Smoked Pils
The Tap Brewing Company

On tap at Haverhill on 2/27/10.

A - Crystal clear pale yellow body with minimal carbonation and half an inch of creamy white head that diminished into a thin veil but yielded a sheet of cake-like lacing around the glass.

S - The aroma, while fairly muted, still features typical pilsner attributes including a faint grainy malt character paired with light hops suggesting grass and herbs. Smoked character is very subtle, surprisingly, giving the aroma more of a sweet character.

T - Ah, there's the smoke! Yes, the smoked character is much more defined in the flavor and suggests slight charred wood and smoke with a pronounced herbal and grassy hop character, as well as a hint of lemon rind.

M - Light to medium bodied with a slick texture and moderate carbonation. Finishes dry with a lingering hop bite.

D - Interesting take on a pilsner for sure and a good first impression of this brewery.

I had this on draft at the Tap/Haverhill brewery Inc's-brewpub. I debated about the style being entered under rauchbier, but according to the site it is specifically a czech pils with a bit of smoked malt added, so anyway on to the review...

A - A very clear golden color w/ visible carbonation evident as it was held to the light. The lager has a white cap with tiny beading and very good lacing is created from quality retention

S- Not extremely smokey at first but the smell of smoked malt comes forward and seems very balanced with a pleasant floral and subtle spiced hop aroma. The aroma had gentle malt influenced but is slightly sweet to compliment the mild hops and subtle smokiness

M - A mildly bitter feel but light bodied and crisp carbonation w/ mild smoky effect on the palate. The feel is more bitter in the finish as the smoke pervades the middle and the malt sweetness joins in. A refreshing quality as the elements all seem to work in unison - nice balance

T - The flavor of mildly herbal hops w/ slight spice, not quite pepper,but a gentle bite nonetheless with a light fruit taste like white grape w/ mild bitterness in the flavor w/ a hint of smokiness from the malt. The taste seems to concentrate on hops with gentle malt and yeast influence and the smoke is there as a nice accent delivering a unique overall taste while it finishes slighltly bitter and pulls you back for additional refreshing sips

D - This is a tasty pils with or without the smoke, but IMO the smoke adds a bit of intrigue and this complemented my pulled pork sandwich well both with the carbonation to cut the fat and the smokiness to pair with the honey barbecue. I really was glad I tried this - unique and tasty!