Foothills Torch Pilsner

Brewed by Foothills Brewing
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA

Sample @ Foothills: Pours a pale yellow with a sweet and grassy aroma. My notes say that it smelled like ethanol, but, I’m pretty certain I don’t know what ethanol sounds like. Highly carbonated and a bit yeasty, this has a ton of malt in it. Not really my style.

Tap. Light gold in color with nice smell. Well balanced and not overpowering in any way. A pretty good beer to start my night.

A nice pilsner. Had more flavor than your average pilsner. A nice pale look to it, not much on the nose, and not a ton on the flavor, but pilsners rarely are (except for grass and skunk when you get full flavor). There was some grass, but also some spicey notes, maybe some apples.

Part of a draft sampler from the brewpub. Touch of yeast and grassy on the nose. Thin flavors of straw, lemons, and pepper. Not a bad pils, but not too great or memorable.

On tap at Flying Saucer in Raleigh. Really not that good, unfortunately... this is my second Foothills brew and I liked the Seeing Double IPA much better. Still, I look forward to trying their other brews.

Fruity hop aroma and flavor. No head. Grassy. Lingering slightly bitter finish.

On tap at the brewery. A deep golden color with a very thin fizzy head. Has a really nice bitter apple skin nose. The flavor is a lot more complex than a normal pilsner. Has some fruity esters with apples and toffee. A little bit of carbonation, but a solid medium body and a dry bitter finish. Note: Though I thoroughly enjoyed this, the asst. brewmaster said this was fermented at a normal temp and probably had the fruity notes because it was old strain of yeast that had been pitched too much. It’s a shame because I really enjoyed this.

Sampled on location, poured a bright off-yellow color with some copper tones when held to the light. The head retention was a little lacking as was the lace. The smell was light. Hard to really get much out of it but some stronger more earthy malt smells were there. The taste was more of an American feel. The malt is very crisp and clear with some lighter more basic malts. A good zing of hops that become more noticeable at the end. A slight zing to it. The beer is balanced well with malt and hops. Both accentuate the other, malt up front and hop in the back. The body is light which is good per style. There is a good backing but some lighter sense almost gives it a watered down taste. Truthfully I didn’t notice but it was by others in my party. So overall it was a good American pilsner.