Popfuji
Brouwerij West

These guys brew some of the most unique beers. This one is no exception, excepting it's exceptional smoothness.

Pours with a big, sudsy head, way more persistent than your average pilsner. The body has a bit of find particles, but it's mostly clear. I wouldn't call it hazy.

Aromas of hay, golden apple, brown pear, malt, honeysuckle and lemon. Very nice.

The flavor comes through in a very earthy way: sweet, but with lots of grassy and floral character. Notes of jasmine and wheat grace a malty finish.

Very rich and full mouthfeel for the abv. This is where you can really tell it's unfiltered.

A fascinating beer, and one I am always happy to drink.

81 B-

 

What pours and tastes like a Lager but seems more like a Cream Ale at heart?

Of course, it's this.

I haven't had too many brews of this style and when I saw it out in California at the Total Wine in Long Beach last year, I wanted to give it a go. Yeah, it took a while to bring this home and get around to, but it was well worth the effort when I cracked this open on this mild late spring night!

Uniformly hazy and straw in appearance, this was topped off by a ton of lively head that took forever to settle down. Interesting rings of lacing were left behind as they were deep, and thicker at the top and bottom than in the middle. Loads of fall fruit, lemon, and wheat were in the nose as the taste had a nice mix of elderflower and cream to counter the lighter notes. Full-bodied, lively, and subtly sweet, this was a pleasant surprise that wasn't quite like anything I ever had before. Indeed, it was nicely slick, lively in bubbles, and not long for my glass once I took the first sip!

The Noble Hops were nicely felt here as there was a light presence of bread and spice underneath everything. Combined with the low alcoholic presence, the result was a beer that was oily in nature and deserving of another can. Speaking of which, this one was dated 5/23 of last year with "POP LOCK & DROP IT" written above it. Really pleased with this as this was quite the first impression from these guys!

Canned 11/27/23; drank 1/19/24 @ Roadrunner Lodge.

Cloudy orange/yellow appearance.

A rough pour yielded a huge bright white head; a thick curtain of lacing remained.

Lemon, soft wheat & a hint of pine in the nose.

Creamy medium mouthfeel.

Lemon, soft wheat & faint perfume flavors.

Bright, soft & lovely. I wish I had a case.

I am blown away by the mouthfeel on this one, creamier than cream ales I have sampled. Strong lemon presence on the taste, I think a little bit more malt would thrust this to a 5/5 rating. Very good for the style, these guys seem to know their craft very well and I will be on the lookout for their other offerings. Up there with STS Pils for the style. This reminds me of the extreme citrus tasting notes I got from Sierra Nevadas Dank Little Thing, only this tastes natural compared to the synthetic notes I got from the other.

I think I recall picking this up from Total Warm in Reno. I liked the previous beer I had from this brewery, let's check another one out I thought.

Pours yellow, but lacks clarity. They wanted to brand this as unfiltered, well there you go. Smallish low retention head around 1/5". The aroma had a grain presence to it and an almost out of place bittering hop aspect to it.

The taste was ok, thought there was still more of that misplaced bitterness to the mouthfeel. Its like, bready kellerbier, but with ipl levels of bittering hops. So two things, no can dating, and Total Warm. Talk about comparative and contributory negligence here if you're doing some torts study for the bar. Its assertive, but sometimes you're just too much. My keyboard has a huge lag right now, lame when even an internet connection struggles to allow for typing fast.

The weird thing was it had no hop flavor. More circumstantial evidence that this wasn't overhopped, it just may have sat for months/years(!?) at Total Warm temperatures.

Very good not sure what it actually is Saaz hops

 

Pours light haze golden with white cap. Light notes of malt and ale. Intriguing “hazy Pilsner”from good local micro brewery make for a good Pilsner style (IPA alternate) with nice hoppy punch.

Had on tap at Fire On the Mountain Highlands, Denver

On arrival a big overflowing fine head with a surprising amount of damage was present. Body is a hazy golden straw. It laces after a few sips.

Aroma is light, but carries a surprising amount of modern hops for a pils style. Still carries a nice crispness but untrained palettes may interpret this as IPA adjacent. Slightly fruity with the standard pilsner bite.

Taste is quite drinkable bit still carries that hoppiness I mentioned before. Slight hop bitterness with some light tropical notes before the malt takes over, but not aggressively. Honestly a bit too hoppy to be a pils. Comes off as a session IPL?

Feel is drinkable but a bit too full to be a German lager, even kellerbier. The finish is a bit too dry and long to really be coming off as creamy.

Overall this was a bit of a disappointment, mostly because this isn't what they sold it as. Too hoppy to be a true German style and doesn't deliver much if any noble hop flavor. Not a bad beer, bit much closer to IPL then Keller pils.

16oz can from Tavour. Pale yellow pour, cloudy, high fluffy head. Beautiful! Biscuity aroma with lemony notes. Taste is mild and sweet, white bread, faint lemonade. Very smooth, light on the palate. Tasty, refreshing.

 

 

 

 

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: Keller Bier / Zwickel Bier
Glass: Burgeon .5L pilsner glass
Price: $3.29
From: Windmill Farms in Del Cerro (San Diego), Calif.
Purchased: Jan. 28, 2021
Consumed: Jan. 29, 2021
Misc.: Canned on Nov. 24, 2020

Grabbed a can of this and a host of others on a recent trip to Windmill Farms. Beer Advocate’s description was “Our take on the historic Kellerbier, Popfuji Unfiltered Pilsner delivers a delicate malt sweetness combined with a subtle fruit and spice character from the use of German Noble Hops. Unlike the typical Pilsner, however, Popfuji's uniqueness is in it's smooth, creamy texture, making it perfect for any occasion.”

Poured a pale-to-medium yellow clear color with four fingers of rocky white head. Lots of fast-moving bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass. Perfect spiderweb foamy lacing. Perfect retention. What a good-looking beer. (Overall - 5.00)

Smelled lemon zest, pear, wet grass, fresh baked bread, cracker, Noble hops, floral, spice, herbal, green apple and hints of skunk. Not quite as good out of the can with more earthy pilsner malts. (Smell - 4.25)

Taste wasn’t quite as good but still really solid. Got lemon zest, pear, wet grass, spicy Noble hops, fresh baked bread, cracker, herbal, floral, green apple, earthy pilsner malt with a touch of skunk (in a good way). (Taste - 4.00)

Light body. Oily texture. Lively carbonation. Clean, crisp finish. (Feel - 4.25)

Man. Really liked this one. Just an excellent Kellerbier. (Overall - 4.25)

4.20 | 94 | A-

The beer is a pale gold color with a bit of haze. Fluffy white head, a good amount of lace.
Aroma of citrus, bread.
Taste of lemon, bread, hop bitterness late.
The lemon is balanced nicely with the hops.
Very nice beer!

Pours an unfiltered straw color with a soapy white head that laces the glass nicely. The nose is noble hops (lemongrass) and a delectable bread note as well.

The lemongrass is forward on the taste, and balanced perfectly by the bready malt flavor. The mouthfeel is creamier than typical for a pilsner as noted in the description of the beer, and it works exceptionally well with this beer. A magnificent pilsner, IMHO.