Napa Smith Harvest Beer

Brewed by Napa Smith Brewery
Style: Pilsener
Napa, California USA

It’s a pilsner with an earthy twist. Pretty good easy drinking beer. Reminds me of St. Peters beers. Nice aroma with a slight skunk in the flavor. I would buy again. Cloudy straw yellow. Right on the edge of being too sweet.

It looks like this has been relabeled Pilsner, as both the Harvest and Pils are in fact Pilsners, and at both 5% ABV, An alias is in order! Clear light golden with a one finger white head, good retention. Grain and biscuits up front with some honey and very light noble hops. The flavor is much the same--mainly honey and grain--with not a lot of floral or biscuit cracker notes to be found. There were also a bit of minerals in the semi-dry finish--bitterness was minimal. Somewhere I got some faint lemony notes. Light to moderate body with light carbonation. Not that great--I was expecting more from these guys. Update: once this was piss warm, I did pick up on some light floral hops.

Tap at Ubuntu in Napa. A fresh-tasting pilsner but not too exciting. I guess you can only do so much with the style sometimes. Yellow color with a white head, fairly high carbonation. Grassy and grainy aroma. Taste is pale malts and grassy hops (a little more floral than your typical pils). A little watery, but not more than you expect for what it is.

Bottle from Whole Foods in Sacramento. Lemon gold color with a so-so white head. Rather citric aroma. Medium minus body with frothy carbonation. Flavor is rather grainy, but there is citrus and floral. Finish is slightly paperish. Not a pilsner. More like a summer ale or a kolsch. Ok, but not to expressed style. Aside from all that, it is another well crafted thingy from Napa Smith.

This light yellow beer poured with a large white head and a mild floral aroma. The flavor is thin and watery and a bit grassy.

Tap at City Beer. I only needed a little taste to decide that this was way off. This is not a Pilsener by any means. It is some watery mess with a straneg taste to it. Also way too thin. Next.

Tap at City beer, SF. Slight hazy yellow color, short head, nice lacing. Aroma of pilsener malt, bit grassy hop, hint of citrus. Slight bitter taste, bit grassy again, some malt, slight sweet. Leaves a slight sticky mouthfeel along with the light bitterness.

I’m not usually one for pilseners, so I’m not sure how this got into my fridge. Anyway, it actually smells pretty good. It is very fruity, with a fresh hop smell to it like a good IPA. I don’t care for the yellow-clear look, but it has a thick head. Taste is flat and boring. Nothing going on here at all, other than a nice aroma.