New Zealand Pils
Triple 7 Restaurant and Brewery

my first from these guys, not great, strong and kind of malt heavy for what it is, which obscures the best parts of the hops, which are supposed to shine in here, and without them, im not sure how technically good the base lager really is, a little sweet, a little doughy, but without high refinement, appreciable old world yeast character, or the kind of drinkability and brightness i was hoping for, a bit amateurish overall. a deeper blonde color, short white head from the tap, dissipating relatively quickly. aroma is husky and hully and lightly sweet, more malt than i think is called for, the hops are there, maybe not quite peak freshness but i do get some white wine fruitiness, white peach, green melon, and wet grass, like there is some hops driving this, just not quite as high thiol and impressive as in the best of these types of beers, part of it is the less clean lagering, distracting from the desired focal point, which is also true in the flavor. low bitterness, something a little weird in the ferment, not messy but not snappy and tidy and brisk and refreshing either, even with decent carbonation. chardonnay, generic citrus, some lightly tannic character from the grain at the end, not bad just a little bit disjointed and nowhere near what i think the standard is for the style. this place presents as a little bit old school to me, and this might be a tad outside their wheelhouse, but i appreciate the effort, and its still new zealand hops, which make most beers taste good all on their own. i meant to pop in and check them out on this visit but failed to do that, next time for sure. this, hopefully, is not their best work...