E. J. Phair Pilsner

06-Mar-08 (12 oz bottle) While this is a very flavorful pilsener, it’s extremely sweet. Additionally, the sweetness of the bready malts is enhanced by the strong, floral character of the hops. While the malt does have that rich, malt character of Czech pilseners, the sweetness is the overriding factor. The palate is medium-bodied and lacks the clean and crisp mouthfeel that pilseners are known for. Sweet and very floral fragrance in the nose with a lightly hoppy background aroma. Pale golden in color and slightly hazy. Small, white head dissipates fairly rapidly. Second attempt with this beer, and I’m still not too fond of this offering.

09-Sep-04 (12 oz bottle) I’ve yet to taste a floral Czech beer, and this one is so floral and yeasty, it doesn’t even seem remotely to emulate a Czech style pilsener. I’m not sure I’d even consider this a pilsener at all as it doesn’t really fit into any of the classic pilsener styles. It’s flavorful, lightly malty, quite sweet, and moderately bitter, but I’m so overwhelmed by the sweet, floral, yeasty nature of this beer, everything else seems way in the background. The palate is medium bodied and the antithesis of clean and crisp. Extremely floral fragrance in the nose with a lightly hoppy background aroma isn’t unpleasant, but certainly not to style. Pale golden in color and very slightly hazy. Large white head has excellent retention and leaves plenty of thick, dense lacing on the glass, so at least this is an attractive beer. (6, 4, 4, 3, 9 = 2.6)

Golden, smooth, citrus, bready, slight sweet malts, and a little bit of hops. Clean and crisp

To start with, I am not a pilsner fan, but it was hot, and Pete’s Brass Rail didn’t have too much that sounded good to me at the time, so I got a sample of this and a few others. I ordered a pint of this one after tasting it. Pours typical Pilsner pale gold with tight bubbles creating the same type of head. The nose was a bit toasty and biscuity, as was the smooth, clean flavor. Highly drinkable and deserving of a higher score.

~Pours a very light yellow colour, almost white when held to light, many bubbles and huge white fluffy head. Head is too large! ~Scent of sour wheat, very tart. Lemony ~Can taste light hops and citrus. ~Light and dry. Citrusy aftertaste. ~This is an enjoyable beer. Great when hot out. Its 100 degrees out right now. The scent is a little candy like and taste is a bit tart, but its pretty good.

Bottled
Pale yellow color, cloudy dishwater head. Fresh lemony nose. Very lemony-flowery hoppy flavor - this is very fruity American pils and certainly close to original European ones. Tickling hoppy and fruity flavor.