt and light earthy hop flavors; with a nice malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp/clean finishing. Lightly increasing dryness from bitterness. Fairly clean on lager flavors; mildly fruity/yeasty. Medium carbonation light body; with a very smooth, fairly bready/grainy, lightly sticky mouthfeel that is good. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is a okay pale lager. A bit too fruity/yeasty in the aromas, but has good levels of pale malt and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink; with the minimally bitter/drying finish. Nicely flavorful for the ABV, never watery feeling. This grew on me through the glass. Fairly clean pils malt flavors, with just enough hop balance. An enjoyable offering.