France Made a Good Beer… Then Called It a Pils

France finally gives us a beer we actually enjoy — and then immediately confuses us by calling it a pils.This week we’re in Carcassonne, inside a 700-year-old fortress, drinking Ciutat Pils from Les Brasseurs de la Cité, a small artisanal brewery based in Carcassonne. Ciutat is the Occitan word for “the city”, and the brewery describes itself as a family-run artisan beer producer reconnecting with Carcassonne’s brewing history. The beer itself is 4.5%, bottom fermented, and described as a pils with pleasant bitterness and Central European-style aromas. But the moment we pour it, things go sideways: it’s hazy, murky, maltier than expected, more floral, more bitter, and not quite what either of us would confidently call a pilsner. There’s also chat about French beer culture, why wine dominates the South of France, why supermarket beer shelves feel weirdly sad, why Desperados is everywhere, and why Matt briefly relocates Carcassonne to Wales.A surprisingly good beer. A questionable pils. A fortress. Some frogs. And two men slowly losing confidence in their French pronunciation.Beer, Together — finding what’s worth sharing.