Adelais
Idle Hands Craft Ales

AdelaisAdelais
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Idle Hands Craft Ales
 
Massachusetts, United States
Style:
German Pilsner
Ranked #122
ABV:
5.2%
Score:
88
Ranked #14,288
Avg:
3.93 | pDev: 9.41%
Reviews:
13
Ratings:
56
Status:
Active
Rated:
May 02, 2022
Added:
Apr 30, 2014
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  9
A nod to the venerable German Pilsner. Crafted with a blend of three pilsner malts and hopped with classic Hallertau Hersbrucker and newcomer Saphir, the end result is a beer with clean, crisp malt character, balanced bitterness and delicate noble and light citrus hop notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of brureview
Reviewed by brureview from Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Excellent beer especially at colder temps. Deep malt, berry- lemongrass in the aroma and taste. The bitterness is balanced well with malt in the finish.
May 02, 2022
 
Rated: 4.14 by TWStandley from Massachusetts

Feb 20, 2022
 
Rated: 4.13 by Knapp85 from Pennsylvania

Feb 01, 2019
Photo of sokol_1993
Rated by sokol_1993 from California

3.83/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Good smell, but much hoppier than its German counterpart.
Dec 31, 2018
 
Rated: 3.55 by Nichols33 from Massachusetts

Dec 30, 2018
 
Rated: 3.83 by Icka31 from Ohio

Dec 24, 2018
 
Rated: 3.93 by harsley from Massachusetts

Dec 22, 2018
Photo of papposilenus
Reviewed by papposilenus from New Hampshire

4.12/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
From a 16oz can, dated 11/29/18. Served in an imperial pint pub glass.

Pours a super-pale, unfiltered straw-gold with a three-finger fluffy head that's so fat and chunky you can take bites out of it. Retention is very good, leaving a perpetual creamy cap and big, sticky gobs of lacing.

Nose is clean and outdoorsy, toasted white bread and spicy grass.

Taste is in line with the nose, very mildly sweet relative to the style with subtle, grassy bitterness, white toast, honey-lemon and tart apple fruitiness, and hay. A very minor treated-water aftertaste which does not significantly detract.

Feel is creamy and mouth-coating, medium-doughy bodied with fine, tingly carbonation. Again, probably not on the mark relative to the style but I like it, so screw the style anyway.

Overall, a fine take on a German pils. I may be misinterpreting the aftertaste but I grew up in the neighborhood and I know what MWRA water tastes like and I've lived away long enough to notice it when I come home. Regardless, nitpicking because, like I said, it doesn't particularly detract from the enjoyment; it's just noticeable, that's all.
Nov 30, 2018
 
Rated: 4.59 by AndFle86 from Massachusetts

Feb 24, 2018
 
Rated: 4.18 by Prost76 from New Hampshire

Feb 11, 2018
 
Rated: 3.94 by paresis from Massachusetts

Feb 11, 2018
Photo of angrybabboon
Reviewed by angrybabboon from Massachusetts

3.97/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Consumed 4/17/17

A: Medium to yellow gold - mostly clear - pours with a medium size, bright white head, retains a wispy cap and a medium collar

S: Pale and lightly toasted malts, grains - lager malts and lager yeast - some noble hops, with their herbal spice, and some hints of light citrus - overall a mild and soft aroma

T: Clean pilsner malts, light bread, lightly toasted bread, hints of dough, light grains, crackers, lightly cooked grains - soft malts at the beginning of the sip but they finish sharp and crisp - some citrus - herbal and floral hops, with a minor bite of spice - some light fruits, clean finish

M: On the light side of medium, smoother than some of the style, but also less crisp, somewhere in between

O: Bro do you even lager

Despite touting itself as a German Pilsner, I do not really think this fits the style. But that is merely my observation, not a complaint. I really like what Idle Hands has done here; Adelais takes everything great about a pils and smooths out the edges. This is supremely drinkable.
Apr 17, 2017
 
Rated: 4.16 by MrDarcy from Massachusetts

Apr 13, 2017
Photo of StoutElk_92
Reviewed by StoutElk_92 from Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
16 oz. can dated 03/13/17

Pours hazy straw yellow gold with a frothy white foam head. Smells like clean citrus, sweet lemon, grapefruit, orange, zesty lime, berries, bready crackery honey malts, some minty tobacco spice, with dank floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Tastes like lemon, grapefruit, orange, lime zest, berries, bready crackery honey malts, minty tobacco spice, with dank floral earthy herbal grassy pine. Feels medium-light bodied, creamy and smooth with moderate low carbonation. Overall a really nice unfiltered German style pilsner.
Apr 11, 2017
Photo of ichorNet
Reviewed by ichorNet from Massachusetts

4.17/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
I for some reason recall this being considered a kellerbier last time it was released (2014?), but it's on here as a German style pilsner now. Looks like IH is brewing a new beer called Emelyn that they consider a keller... well, whatever. Anyway, this is an unfiltered pilsner hopped with Hallertau Hersbrucker and Saphir. I really loved this beer when I first had it (when Ben was brewing for IH), so I'm hoping it lives up to my expectations now that I'm revisiting it.

Pours a semi-hazy golden yellow color with a retentive but small and rocky head of pure white foam. Surface is extremely cloudy, and there's a little lace sticking around as I sip at this. Not bad, but not incredible either.

Nose is wonderfully balanced with grassy notes, herbal hop elements, toasted bread crust, slight rye-like spice and a bit of light floral Noble-style hop notes as well. It's very delicate and only slightly honeyed, with most of the focus on the interplay between hops and malts, like most good German pilsners tend to. Clean ethanol component that comes out a bit once the beer warms. Very slightly sulfuric, but it works really well with the herbal and grassy hops.

Flavor is great as well... super-refreshing but also really complex with, again, a big component of toasted bread, rye earthiness, saltine crackers, and that classy Hallertau floral/spiciness with mineral-like notes towards the finish. Slight citrus in here too... kind of a rind-like lemon quality with more breadiness and a fairly bitter finish. Slight dusty yeast note in the mid-palate.

Soft carbonation, rather slick/full-bodied mouthfeel for a 5.2% beer and great balance make this a superb contemplation-worthy pilsner to drink and enjoy. As expected, the slightly unfiltered nature gives this a more characterful approach. It definitely tastes keller-like to me, but I guess that means I need to seek out Emelyn to find out what the differences are!
Apr 06, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by AirBob from Massachusetts

Apr 04, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by PhineasMcClintock from Massachusetts

Mar 18, 2017
Photo of Sheppard
Reviewed by Sheppard from Massachusetts

4.53/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours a slightly hazy golden, beautiful white head. Slightly fruity citrus aroma. Slightly fruity lime and orange zest. Crisp pilsner malt backbone. It's a great new world take (Saphir hops is a newer hop) on an old world classic.
Dec 27, 2016
 
Rated: 4.03 by costanzo_mike from Massachusetts

Dec 26, 2016
 
Rated: 3.6 by Ela from Massachusetts

Dec 18, 2016
Adelais from Idle Hands Craft Ales
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 56 ratings