Rickard's Blonde

      I had tried all of the speciality and made by Alexander Keith's (Labatt's) which were brought to market to help compete with Rickard's (Molson-Coors). I have started to review the Rickard's series as well. Later I will do a side by side comparison of each beer after I have tasted both. The Rickard's blonde and Keith's Blonde are so completely different I don't feel that it would make sense to compare them side by side. Keith's is a warm rich blonde ale whereas Rickard's is a German-style lager.

Product:     Rickard's Blonde           

Brewer:     Molson - Coors

Style:         Pilsner, Lager

Alcohol:     5.0% alc/vol

Price:        $3.95 per 473ml can

Appearance: 

This beer doesn't look any different then a lot of other beer. Very pale in colour and its perfectly clear. What surprised me was that this beer, unlike Alexander Keith's actually retained a film of head after the initial pour.  The head started at approximately an inch and reduced to about an 1/8th of an inch.

Aroma: 

The first thing that hits the nose is the fruitiness. Rickard's Blonde has a very light and airy floral notes. You can smell the sweetness of malt  and there are some nice hoppy notes as well.

Flavour:

The flavour is nice and hoppy, which is to be expected in a German style pilsner. very yummy. Nice dry finish, not much of an aftertaste to speak of. The bitterness is pretty good in relation to the malts. it's not very sweet but the extra bitterness from the hops i think is the star of this beer.

Rickard's Blonde

3.5 / 5