The Brewhouse Condor Pilsner

Brewed by The Brewhouse (California)
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Santa Barbara, California USA

Draught at the brewpub. This one has eluded me for some time. A pretty nice pils/export with good balance and drinkability. It is a bright gold color with a small amount of lasting foam, though they don’t pour much of a head in their pint glasses. The aroma is pretty closed to start, probably owing to the low serving temp, but opens as the beer warms, exhibiting sweet bread a spicy noble hops. It never becomes very pronounced, but is quite pleasant. The flavor is a mix of clean bready malts and a hoppy, lightly mineral and medium bitter finish. Balance remains fairly equal, with the bitterness nicely cleaning up the finish and making the beer quite refreshing, but never really stepping on the malt. The body is light and just a little too watery, though not far off for the style. Mellow, but well done.

Draft at brewery, 02/18/08. 5.1% ABV. Unfiltered: a hazy golden hue. No carbonation to speak of; the only one of my batch of tasters with no foam left after a couple of minutes. Aroma is spicy: cloves and black pepper. Main flavor is what macro lagers are aiming for (a bit of sweet graininess), but there’s a bit of spiciness (coriander?) and a hint of bitterness before a generally clean finish. One of the better pilseners I’ve had, period.

Tasted at brewery. Clear yellow with no head. Wheat bread aroma and taste. Nothing special.

Clear straw colour with no head. Aroma is grass and some light malts. A tad sweet but otherwise pretty blanced and refreshing. Thin but easy to put back.

Pours an brilliantly clear straw gold with a soapy white head. Aroma of fresh cut grass and sweet malt. Very fresh tasting and refreshing. Nice firm malt body. med.-lite body. This is a great example of the style and a very enjoyable lawnmower beer.

First Again! This sucker poured a crisp yellow-green with light carbonation. There was a minimal malty aroma (some generic pils aromas were present). The flavor was lightly sweet with mello malt. Light watery body. Refreshing with body, though I was not too thrilled to have a whole pint.