Russian River HUGE large Sound Czech Pilsner

Brewed by Russian River Brewing
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Santa Rosa, California USA

Hand bottle shared by iowaherkeye. Thanks! Poured a clear light orange color with a fizzy white head. Pleasant aroma of Euro-trash hops (Saaz), pale malt, and hay. I also got a whiff of bacon. That’s right, bacon. Light to medium bodied and dry with mild to moderate bitterness. Tasted of pine, fresh saaz, pale malt/cereal grain, and hay. Great pilsener.

A golden pils with a thick creamy white head. A light malt aroma with some bready note, german hops, very classy. In mouth, a biscuitty malt with strong Saaz hops, smooth yet HUGE. On tap at Russian River Beer and BBQ Revival, August 15 2009.

Tap at Stone 13th Anniversary Celebration. Pours a clear bodied golden hue. Decent light maltiness, some breadiness, and a touch of hops. Solid for the style.

On tap at the stone 13th fest. Nice pilsner. Clear gold pour, white head. Light malty biscuits, fresh hop bitterness, and some grassiness. Easy drinking.

I thought this was very well done for a Pilsner. Certainly modeled after the crisp bitterness in PIlsner Urquell, the beer surprised me. I am not a Pilsner fan whatsoever, but I would drink this beer all summer long. Thick for its style, and bitter enough to drive home some flavor, it was perfect with some pizza from the RR pub.

Clear dark yellow with a fizzy white head. Floral hops and cereal grain aroma. Crisp citrus and grain taste.

Bottle shared from iowaherkeye. Odd vegetable aromas, some lemon initially. Golden color with an off white head. Rich enough with dryish flavors and some cheesiness. Palate is pretty creamy. Rich developing flavor. Good.

On tap at the brewpub. Mostly hazy, pale straw colored body with a finger of fizzy white head. Moderate herbal/spicy noble hop aroma with a faint, crackery pils malt note in the background. Clean and fresh aroma. Not as inviting of a pils malt aroma as I’d like, but the juiciness of the hop aroma is certainly welcome. Light bodied, moderately carbonated mouthfeel with a soft, silky texture. Light crackery malt presence up front, followed quickly by a powerful herbal hop flavor. Intensely hoppy, with an herbal/spicy character that almost approaches grapefruit in quality, but still maintains a "noble" hop perception. Finishes dry, with a refreshing hop bitterness lingering on the palate. This is an awesome, summertime refreshing pilsner example with a hop flavor that provides stiff competition for prima pils. The board stated 33IBU’s, but my perception would be more in the 45-50 range. A little bit more pils malt complexity would be nice, but the mouthfeel is right on and I wouldn’t want that to get in the way of the hop character. Overall, a very enjoyable beer.