Harvest Pils
The Sprig & Fern Brewery

Pours a clear pale gold colour, white head forming a slight film across the top. Lace is nice and sticky, steady bead. Decent pilsener look.

Smells beautifully hoppy. So tropical, with loads of fruit - pineapple, banana, passionfruit, touch of lemongrass and mint as well. Just gorgeous.

Taste is a bit of a letdown. Flat on the front with slight vanilla notes on the assault, mid-palate has lots of cereal grain, puffed rice and sweet corn. Hops on the back are subdued, to a dramatic extent. Touch of banana and lemongrass, slight nip of spicy bitterness, but that's it. A shame. Nice texture though, albeit a bit thin overall.

Yeah the flaws are distinct here, just too much clean-up of the flavour, lacking early hopping. Nice flavours, just not enough.

On tap at the Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst's Kiwi SpecTapular.

Pours a very pale colour, pale even for a pils—a bright yellow with a slight haze. Soft pancaked head that leaves some lace as it falls. It's not as persistent as it could be, but it's not bad overall.

Nose is crisp and green, with characters of guava and green papaya. Something slightly more pungent like crushed lime leaf, as well. It's rather light overall, and not as strong and biting as the best examples I've had. But still, it has the classic New Zealand hop crispness.

Taste is light and grainy, with the pils grain giving the pain flavour to the palate. Bitterness is very subdued for a pils, but the hops do give a fresh snap at the end with a bright sharp flourish. Backpalate is slightly yeasty, which is definitely unwanted, but it's the only really off note.

Feel is light and bright—it suits the pils style nicely.

It's a solid New World Pilsener, even though it's missing some of the extreme deliciousness that makes other examples so good.