For beer lovers Belgium is a truly amazing country. This small country- it is about the size of the US state of Maryland-produces an incredibly diverse range of beers and many of them are top-fermented and some bottle-manured. The Alken Maes brewery alone produces over 30 beers and in this country, beer is accorded huge respect by a surprisingly large proportion of the population. Maes is a very popular beer in Belgium and it is estimated that over 12, 000 pubs and other drinking establishments in Belgium and Holland, serve Maes. Fortunately too there are a growing number of pubs in places such as London, Brighton, York, Leicester and Liverpool that serve some Belgian beers, as well as supermarkets and off licences stocking them. Maes Pils, the subject of this particular review, is brewed by Alken Maes, the second biggest Belgian brewery, and they in turn are linked with Scottish & Newcastle, the huge British brewers. Based in Waarloos, Alken Maes, have been in business since 1880 when founder Egled Maes purchased a brewery.Today the company has four different breweries and besides Maes Pils, is renowned for its Maes Cool, Mort Subite and high fermentaton beers like Grimbergen, Brugs, and Judas.It even has a Royal Warrant for in 1998 King Albert II officially declared Alken Maes a Certified Royal Warrant holder. Alkan Maes has a cooperation agreement with the UK restaurant chain Belgo, so you will be able to have a glass or two of Maes Pils with your Mussels and other Belgian culinary specialities. What about Maes Pils.? It weighs in on the alcohol by volume (ABV) scale at a weighty 4.9 % and is what I would term a classic European style pilsener. It is of golden colour and has a nice frothy head. It has something of a light malty flavour and a hint of a hoppy bitterness. It is a very drinkable beer. Maes Pils has a flowery ’’ reisling’’ bouquet and is a real quality beer which is brewed according to time honoured methods., It is in many regards a very typical Belgian pilsener . and is brewed to very traditional methods with high quality standards.
I should add that the brewery producing Maes Pils has obtained the quality certificate ISO 9003-now that cant be bad. I have sampled Maes Pils on a number of visits to Ostend, Brussels and Bruges and always found it to be a most enjoyable, consistent and reliable beer. A good advert for the Belgian brewing industry.It goes very well with a classic beek steak and frittes and would also accompany light Italian dishes as well as fiery curries very well. Maes beers are so easy to find in their home country, in neighbouring Holland and increasingly the off trade in Britain stock this Belgian beer.You will also , as I mentioned previously, find pubs which serve Maes beer! Maes Pils certianly gets a big thumbs up from me ! Thanks for reading this review !