Sally’s Apilz
Two Roads Brewing Company

Chill hazed burnt gold with a short flat head of white foam bubbles.

I actually found this enjoyable, more so than the line at Sally's, by quite a lot. A really satisfying froth delivers lightly toasted bun with a very cleanly mild herbal bite. A hint of white grape comes out in the semi-dry finish.

This is actually a solid pils. It did not interfere with the apizza this day, but I may also have needed a beer a little too badly.

 

 

wicked to have this with my first new haven pizza, in the motherland, sallys tomato pie of course, first in line, cant beat that! cool that they do a pils for them, the kind of beer i thought i would want with a pizza, especially one like this, but the beer really is sort of overengineered to me, like its fuller bodied, super bitter, and not the out of the way palate cleanser or refresher i was hoping it would be. now i am not one to complain about flavorful yellow beer, and this is certainly that, but to me this recipe clashes with rather than enhances the pizza experience, they could stand to lighten the whole thing and tone the kettle hops way down. i dont think this is bad beer or anything, but its not for this pizza. the nose and taste are hoppier than anticipated, bitter with a mild skunk to it and a lot of linger, not oily or harsh, but on the palate long enough to still be there when i bite into a slice, and it has some weight in the belly too, not an irrelevant lager in the gut, so it might even limit pizza consumption a little, definitely not what i want in here. surprised that its as bitter as it is. good minerality to it, european pils malt seems obvious, and it does present as patiently lagered and crisp, all of that is just fine. i just wish it were a little more neutral, but i guess the breadiness is nice with both the acidity of the tomatoes and the charred crust, maybe there is a bitterness double jeopardy thing with the hops and the char, not sure, but a lighter and cleaner beer would be better in this context. felt special anyway, eating here is special, and the novelty custom beer is fun, but its a weird pairing just the same...

Drank on tap at Sally’s Apizza, Woburn, MA
Served in a pint glass

I was pretty surprised to see that Sally’s has their own signature beer now. Sally’s makes my favorite pizza on the planet, so I hope this Italian-style pilsner does it justice. Here goes.

Somewhat disappointing appearance. The beer poured a slightly hazy, pale golden yellow color. There was no head nor any lacing and therefore looked completely flat.

The nose was very subtle. Slightly biscuity and sweet. A touch grainy perhaps. Clean but nondescript and pretty unremarkable.

The flavor profile was definitely punchier than the nose and had more going on. Slightly biscuity and sweet up front. Big, bright lemon notes appeared in the center. Earthy, almost minty hop notes came through on the back end and crescendoed in the finish. There was a surprising amount of pithy, lingering bitterness after the swallow.

Excellent soft, supple mouthfeel. The liquid contained a super fine, zippy effervescence that fluffed up really nicely on the palate.

While Sally’s Apilz definitely did not match the quality of Sally’s apizza, I still appreciate this effort.