Osage Orange Smoked Pilsner
Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant

this beer is an absolute stunner, both brilliantly innovative and impossibly well executed, they should be really proud of this one. never heard of osage orange wood before, but apparently they like it and had some malt smoked with it, how cool to get a brand new ingredient in a beer like this! neat base beer too, a pretty simple pils malt base, a relatively clean lager yeast strain, attention to detail it seems with the water chemistry, and just some real solid technical know how on display. very pale in color, pretty good clarity too, fizzy like a soda and with a short off white head effortlessly resting on top. i am most interested in the smoke here, and its neat in the nose, definite citrus to it, maybe even orange specifically although i think its a different family of wood here than actual orange, but i pick up a little sweet citrus anyway. i get an herbal thing to it too, tea-like, very little bitterness or acrid character, and its more mild here than some more familiar smoked malts, less extinguished campfire, more just a waft, and i can still appreciate the pils malt itself underneath, european to me, crackery, nice. the lager yeast is clean here and the fermentation is tidy, this is approaching crisp with the high carbonation for how flavorful it is, its somehow refreshing even though its also exceedingly nuanced. as it warms a bit i get culinary herbs, bread dough, and burning leaves. i love the smoke profile on this, but the beer is more than just the smoke, really well done overall, clever and professional. never heard of these guys before, but i am highly intrigued after this impressive offering!