durhambeer (610), Durham, USA Jul 15, 2008 Bottle thanks to James. Pour bright golden with thin layer of white gauze on top. Very appealing. Despite good carbonation, something about the mouthfeel didn’t sit great with me. Floral hops and corn/grain on the nose. Same on the taste, but with a sweet corn taste lingering too long. Not the crisp bitter finish I’d expect from a pilsener. The corn thing hit me a little hard, but other than that, a very drinkable beer and another solid brew from New Glarus.
SHANER4 (228), Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA Nov 20, 2008 Poured clear golden color with medium white head. Aroma is yeasty and earthy. Taste is clean and light, a very drinkable beer. Overall a slightly above average Pilsner with nice balance. jjpm74 (3400), Connecticut, USA Nov 16, 2008 Pours godl with a nice white head. Smells of crisp malt, light spice, some peppery splashes. Tastes dry and perfumy with a straw like finish. kosko20 (191), Bemidji, Minnesota, USA Oct 18, 2008 Pale, but bright golden with thick white head. Aroma is barley, malts and yeast. Flavor is yeasty with barley and hints of hops. Smooth, kinda creamy. Not as crisp or clean tasting as I’d like a Plisener to be. FlacoAlto (2203), Tucson, Arizona, USA Oct 3, 2008 A vigorous pour into my large Tripel Karmeliet tulip produces a one-finger thick, pale, off-white colored head. The beer is a dark gold color as it sits on my desk, but shows a bright, full gold color when held up to the light. Perhaps a touch dark for a German style Pils, but it is perfectly in line with the color of a more Bohemian style one. The aroma has an up front grassy grain character as I take a deep draught of the nose, but it has a herbal / grassy hop character to it as well. After a bit a touch of sweet grain character becomes noticeable in the aroma, though this is fairly faint and this remains a crisp, dry smelling beer over all.<br /><br />
This has a nice soft hop bite to it up front that becomes more pronounced towards the finish. Competing with the bitterness in the finish is a sweet, pale grain flavor that was most noticeable during my first sip. Overall this beer finishes fairly dry and with a crisp hop bitterness. The grain sweetness does make an appearance from time to time in the finish though. Herbal hop notes dominate in a clean way and both malt and hop contribute to a certain, light grassy flavor. Cracker-like malt flavors and a clean pale malt character struggle to be noticed through the more dominant hop character. This is definitely hop dominated, but the hops are not overly aggressive and in fact could be more pronounced (might be a freshness issue), but still the malt seems a touch weak comparatively, even in a Pils I would expect a bit more characterful malt character. I do like the body and texture of this brew, it is not overly light and has just enough body to it to make things interesting. As the beer warms a bit a touch of cooked-corn / DMS character starts to become noticeable, it is fairly light and seems to add some extra complexity more than take away anything.<br /><br />
A decent example of a Pils that could use a bit more malt character and / or a touch more hop notes. Still this is good and certainly hit my hankering for a Pils, though the DMS gets a bit distracting as I get towards the end of my glass. IlanMan (611), Winona, Minnesota, USA Oct 1, 2008 Bottle: Pours a light clear golden with a fizzy white head. Aroma is lightly hoppy with some malt and light floral characters. Very light bodied brew with some biscuity notes. Not much hop character at all in the flavor. Just an easy drink with no harsh flavors whatsoever. Not something I would go out of my way to purchase again.
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