Belle Gueule Pilsner: A Löschzwerg on the mountain

At the risk of becoming repetitive and monotonous, I was on the top of a mountain today and I felt a tremendous thirst that needed to be extinguished. The local depanneur had a selection of beers, although exclusively in midget extinguisher size containers. The Belle Gueule Pilsner is the sister to the original Belle Gueule lager, with which it should not be confused. Both beers are fine brews by les Brasseurs RJ in Montreal, but the original Belle Gueule has a Munich or Vienna quality unlike most Canadian-brewed German style beers (notable exception to come in a future post, and that makes two more beers I will have to drink - poor me). For today, and not quite enough to extinguish my thirst, the Pilsner was the only choice from les Brasseurs RJ, which is a very nice interpretation of more northern German style Pilsener beers.

Les Brasseurs RJ are the outcome of a merger of three breweries, among which les Brasseurs GMT were the first microbrewery in Montreal, les Brasseurs de l'Anse were a regional brewer from the Saguenay Valley, and Brasserie Cheval Blanc was a separate brewery from the also well known Montreal brewpub of the same name (my readings tell me both were set up by the same person - references are available upon request). These fine people have since continued brewing their best products, helped bring the beers of the Bitburger Group into Quebec, and set up shop in the Plateau Montreal district, with a hall available to rent for private functions.

The Belle Gueule Pilsner has an exemplary malt character for a Canadian lager, close to the ultimate standard of German malt in a blond lager style. While there is some faint (mainstream Canadian) candy sweetness somewhere in the front of my palate, toward the middle, a rich taste of bread grain spreads on my tongue, saying (because it is  German malt flavor) "hallo mein Freund, lösch deinen Durst!" So I said "But how? - You're only a midget extinguisher! A Löschzwerg!" Still, Belle Gueule Pilsner is technically well made and has a sophisticated hop character that makes for a balanced taste from front to back and serves up a dry finish.

PS: let me add that I like the symmetries in the first photo below, the way certain elements line up and others criss-cross or diverge. I also like the refraction of the background through the clear golden colour of the amber nectar.