Argentina? We'll see, I guess.
Pours a perfectly clear golden yellow, with a small-ish white head. decent carbonation, but it seems kind of slow. Smells like it'll be a German Pilsner, even though the label is silent on style. Has the funky pils smell, but it's also fairly malty and poured a bit slow and oily, so it's not looking like a more crisp Czech version.
Kind of what I'd expect if Budweiser made a pilsner. It's actually more crisp than I expected, but lighter in the taste than I expected as well. Almost like a Euro Golden, but S. America's brewing traditions are more German and more traditional so I'm sticking with pils. All in all not too bad. I've definitely had worse, but it's fairly bland for the style and has a hint of adjunct grains giving the bitterness a bit of cardboard taste as opposed to hops.
Nothing to look for, but nothing to avoid.
Showing posts with label German Pilsner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German Pilsner. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Penn Brewery's Penn Pilsner
It must be Pennsylvania Brewery Day. Although this one has less of an old school look and feel. I'm hoping that's made up by the fact that Pilsner is one of my favorite styles, even if it's the lesser funky German style.
Pours a fast, deep clear yellow with a good light tan head for a pils. Low carbonation for a lager. Smells very sweet and malty even for a German pils. Has more funk the deeper you draw.
Moderate cardboardy bitterness, which is almost always an indicator of weak or adjunct malt grains. Crisp lager feel, but the odd bitterness overpowers the funk that a pils should have.
This one goes way down on the list of pilsners to buy if I see it again. Just off the mark, overly bitter with an underwhelming pils flavor.
Pours a fast, deep clear yellow with a good light tan head for a pils. Low carbonation for a lager. Smells very sweet and malty even for a German pils. Has more funk the deeper you draw.
Moderate cardboardy bitterness, which is almost always an indicator of weak or adjunct malt grains. Crisp lager feel, but the odd bitterness overpowers the funk that a pils should have.
This one goes way down on the list of pilsners to buy if I see it again. Just off the mark, overly bitter with an underwhelming pils flavor.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Atwater Brewery's Atwater Pilsner
As I've mentioned before, Pilsner is easily one of my most favorite styles. And although I prefer the Czech variant, German pilsners are very good too. But a beer from Detroit?
Pours a deep yellow to orange with a huge light tan head for a pils. Good carbonation means that the head stays for quite a while. Based on color and head retention, this one is shaping up to be very close to Scrimshaw Pilsner, which is a good thing.
Like a German pils should, it smells more malty and less skunky than a Czech. Solid light bread is secondary to to the pils funk that is as much bitterness as the skunk's ass smell that a pilsner must have. Basically more subdued than an in-your-face Czech, but that's appropriate for the style.
Reminds me just a tad of some of the Mexican Macro lagers, mostly Carta Blanca. The body is heavier, and this has more of the pils flavor, but its bitterness tastes a bit like wet cardboard. That's mostly as it warms though, so drink this one cold when it's more like Scrimshaw and less like sucking on a box. When cold it's a good beer, and is right in line with what a German pils should be like, but warmer it loses its character and is just indistinctly bitter.
Pours a deep yellow to orange with a huge light tan head for a pils. Good carbonation means that the head stays for quite a while. Based on color and head retention, this one is shaping up to be very close to Scrimshaw Pilsner, which is a good thing.
Like a German pils should, it smells more malty and less skunky than a Czech. Solid light bread is secondary to to the pils funk that is as much bitterness as the skunk's ass smell that a pilsner must have. Basically more subdued than an in-your-face Czech, but that's appropriate for the style.
Reminds me just a tad of some of the Mexican Macro lagers, mostly Carta Blanca. The body is heavier, and this has more of the pils flavor, but its bitterness tastes a bit like wet cardboard. That's mostly as it warms though, so drink this one cold when it's more like Scrimshaw and less like sucking on a box. When cold it's a good beer, and is right in line with what a German pils should be like, but warmer it loses its character and is just indistinctly bitter.
Atwater Brewery's Atwater Pilsner
As I've mentioned before, Pilsner is easily one of my most favorite styles. And although I prefer the Czech variant, German pilsners are very good too. But a beer from Detroit?
Pours a deep yellow to orange with a huge light tan head for a pils. Good carbonation means that the head stays for quite a while. Based on color and head retention, this one is shaping up to be very close to Scrimshaw Pilsner, which is a good thing.
Like a German pils should, it smells more malty and less skunky than a Czech. Solid light bread is secondary to to the pils funk that is as much bitterness as the skunk's ass smell that a pilsner must have. Basically more subdued than an in-your-face Czech, but that's appropriate for the style.
Reminds me just a tad of some of the Mexican Macro lagers, mostly Carta Blanca. The body is heavier, and this has more of the pils flavor, but its bitterness tastes a bit like wet cardboard. That's mostly as it warms though, so drink this one cold when it's more like Scrimshaw and less like sucking on a box.
Pours a deep yellow to orange with a huge light tan head for a pils. Good carbonation means that the head stays for quite a while. Based on color and head retention, this one is shaping up to be very close to Scrimshaw Pilsner, which is a good thing.
Like a German pils should, it smells more malty and less skunky than a Czech. Solid light bread is secondary to to the pils funk that is as much bitterness as the skunk's ass smell that a pilsner must have. Basically more subdued than an in-your-face Czech, but that's appropriate for the style.
Reminds me just a tad of some of the Mexican Macro lagers, mostly Carta Blanca. The body is heavier, and this has more of the pils flavor, but its bitterness tastes a bit like wet cardboard. That's mostly as it warms though, so drink this one cold when it's more like Scrimshaw and less like sucking on a box.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
North Coast Brewing Company's Scrimshaw Pilsner
We just had a cold snap here in Houston, so you'd think tonight would call for at least a porter, and maybe a stout or barley wine. But, dinner is a huge bowl of a pretty spicy lentil soup, and nothing goes better with spicy food than a pilsner.
This one pours a super clear yellow, with a white head that thins but stays due to good carbonation. That's fairly unusual for a pils, even a malty German one.
Smells crisp and has the right pils funk, but it's pretty light. More sophisticated? We'll see. Definitely smells maltier. Not quite sweet, but just more substantial.
It's a more subtle, more malty German pils, instead of a more funky in your face Czech type. Moderate bitterness with a heavier body than a Czech, so it doesn't fizz away in the feel as fast and isn't as sharp in the smell or taste.
Good beer. I prefer Chezchs, but this is right on type for a German. My only complaint is that it's a little too sweet, but again that's from the maltier German style. Many people say a German pils is a lot hoppier, but this one shows that you can do it right without over-hopping it (I'm looking at you, Prima Pils, you ridiculous excuse for a beer).
This one pours a super clear yellow, with a white head that thins but stays due to good carbonation. That's fairly unusual for a pils, even a malty German one.
Smells crisp and has the right pils funk, but it's pretty light. More sophisticated? We'll see. Definitely smells maltier. Not quite sweet, but just more substantial.
It's a more subtle, more malty German pils, instead of a more funky in your face Czech type. Moderate bitterness with a heavier body than a Czech, so it doesn't fizz away in the feel as fast and isn't as sharp in the smell or taste.
Good beer. I prefer Chezchs, but this is right on type for a German. My only complaint is that it's a little too sweet, but again that's from the maltier German style. Many people say a German pils is a lot hoppier, but this one shows that you can do it right without over-hopping it (I'm looking at you, Prima Pils, you ridiculous excuse for a beer).
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Victory Brewing's Prima Pils
One of my favorite commenters on my favorite beer website recently said "Think, American Brewers, think! Just because you CAN, doesn't mean you SHOULD."
Now, I have no idea what beer he was talking about, if he was talking about any particular beer at all. More than likely the snooty Brit was bemoaning the state of American brewing generally. But if he was going to be talking about a certain beer, I can only imagine it would be Prima Pils.
Now, pilsner is one of my favorite beer styles, period. I love the crisp, clean, and slightly sharp taste of a Czech pilsner like Budvar, Rebel, or Urquell. I also enjoy the slightly more malty German pilsners like Warsteiner Premium Verum, or the American Scrimshaw Pilsner by North Coast Brewery. But even more I love that funky taste that all pilsners should have, the funk that smells and tastes like a skunk's ass. It's not skunky in the usual sense of the word, it just is what it is, and the type requires it.
But Prima Pils has got to be the worst pilsner I have ever had. True to Victory's style it's overly hopped, a cardinal sin for a pils if you ask me. Again, just because you can doesn't mean you should. The other Victory offerings are good. They're hoppy and bitter, with a heavier body than most beers in the types they offer. But hoppy isn't right for every beer, and it's a tragedy for this one. I know lots of hop heads who can't stop raving about it, but I'm convinced now more than ever that their taste buds are either screwed or they think there's only one style of beer, that its main characteristic is hops, and that as long as there's at least twice as much in it than there should be, it's perfect for whatever style it claims to be. Even when it's not.
It is a decidedly sophomoric way to brew and taste beer. And it is simply wrong.
This one pours more of an orangeish yellow than any pils I've seen. Looks like it'll be fuller bodied than others, with a white head that thins to a collar quickly with moderate carbonation.
Smells like a pils on the sweet side--fairly malty, which is appropriate for a German pils, and more floral, which is not. Smell is lighter than I expected from the way it looks. No bitterness. No real crispness to it, like I want in a pils. Not the usual pils funk that it should have either, just that light bready malty sweetness. The absence of the funk makes this beer a loser before I even taste it. A pils should also have a fizzy head that throws off that pilsner smell, and although this is a heavier German pils, it still doesn't come close to having the right look or smell.
Ugh. Odd. Barely has the taste that a pils should have. Too hoppy for a pils. Medicinal band aid taste that you'd expect in a Belgian, but it's way out of place here. I thought it smelled more like a pale than a pils, except that it didn't have any bitterness. Well, the taste is much more like a pale because the bitterness is too strong. As it warms it gains a slight bit of pilsner taste, but it's still too bitter, and a pils is better cold.
Terrible pils, way off type. Might have been a halfway decent pale. Might. What an awful beer.
Now, I have no idea what beer he was talking about, if he was talking about any particular beer at all. More than likely the snooty Brit was bemoaning the state of American brewing generally. But if he was going to be talking about a certain beer, I can only imagine it would be Prima Pils.
Now, pilsner is one of my favorite beer styles, period. I love the crisp, clean, and slightly sharp taste of a Czech pilsner like Budvar, Rebel, or Urquell. I also enjoy the slightly more malty German pilsners like Warsteiner Premium Verum, or the American Scrimshaw Pilsner by North Coast Brewery. But even more I love that funky taste that all pilsners should have, the funk that smells and tastes like a skunk's ass. It's not skunky in the usual sense of the word, it just is what it is, and the type requires it.
But Prima Pils has got to be the worst pilsner I have ever had. True to Victory's style it's overly hopped, a cardinal sin for a pils if you ask me. Again, just because you can doesn't mean you should. The other Victory offerings are good. They're hoppy and bitter, with a heavier body than most beers in the types they offer. But hoppy isn't right for every beer, and it's a tragedy for this one. I know lots of hop heads who can't stop raving about it, but I'm convinced now more than ever that their taste buds are either screwed or they think there's only one style of beer, that its main characteristic is hops, and that as long as there's at least twice as much in it than there should be, it's perfect for whatever style it claims to be. Even when it's not.
It is a decidedly sophomoric way to brew and taste beer. And it is simply wrong.
This one pours more of an orangeish yellow than any pils I've seen. Looks like it'll be fuller bodied than others, with a white head that thins to a collar quickly with moderate carbonation.
Smells like a pils on the sweet side--fairly malty, which is appropriate for a German pils, and more floral, which is not. Smell is lighter than I expected from the way it looks. No bitterness. No real crispness to it, like I want in a pils. Not the usual pils funk that it should have either, just that light bready malty sweetness. The absence of the funk makes this beer a loser before I even taste it. A pils should also have a fizzy head that throws off that pilsner smell, and although this is a heavier German pils, it still doesn't come close to having the right look or smell.
Ugh. Odd. Barely has the taste that a pils should have. Too hoppy for a pils. Medicinal band aid taste that you'd expect in a Belgian, but it's way out of place here. I thought it smelled more like a pale than a pils, except that it didn't have any bitterness. Well, the taste is much more like a pale because the bitterness is too strong. As it warms it gains a slight bit of pilsner taste, but it's still too bitter, and a pils is better cold.
Terrible pils, way off type. Might have been a halfway decent pale. Might. What an awful beer.
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