World Famous Pilsner
Stillwater Artisanal Ales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Between my recent DelMarVa (+ DC) CANcentration & @JackHorzempa mentioning this one in a recent post, I was elated to see it on offer at Dominion Pizza during my most recent visit! You CAN bet that I snapped one up for The CANQuest (tm) & I am absolutely CANxious to drink, review & rate it.

From the CAN: "The Most Popular Style on Earth".

I beCAN by Crack!ing open the vent, revealing a brimful craft CAN that gave me a light spritz across my fingertips. I CANtinued with a slow, gentle C-Line Glug into the awaiting glass which formed two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with excellent retention, taking seemingly forever to fall away. Color was a gorgeous Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5) with NE-quality clarity, prompting an impromptu visit from The Gelt Gang of Croesus, Mammon & Midas, all clamoring for a taste. Nose held a pleasant toasted, biscuity maltiness with just a kiss of Noble hops, ala Schlitz. Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium, big for a Lager. The taste was pretty spot-on, very biscuity, lightly hopped with Noble hops, very much in keeping with the style. Finish was semi-dry with the CANbination of the malts & hops keeping things from being sweet in any way. YMMV.

Now, before you pooh-pooh this as a run-of-the-mill entry, bear in mind that Stillwater is generally a gypsy Ale brewer/brewery & to make the leap to Lagers without f**king it up is pretty amazing! I use the analogy of a stick shift driver - if you CAN drive stick, you CAN drive anything. CANversely, if you only know automatic & are tossed the keys to a Ferrari, nothing good is about to happen. Same CANcept with Lager brewers - they CAN brew anything that they choose to with little transitional problem while an Ale brewer going into Lagers CAN produce some really bad beer.

16 ounce can into lager glass, canned on 12/5/2019. Pours lightly hazy pale golden yellow color with a 1 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Thick soapy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big lemon, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, wood, pepper, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance of pale malts and light-moderate earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of big lemon, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, wood, pepper, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, wood, pepper, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Fantastic robustness and balance of pale malts and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; with a fantastic malt/bitterness balance, and no lingering hop astringency after the finish. Fairly crisp/clean finishing. Perfectly clean on lager flavors, with no fruity/yeasty notes. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium-plus carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy, and fairly sticky mouthfeel that is fantastic. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 5%. Overall this is an incredible German pilsner. All around fantastic robustness and balance of pale malts and light-moderate earthy hop flavors; very smooth, refreshing, and fairly crisp/clean to drink with the mellowly bitter/drying finish. Very flavorful and not watery for the ABV. Awesome clean pils malt showcase, with great noble hop presence/balance. Mild residual sweetness with crisp dryness. A highly enjoyable offering, and amazing spot on style example. One of the best I've had for sure.