Glacier Bohemian Pilsener

Brewed by Glacier BrewHouse
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Anchorage, Alaska USA

On tap @ the brewhouse. Golden in color with an average white head. Aroma of mildly spicy hops and a light bready scent. The flavor was sweet malt balanced with the bitter hops. Crisp refreshing mouth feel for this light bodied beer. Easy drinking, especially on a hot day.

19-Jan-08 (Draft: Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage, AK) I couldn’t remember if I had tried this on any of my past visits to Anchorage, so unfortunately, I ended up revisiting this one. As with my previous sample three years ago, this beer is sweet! Honey-like, bready and grainy, but very light on hop flavor and bitterness, and no spiciness. Likewise, the nose is sweet and bready. Medium in body. Without much hop character, the beer naturally lacks crispness and is neither clean nor refreshing on the palate. It is sparkling clear and golden in color with half an inch of white head that settles to a filmy layer and wide ring. Overall, like many Glacier Brewhouse beers, this one is far too sweet.

24-Jul-05 (Draft: Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage, AK) Once again, and this is my third visit, none of the darker or bigger beers on tap at Glacier Brewhouse. What gives? But at least they have a new beer for me to try. This pilsner is malty for sure, but oddly sweet, kind of a caramel or honey sweetness, I’m not sure, and it seems out of place here. Mild bitterness balances the beer in the finish. Again, the nose is malty, but I can’t seem to place the odd sweetness. Lighter body, and the finish isn’t all that crisp. Dark straw color, perfectly clear, with plenty of carbonation bubbles when first poured, though that really slacks off after a few minutes and looks still. White head pours to a half-inch in height, and though fading to a sheen, it still leaves a fairly dense curtain of lace behind. Not bad, but again, this is just your generic microbrew beer. All right, but not something I’d order again. (6, 3, 5, 3, 11 = 2.8)

Upon recieving this beer, I went to take a small sniff to pick up some aroma. Thinking my nose was malfunctioning, I tried a bigger whiff. Still nothing. I took a few sniffs of air, a quick sniff of the shirt, then went in for the kill. Sniffing my beer like it was a line of cocaine, heads turned, dogs barked, glasses shattered, a new hurricane hit Florida.
Turning my head towards my water, I mananged to smell more from my glacial tap water than from this beer. I still have to give it a 3 though rather than a 1 because at least it didn’t smell bad. The point being, I’ve never encountered a beer with so little aroma.

On to the tasting... very pale gold, decent lacing on the poor. Taste was overall vegetably and very pilz like (maybe because they use saaz and nothing else). A tiny bit of bitterness in the aftertaste and a full, body, but really nothing great here.

From a growler, Anchorage, 7/5/05. Dark yellow and thick; sweet flower aroma that belied the unexpected doughy malt (very biscuity) character. Full-bodied with a light tartness in the finish.

Orangey and slightly hazy. Malts had some curious flavors such as tree bark, grains, and earth. Maybe even a little husky as well. Had some musty, earthy yeast flavors. Hops were slightly perfumey and herbal, with a mild bitterness in the finish. Kind of light in body, but the flavors and aromas make it quite the wholesome Bohemian.

Boy, what a beer! The only thing was the look was a little creamy for a pilsener. The taste, flow and lingering aftertaste was superb. Good Job!!

This beer surprised me. I’ve never been big on pilsners, but if they were all like this beer, maybe I could have gotten a taste for them. Maybe it’s because this is the first one I’ve ever had that was completely fresh. Bright golden color with good head and streaming bubbles. Lemony and peppery, it has a surprisingly strong malt backbone (but it’s still far from heavy) with a strong dose of the distinctive saaz hops. On a side note, saaz hops have always reminded me a bit of body odor or the bad breath of this kid I knew in middle school. Despite that, this is a good beer. It has a bright clear flavor that makes it a pleasure to drink. Wen’t extremely well with the brewpubs chicken, ranch, bacon and onion (The Dodger) pizza.