Glorioso
Left Field Brewery

At my lady Pamela's house; canned and chilled, from Small Batch Dispatch's October 2024 curation. My second beer from the superlative Toronto brewery.

Nov 14 2024

This is a favorite of mine. It goes down easy and tastes great. This is my favorite everyday pilsner, followed by Henderson's Figo. It is only available 3 or 4 times a year, which requires me to order two cases at a time. The brewers at Left Field say that this pilsner requires a lot longer ageing in order to produce this excellent brew. Maybe that's what makes it so special, in my opinion.

Pours clear straw with a crackly head that musters up a lot of lace rings on the glass. The aroma is full of herbal, citrusy, sea air hops with loads of fresh bread in there too. The taste is equal parts earthy, eucalyptus, herbal, floral hops and big, dense, complex malt flavors. Medium bodied with full, creamy carbonation. The finish is lightly bitter with malt flavors in abundance.

This far surpassed my expectations. A perfect interplay between malts and hops. This stuff is close to flawless.

355ml served cold into pint glass. Canned March 22. Cost was $3 Cdn so it’s expensive for the size.

Appearance - lightly hazy rich golden Brew with a finger plus of brilliant white head. Good staying power and a bit of spotty lacing. Trace amounts of sediment.

Smell - bright noble hops, a pinch of lemon zest and other citrus in front of a floral bouquet.

Taste - bright zesty hops with lemon zest, plenty of bready goodness sweet flavours as well and more pinches of citrus. Finishes with a touch of pepper.

Mouthfeel - brisk carbonation medium-light body and a bit of a spicy finish.

Overall - one of the best Pilsners I’ve ever had. Flavourful robust and refreshing. Not sure what makes this Italian styled but a beer I will keep in mind as spring plays out into summer.

355ml can (small portion for the price) ... pours a hazed light gold with a rocky 3 finger white cap that reduces to surface lace...aromas of grass, lemon some earthiness and cooked cereal...malts and hops in balance up front sharp hopping shows up later....goes to a very dry, increasingly bitter finish...clean, malty, hoppy, honest brew what's not to like?

355 mL can from the LCBO; dated Feb 17 2021 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a bright, clear golden yellow hue, producing one finger of soapy, frothy white head that fizzles off within a couple of minutes. A thin, filmy cap and a generous collar of creamy foam stick around afterwards; lacing's a bit scant, but it still looks good to me. It smells of cereal grains, orange peel and apples, with light floral notes and suggestions of grassy, earthy hops.

A pleasant little pils - hints of lemon and orange citrus underlie a grainy pale malt backbone, the latter of which supplies the bulk of the flavour profile. Hints of apple and grassy, floral, slightly spicy hops come through at the finish, with just a touch of citrus zest; these hop flavours linger briefly into the aftertaste before it fades to dry. Light-medium in body, with moderately low carbonation that gently agitates the surface of the palate, providing a bit of crispness to this lager's smooth mouthfeel. Very easy to toss back quickly - but with a well-crafted lager like this one, that means you'll miss some of the details and intricacies that help to make it 'good', vs. merely acceptable.

Final Grade: 3.89, a B+. Admittedly, I have no idea what differentiates an "Italian" pils from any other kind, so it's time to consult almighty Google... ok so, it's basically a German pils that has been dry hopped with noble varieties - and if that's the case, Left Field did a pretty solid job with Glorioso. It drinks like a Euro pils, but with a little bit more of that citrusy, lively, fresh hop vibe I get out of a lot of DH brews. I'd say it's definitely worth a try if you enjoy this sort of beer, but with the Euro imports being somewhat more affordable, I don't know how often I'll actually be returning to this one.

 

Contrary to Beeradvocate this beer is NOT retired. Don't know what an Italian Pilsner is supposed to taste like but this beer is wonderful and flavourful and I usually drink hoppy Pale Ales. The brewery info says this beer is "dry hopped with Hallertau, Mittelfruh and Styrian Bobek to impart elegant, floral, earthy, sweet spice and citrus aroma and flavour." I can't thank them enough for helping this drinker get through Covid. Cheers!

https://www.leftfieldbrewery.ca/beers/glorioso