Sauvin Pilsner
The Twisted Hop

Bright yellow, soft white head around one inch. A problem occurred, in that the Nelson hop was advertised as making a red carpet appearance, but failed to appear entirely. There were hop notes, but they were not Nelson. This was more Cascade it seemed.

Taste was very bitter, they definitely used hops, but Nelsons should be way funkier than they are bitter. There were no off flavors, just it didn't deliver on the Nelsons.

 

Bottle from NZ Beerstore.

Lightly hazed honey-straw with a large and neatly formed fine-bubbled white head that has good staying power. Eventually subsides to a raised centimetre of lace and a moderate bead.

Nose is led by appropriately sharp vinous and grassy character, with floral and fruity aromas of melons, kiwi fruit and green apple emerging as it warms. There's an unexpected sweetness that strikes me as yeast-driven.

Little sign of the sweetness in the flavours however, which are overwhelmingly vegetal and organic, with an earthy dryness that borders on metallic. I like the cleanness of it though.

Light to medium bodied with moderate, jazzy carbonation. The dryness consumes the mid-palate and persists for ages.

Enjoyable Pils which showcases the Sauvin hop ably. Does have a somewhat raw harshness to it though, which most ales using Sauvin manage to overcome due to a stronger malt presence.

A nice brighter than usual yellow color, egg shell white head on it, right around the appropriate size, a little bigger than 1". Aroma, uh, where's the sauvin hops yo? It was hoppy, and grassy, and extremely bitter, but it let me down in the aroma department, regardless of it being a german pilsner, just the faintest nelson sauvin aroma would have been what made me happy. So they went for traditional a little more than I was hoping. OK, a lot more.

The taste and mouthfeel of the beer was definitely bigger and more bitter than almost any pilsner out there. Something along the lines of Breckenridge's double pilsner, O'Dell's double pilsner, Pizza Port Panzer, but I believe the alcohol may have been more tolerable than in those examples, I'm just basically trying to say this packs a lot of flavor into a pilsner body, that is definitely pumping iron.

Thanks to flexabull for bringing this to March Madness, was a good beer at the right time in the early afternoon/morning.

 

Tried at the Local Taphouse's Kiwi Spectapular.

Pours very pale, with the body very slightly hazed, and a pale yellow, with a fine and firm white head. Lace is anarchic and good. Looks very decent.

Nose is a bit weak and a little insipid—this is a great shame. Slight bready yeast, and a very mild touch of green NZ hop character, but only when you search for it. You shouldn't have to search for Nelson Sauvin!

Taste is bright and clean, with a restrained bitterness and a solid organic greenness that cleans up nicely. Some nice fresh guava and rockmelon. It's certainly much better on the palate than the nose suggested it might be. Crisp finish and a nice light mouthfeel.

Another very decent New Zealand pilsener, but not the pinnacle of the style. I'd just love some more dry hopping or something to give it that lovely Sauvin aroma.

Pours a pale straw colour, with a slight cloud. Steady bead. White, thin head leaving a few clumps of lace behind. Decent.

Smell is not very hoppy. Not that that's a necessity for a nose, but for a sauvin pils? Where's the sauvin? Slight grain with touch of corporeal, seaweedy aroma. Bland, not very pleasant. A disappointment.

Taste has a fair amount of banana on there, slight tang with mild citric hop notes. A bit weak, with some light wood and pineapple. Not getting a lot of pilsener-level hop and not a very distinctive sauvin character. Not bad, but not good.

Thin-ish body, a bit of texture there but not a lot.

A disappointment from Twisted Hop, and for the idea of a sauvin pils this fails to deliver. Falls well short of so much potential.

Very clear straw colour with nice white lacing. The aroma and flavour are both doused in diacetyl which is unfortunate. The masked hop character is of Sauvin hops which are good and the moderate bitterness is appropriate. The medium-light body and crisp carbonation and suitable. It's decent but far from perfect.