JosephsBrau Hopfest

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Classic German Pilsener
Palo Alto, California USA

12oz bottle-A clear golden body witha nice medium size head that dissipated into a covering for the body. It has an aroma of grains and sweetness. The taste being the same with with a nice dry finish. Not the best but a nice tasting beer.

Bottle from Trader Joe’s. Pours a clear yellow golden. Aroma is of grassy hops, hay. Body is light and thin. Flavor is pale malt, with moderate bitterness, grassy. Finish is clean, dry, lightly bitter. Quite light on the hops for a beer called hopfest, I didn’t pick up any floral type at all and just got a hint of spice. I guess you could say it was done lightly to make an easy drinking lighter pilsener type beer, which they did, but I can’t help but find myself disappointed a bit. Maybe I was hoping for saaz subconsciously but I don’t know. Not a bad beer but not what I wanted I guess. The number one problem with this beer is a lack of decent aroma.

From Trader Joes in Milwaukee on 09/21/07. 97 cents per bottle. Pours an average looking yellow, slightly (just slightly) deeper amber than most macrobrews. Aroma is potpourri and hops. Head is bright white and weak. Initially it has funny, chemical taste. Kind of taste like a Band-Aid smells, if you get my drift. leaves a nice bitter after-taste, but that’s the only thing I liked about it. I can see how some people would like this, so I’m recommending you try it. I didn’t like it though.

12 oz from Trader Joes. Average lager/pilsner look, clear golden beer with a frothy white head. Aroma is slightly spicy hop, a little doughy malts and a hint of grassiness in the background. Sweet malty to begin the taste, then the hops assert and dry it out somewaht for a quick finish.Lemony hopping, but subdued. LIked the mouthfeel on this, quite smooth and low carbonation. Overall not a bad summer type lager, not 100% sure is this fits a Classic German Pilsner, but its OK.

12 ounce bottle. Shaker glass. Golden with a medium head. Aroma - very faint grain. Flavor was some hop bitterness up front that eventually gives way to fruity sweetness. Touch of malt. The balance wasn’t quite right on this oen for me.

12 oz. bottle from Trader Joes (E. Tucson) - Pours a clear golden color with a one finger thick off white head. Very light carbonation. Very light spotty lacing. Aroma is sweet grain. Perhaps a touch of diacetyl. Flavor is grain with a touch of hop bitterness. Medium body. A decent beer.

Courtesy of JK. Gold color with a medium head. Very herbal hop aroma. The taste is heavy on floral hops and tastes like it was dry hopped for ages, as the raw plant qualities of the hops are showing up. As a different IPA, it’s not bad. Pilsener? Not so sure about that.

Pours into my "designer" Sam Adams glass with a chill hazed (this dissipates as the beer warms up), straw gold color and is topped by a frothy, large bubbled, initially finger and a half thick, Pale, off-white colored head, that breaks apart and dissipates with large islands of broken froth. Nicely malty nose with notes of sweet grain, grassy malt, honey and floral aromatics . Those last are also part of hop character, which also includes a light herbal note, a touch of mint character and some light lemon notes.

Crisp, with a solid bitterness up front, the hop bite continues to play a role through to a sharp finish. Lightly sweet malt character contributes a honey character that tries to temper the dominant hop character. Tries because this is a Pilsner after all, but the malt does play a significant role here; it is in fact a bit more malty than one expects in a Pilsner & in fact contributes a touch too much sweetness for the German variety, but it is in line with the Bohemian one. A hint of buttery yeast character mixes up in & melds into the honey notes. A nice herbal hop flavor runs throughout; sort of menthol like, perhaps some lemon thyme like thing and some sharp grassy notes.

Certainly one of the better Trader Joe’s branded brews. I definitely like the flavors in this one, but I think that a bit more hop character would make this very good. There is enough malt character her to support it, especially since it seems to get to be a little too much at times and I like a Pilsner with a solid hop character.