American pilsners, v. 2

Pilsners get no real love from American beer geeks.  Maybe a bit at the high end -- the ones that aim for the more aggressively hopped German or Bohemian styles.  But even that's a bit of a stretch for American brewers who for better or worse often saw themselves as moving away from the dumbed down mass-market American versions of the style.

Don't get me wrong, I like a PBR now and again, but they are beers to throw down not to savor.  So it was a surprise to find that some of the new American "pilsners" are really kind of tastier versions of this easy-drinking end of the style.  Really for BJCP judges, these would be maybe premium light lagers rather than pilsners proper.  Full Sail's Session Lager is already a favorite of mine in this category, but in tasting a bunch of beers labeled as pilsners, a couple of others stood.  Call them surprisingly tasty not-quite pilsners.

• Red Hook Rope Swing (US, 5.3%)  They call this a "summer pilsner."  It's a really nice easy-drinking beer, though it poses a bit of a conundrum.  It's somewhere between a pilsner and an English-style summer beer.  The beer has a light golden color, with a slight haze and solid carbonation.  In the aroma it has a light fruity ester and almost an orangey hop note -- both very "English" -- along with the clean malt.  It doesn't scream "pils malt" but at least it's a very clean 2-row malt.  Similar profile in the flavor with a clean malt flavor, a hint of orange and pear-like ester, then a quick hit of bitterness.  The floral hop flavor stays into the finish.  This one is not dry as pilsners often are, but has a touch of sweetness without being heavy.  It's a really nice, complex beer but not a traditional pilsner at all.  The website lists the hops as Saaz, but I would have thought Goldings for sure.  Red Hook also say it's 25 IBU and 12.7 Plato, with malts listed as pale, carapils, Caramel and Munich.  Not by far the best as a pilsner beer, but it's a lighter beer with a lot of character.  I'll have to look for this again!

• New Belgium Blue Paddle (4.8%) A summertime seasonal from New Belgium, very refreshing beer and a bit of a surprise to me.  It's one of the lighter of the US pilsners in gravity.  Given this and its very light color, I thought this would be a little low on flavor.  The aroma didn't have very much going on; a faint malt note and that was about it.  But in the mouth there was a nice complex maltiness -- fat German pils malt, a bit of graham cracker like graininess, and a dry finish with a bit of a hop bite.  Again, not the number one pils, but an interesting beer.

By the way, a quick note on two continental pilsners that don't really fit established guidelines either.  Or at least not BJCP categories.  I'm not in favor of ever-proliferating categories like the Brewers' Association seems to be, but I also think that a lot of American homebrewers and beer judges don't really recognize that there are beers that are similar, but not quite the same as, some of these established style.  Two examples here too:

• Steigl Goldenbrau (Austria)  I love this beer.  It's marketed as simply a "lager" by the Steigl brewery, though they add that it's 12 degrees Plato (about 1.048, ie, classic strength) and lightly hopped.  Probably best considered as a helles by BJCP categories, unless you want to add yet another category - Salzburg style lager or something.  Full golden color and clean pils malt aroma with just a hint of sweetness.  Fat, full, dry malt profile that I just can't get enough of.  The touch of bitterness emerges at the end, just drying out the finish.  I think this one is drier and more pils like than the Steigl pils maybe, though I actually like that beer better.  It's an exceptionally lovely, delicate beer.  Which of course means the morons rate it a "B" on BeerAdvocate and a 28 on RateBeer.  I guess it's not a "craft beer."

• Karlovacko (Croatia) 500 ml.  Maybe this would be called an example of an Adriatic Pils or some such?  Just say it's in the Bohemian tradition I guess.  But this bottle has the flavor that almost all of the Croatian pilsners have.  I drank a lot of this stuff when I was there -- about 20 years ago now...good lordy I'm old.  Karlovac is inland a bit, not far from Zagreb.  Did I tell you the story about ingratiating myself with the traveling New Zealand national rugby team at the Zagreb bar since I was apparently the only one around who could figure out the local currency system? Another time maybe... Anyway the beer.  Not everyone will like it but it is typical of the area.  The aroma features pils malt and clean hops with more than a touch of sulphur.  A touch of the "green bottle aroma" which is actually kind of a feature of the beer, even locally, and not entirely unpleasant.  Flavor has the same malty/lagery/sulphury profile as the aroma.  The really full carbonation dries it out a bit.  Maybe 35ish IBUs, but the bitterness seems rounded rather than sharp.

American pilsners, v. 1

Hey all.  Warmer weather is rolling around.  I'm brewing a Munich style Helles as I write, just for something light and malty.  Father-in-law drank me dry on a pretty reasonable pilsner I had just the other week too.

Over the last many months I've been taking notes on a few of the craft brewed American pilsners that I've seen on the shelves.  Pretty scattershot, but it seemed as if there were quite a few new ones that I hadn't tried along with a few old standbys that I have.  It was also interesting to go through some of these beers with a group studying to take the BJCP exam for the first time as well -- it's one thing to suck a few of these beers down at a picnic, and its another to stop and think about them.  So here's my notes on a few, pulled together out of the chaos...call this the first in a short series.

GERMAN STYLE PILSNERS
There are a few American beers that aim squarely for the aggressively hopped, dry German style.  I love them, it's kind of fun to see other homebrewers and craft beer drinkers come back to them and realize how good they are.  While the brewers may put their own spin on it, and in some cases add an "American" twist too, these beers are very much within an established style.  Recognizing that "passion is not an ingredient," these are very good, clean, and refreshing without being boring in the least.

• Victory Prima Pils (US, 5.3% abv).  Snappy aroma - floral with a touch of citrus.  Fluffy and very long lasting head.  This beer is bitter to the level of the classic German pilsners, in the same range as the Schell's. This is one of the more aggressive German style pilsners available to American audiences.  Maybe 40-45 IBUs?  The clean malt makes it seem like more, actually.  The boatload of hops give it almost a soapy finish that some people really don't like.  Really nice beer, though it's lacking some of the malt presence of my favorite continental versions.

• Schell's Pils (US, 5.3%)  Bitter!  Really sharply bitter, at the level that German-style pilsners should be, I'd guess maybe close to 40 IBU based on this bottle, though it seems less on draft.  Pretty floral hop aroma, with a bit of vine-like greenness.  Clean pils malt in the aroma as well, though not the fat, pillowy malt of some German examples. I think I like the draft better -- this bottle is fresh, but has a bit of a steely tang in the finish that mars it a bit.  Not sure if this is from the water or just the hop bitterness contributing this.  I served this one to folks in the beer judging class we're doing and had them judge it blind.  They liked it less than the Victory, but the bitterness of both beers surprised them.

A couple of others worth mentioning that I liked very much but which were new to me.  The Left Hand looks like it's a year round brew.  The Full Sail was a one-off in a series, if you didn't try it you'll just have to take my word for it.

• Left Hand Polestar Pilsner (US, 5.5%) Very light color, straw rather than gold.  Slight haze. Clean malt flavor with a bit of depth to it.  Sharp bitterness, and floral hop on the finish.  This one is not a favorite, but it is a nice change of pace, the floral note is pronounced and makes it really stand out.  For the record, this one is very American in ingredients as well. They list ingredients as Weyermann pilsner malt along with American 2-row, and American versions of German hops -- Magnum, Mt Hood and Sterling.

• Full Sail "LTD Edition Lager" (US, 5.6%)  This was apparently #3 in their limited series. Full Sail's "Session" beers -- the lager and the dark -- are two of my favorite easy-drinking everyday lager beers.  This one is aimed squarely at the German pilsner style.  This can get lost in all the description so I'll say it clearly -- this one is REALLY GOOD.  Full gold color, relatively deep in color actually.  White head that settles quickly.  Full, rich, malty aroma even as soon as the bottle cap comes off.  Clean but fat lager malt with a hint of floral hop.  Maybe even a bit of American hop sharpness?  In the flavor, the bitterness sneaks up.  It comes a second after you expect it.  Very firm bitterness -- it's listed as 35 IBU, and I guessed about 40 based on the bite in the finish.  It has a bit of sweetness actually but the hops and carbonation make it finish dry. A little "soapy" in the finish from the hops.  Interesting that it tastes American -- the malt is fat but not "Euro."  Seems like I was right on that; website lists 2-row (presumably American), 35 IBU and Sterling hops.  Really nice beer.