Ch’ti Blonde

Enjoying a Ch’ti Blonde in the garden at home in France, 2013

A quirky name for a beer: Ch'ti is the Northern dialect of France. If you ever saw a film called Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, called Welcome To The Sticks in English, you may recognise the name. And the beer, which they drank endlessly in the film.

The brewery who makes it is Castelain (https://brasseriecastelain.com) which is located, naturally in the north of France at a town called Bénifontaine, in the direction of Lille. It also makes Jade (see separate entry for it) and Castelain, which I have never tasted.

This is the blonde, they also make an ambree which I’ve never tried because I don’t like that style of beer, and several other styles but I’ve only ever tried the blonde, and only from a bottle. It’s quite widely available in shops.

It’s 6.4% alcohol which is a bit on the high side for me; it’s not a favourite although certainly drinkable, just not as refreshing as the better French beers. I don’t go out of my way to buy it, put it that way.

4.5/10