470. Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning Über Pils

Our sixth beer from Heavy Seas, including Smoke on the Water Imperial Smoked Porter, Heavy Seas Cabernet Barrel Aged Below Decks, Clipper City IPA/Loose Cannon Cask and Loose Cannon 420 Cask. My initial thought when I saw the beer at the store was that “Über” signified good, as in the adjective indicating a person (or beer, in this case) that exceeds normal limits. When I got home and realized I had actually grabbed a 7% pilsener, it dawned on me that Heavy Seas was more interested in using “Über” as an adverb that designates having a specified property to an extreme or excessive degree. I know, I know, silly me. See what an English degree gets you? An inability to follow even the most basics of beer advertising. And yes, that fragment is intentional.

Small Craft Warning pours a crystal clear golden copper—let’s call it an über gold in keeping with my grammar lesson from above—with a decent white head that lingers and lightly laces. The nose is sweet and malty with the appropriate noble hop and lager character, although the malt character is more dominant and thus uneven in comparison. As it warms, a spicy and earthy hop aroma emerges that offers better balance. Flavors start with toasty and honey malt sweetness; the middle dries out, featuring biscuit and hop bitterness. The finish has the lager tang and a touch of citrus flavor, along with a slight touch of alcohol flavor, although it is light and unobtrusive. The lingering hop bitterness washes part of the alcohol away, but not all of it. While as a whole the beer is a better than I expected, the mouthfeel is a bit cloying and sticky, especially as the beer warms. The increased hop presence as the beer warms helps, but not quite enough. Drop the grain bill to make this a 6% beer while leaving everything else the same, and I think you’d have a much better beer: sharper hop character, drier profile, and crisper finish. Still, this six pack won’t go to waste.

From the bottle: “Unofficially the original American Über Pils, Small Craft Warning is a rich. Golden bock lager with big malt flavor and a crisp hop finish.”

ABV: 7.0%

(4/16/2011)

467. Stoudt’s Pilsener

It’s been a while since a Stoudt’s came across our radar—December 2009 was the last new beer from Stoudt’s, although we did try a 2004 Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal this last December. We scored a growler of this from the Trolley Stop because they didn’t have any of the Hazed & Infused that they are supposedly running as a special all month. Big supposedly. Our run down of Stoudt’s includes Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Oktoberfest, American Pale Ale, Scarlet Lady ESB, and Heifer-in-Wheat, making this our sixth Stoudt’s beer. Say that six times fast.

Stoudt’s Pilsner pours a crystal clear light straw with an abundant and long-lasting white head that also decently laces the glass as I worked through the beer. The nose is a mixture of graininess and sweetness, although balanced mostly towards the graininess, along with a light hint of corn. There is no discernable hop aroma or bitterness in the nose, but the finish more than makes up for it. The beer starts out with a soft, fragile sweetness that is coupled with a fair dose of graininess—it is almost husky, but not quite astringent. The graininess carries into the middle before giving way to hop bitterness, which lingers well past the finish. Stoudt’s Pilsner has a bright crispness in the finish, a combination of the lagering and carbonation. There is a bit of a hoppy metallic sharpness left on the palate after the flavors depart, but this strikes me as more from the volume of hops than anything else. The body is medium; the residual dextrins contribute to a pleasant mouthfeel that helps balance the bitterness, although the beer is still shaded towards both bitterness and graininess. A good example of an American pilsner, although the graininess does seem a bit overly pronounced; we do both prefer the Victory Prima Pils, but this one is certainly worth trying.

From the Stoudt’s website: “Reflective of the traditional German style, Stoudt’s Pils is delicately dry with firm bitterness. The crispness of Saaz hops and a dry malt finish make the Pilsner an excellent aperitif.”

ABV: 4.7%
IBU: 40
Malts: 2-row & Wheat
Bittering Hops: Perle & Warrior
Aroma Hops: Saaz

(4/5/2011)

333a. Victory Prima Pils

More from Victory; this is our fourth beer from them, including Baltic Thunder, HopDevil, and WildDevil. Elli calls this beer her happy beer discovery of the summer—while she is not normally a big fan of lagers, this one has sufficient hoppiness to keep her interest. She described Prima Pils as just about perfect after a day of gardening. Prima Pils has a clear yellow appearance with a thick white head and a spicy, skunky (grainy and herbal, not spoiled or skunked) nose with just a touch of malt. An overall clean, soft malt profile that is not really sweet, with the sweetness in the beer most present at the start. The middle is where the aggressive hop profile emerges; there are herbal and spicy flavors in the middle, and a distinct bitterness at the end, finishing very crisp, clean, and dry. Low levels of graininess emerge in the front and middle as the beer warms. Prima Pils has a light and dry body with a slight puckering hop component; the vigorous carbonation compliments the beer and contributes to the crispness. As well, the softness of the body in terms of the malt profile is bolstered by the carbonation and closing bitterness. Very refreshing—Prima Pils has an enjoyable hop presence, and lacks (but is not missing) the grainy breadiness of many lagers. Excellent and thirst quenching after a few hours of yard work. From the Victory website: “Heaps of hops give this pale lager a bracing, herbal bite over layers of soft and smooth malt flavor. This refreshing combination of tastes makes Prima a classy quencher in the tradition of the great pilsners of Europe.” ABV: 5.3%

Malts: 2-row German Pilsner

Hops: German and Czech whole flowers (5/29/2010)

251. Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils

Our second beer from Oskar Blues—the last one was Dale’s Pale Ale. This one is also in a can. Mama’s Little Yella Pils has a slightly grainy nose with some other lager-like aromas; it is a clear yellow and has a creamy white head that laces the glass nicely. The flavor starts dry and grainy with just a touch of malt sweetness; the middle moves into some musty bitterness before ending slightly sour with low levels of lingering bitterness. Mama’s Little Yella Pils has bright and bubbly carbonation, and the mouthfeel is dry and crisp with a medium body. Overall, a clean and very drinkable beer; while it is not our favorite, it is well crafted and enjoyable. From the Oskar Blues website: “Oskar Blues’ newest beer is an uncompromising, small-batch version of the beer that made Pilsen, Czech Republic famous. Unlike mass market “pilsners” diluted with corn & rice, Mama’s is built with 100% pale malt, German specialty malts, and Bavarian hops. While it’s rich with Czeched-out flavor, its gentle hopping (35 IBUs) and low ABV (just 5.3%) make it a luxurious but low-dose (by Oskar Blues standards) refresher.” ABV: 5.3% IBU: 35 (3/8/2010)