To Øl Raid Beer Czech Pilsener at 5.2% ABV ($6.50 at Sherbrooke Liquor, 330ml, best before 19-Mar-2016)
Pours hazy pale amber with one finger of pillowy dense off-white head, excellent retention and heavy, chunky lacing. (4/5) Nose is citrus, piney dank resin, musk, caramel malt. (9/10) Taste is moderate sweet, moderate bitter. (8/10) Medium body, soft carbonation, mild bitter finish. (4/5)
So, what did you do tonight? Oh, just had the BEST PILSNER EVER. Lovely hoppy lager – in this case, a pilsner – that has about as much relationship to fizzy yellow adjunct garbage as chalk to cheese. Getting more of the Centennial and Citra citrus, and Simcoe west coast dank, than the Nelson Sauvin (my new favourite hop!) vinous character, but very nice regardless. Decently complex and layered, with lots of character. (Gee, hard to tell that these guys are old brewing buddies and students of Mikkeller’s, huh?) But, unlike his Øllen Om Bogen, this isn’t a hop bomb at all. I keep expecting the hops to blow up and storm my taste buds in an all-out assault, but they’re actually extremely polite as they completely redefine what a lager can be. The label says “Sometimes when you’re drunk you can see better” – I could drink enough of these to see better, for sure. (18/20)
8.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
