Bière d'Alsace
Notch Brewing

 

Pours a transparent golden with very opulent white head. Floral hops cut with corn...although my friend would say corn chex. Definitely a corn product as a base, I haven't had corn chex in forever, it definitely isn't corn chips. Sweet malt character is the definitive character of this beer with a nice floral hop character to break it up. This is a nice beer, but not my favorite Notch lager either.

 

French Pilsner, ok let's see what that's like. Canned 2021/03/03
Pours a med frothy semi creamy almost 1 finger head with med retention and decent soapy lacing, mostly clear slight chill hazed deeper golden straw to honey color

Nose smells like it was decoction mash, nice malt complexity and depth, cereal grain with grainy sweet, little straw, grassy, with some lemon zest in there, hops bring some citrus and a touch of a Kiwi-like tropical dank thing, mixing with lemongrass

Taste brings more malt depth, cereal mash up front, grainy malts and some bread dough notes, but deep layers of malt, light sweetness, into mild hops, a lighter bitterness with more of that citrus zest and lemony to slight tropical Kiwi-like hop notes again, floral and grassy as well, a bit more lemongrass and maybe Kaffir lime leaf, dry crisp finish with a med-light bitterness

Mouth is med to lighter bod, but soft and layered complexity, med frothy carb

Overall interesting beer, it's like I would expect for a Biere-de-garde style pilsner with some unique French to southern European hops, quite enjoyable

 

 

16oz can poured into a pilsner glass.

A: Dull golden color with great clarity. Large-bubbled and rocky head sports excellent retention. Chunky lacing.

S: Sweet and bready pils malt and perhaps a whiff of sweet corn? Lightly fruity with a hint of pear skin and a very subtle juicy fruit pop- unique fermentation character, but fun. Hops are mostly floral with a light herbal/earthy tilt.

T: Follows the nose. Malt base is sweet and bready with a very light toast, corny sweetness as well. Subtle fruit impression of pear and grape skins. Earthy and herbal hops, floral and a tad "green" with a tame bitterness. Lingering fruit skin and herbal hop impression on a dry finish.

M: Very light bodied, some malt roundness, but soft overall with a slight creaminess. Ample carbonation has a little bit of scrub and bite. Very mild brush of hop astringency.

O: Honestly not a style I'm much familiar with at all, and I suspect there are a lot of brewers and beer professionals in the same boat. It comes off sort of like an American Adjunct Lager, but a more high-brow one with European sensibilities. It's really quite delicious and very technically sound. Lawn mower beer for the true connoisseur.