Paradox
Renaissance Brewing

330ml pour into tulip glass.

Cloudy straw, tall head, last two minutes, fine and coarse bubbles, lasting lacing.

Tropical fruits like pineapple and mango, whiff of floral, citrus peel and hop.

Refreshing light to medium bodied, soothing bitterness, finishing off with biscuit, caramel, malt and hint of citrus.

 

I know it says 'American Blonde Ale', but the bottle I have here is a pilsner. I'm staying right across the street from the brewery, so I guess I'll go ask what's going on during my next day off.

Pouring from a 330mL bottle into my trusty drinking glass that I stole from the last hostel I was in.

A: To be honest, the color is just a little off. It's a proper straw yellowish color that you'd expect from a pilsner, but there's just something not right about it. I had to take it outside to be sure it wasn't just the shitty lighting. Other than that, the head is quite right for the style. I actually watched a fly walk across it and take off without issue. So, yeah, shitty lighting and flies. 3.25/5

S: Smells great, no doubt about it. Paradox sports a heavy lager funk without smelling like it's gone off. The hop aroma can almost be compared to a lemon zest. If Pledge introduced a surface cleaner with this fragrance, I'd buy it. I really would.

T: Perfect summer lager taste. They've nailed the hop combo and/or hopping schedule to a degree that imparts a nice lemony crispness without the sugary yuckiness that comes with adding the lemon flavor after the fact. Refreshing as, man.

M: On the hole, Paradox feels good. Light bodied while retaining an appropriate level of carbonation.

O: Fucking aces, mates. Very well done beer. This isn't the last time I drink this one.

 

Pours amber with a large, lasting head. Nose shows soft tropical fruit and honey. Nectarines, lychee, pears, floral notes. Also some cookie dough-like malt. Very nice. Similar flavours, more of the cookie dough character and overt floral notes, along with some spicy hops. Carbonation is much too high, annoyingly so.

Paradox pours a clear golden colour with a nice white head. It has a nice, clean citrus hop taste. The small head helps to deliver a clean, citric hop aroma. Very light malt character. Clean, fruity and tasty. Medium-light body and moderately high carbonation.

Pours a murky orange brown colour, with a very aerated head of white bubbles, that look very insipid. No lacing either. I have to say, I'm not a fan very much at all. It really doesn't look like something I want to drink.

Fortunately, it's uphill from here. Nose is a wonderfully floral and fruity melange of tropical flavoured New Zealand hops. Passionfruit, stonefruit and ripe pineapple. Very nice, and such a classic contemporary New Zealand craft beer character.

Taste is woefully thin. Not a lot of character, and not much bitterness from the hops - surprising given the big hop presence on the nose. Quite watery, and the mouthfeel is pretty dull.

Yep, this is something of a rollercoaster ride. Lovely nose, but that's by far and away its best character. Thin and watery. Drinkable in a way, but only because it's not particularly dangerous or confronting.

Pours a pale golden colour with a lot of fizz. Head is decent at first, sinks a bit, leaves a crown of white bubbles. Some lace but not much. Looks alright, pretty standard.

Sweet, malty nose, with a lot of caramel, a slight salty edge and a bit of tartness, citric in character. Hint of West Coast hops giving off some tropical esters. The combination of aromas makes it overall kind of urine-esque in character, and I hate to say that because it's not actually bad at all, there is just a slightly odd character to it and that needs to be noted. But its uniqueness is endearing, and for the most part it's actually a delightful smell.

Tastes a bit savoury, lacking in the caramel character of the nose. Has a malty backbone, but doesn't taste like it, just gives an underlying richness. Mid-palate gives off an umami flavour, with a mild, fruit peel bitterness, then finishes with hints of steamed vegetables and green tea. There is a slight honey character that emerges at the end to sweeten the deal, but overall the thing tastes a bit under-cooked. The flavours are slightly weak at times, but they're too strong at the front and back to be judged as intentionally mild and drinkable. Decent, just not very interesting where it counts.

Mouthfeel is largely thick and soupy, with a bit of unwelcome fizz at the back, not a great merger of textures.

I wouldn't call this a brilliant beer but it's drinkable. There's enough to like here but nothing really to love.

A - Pours a slightly cloudy light golden straw colour with a couple of centimetres of white head that falls away fairly quickly.
S - Nice tropical fruit hop notes; passionfruit and pineapple some very vauge biscuity hints.
T - WOW - this reminds me of the "tropical fruit drink" you get in those waxed cartons. Like the smell passionfruit and pineapple are the main flavours that come through. Also a bit of biscuity malt to balance it.
M - Quite light bodied with a medium to high carbonation.
D - Could do with a touch more body. Other than that this is a damn good "Summer Ale" when there are so many horrid ones.