Having Board Game Rules Explained To Me
Refined Fool Brewing Co.

473 mL can from the brewery; no packaging date. Served barely chilled.

Pours a clear golden-blonde colour, producing nearly two fingers of soapy, foamy white head that dissipates within three minutes or so. Afterwards, a ring of lace half an inch wide clings to the glass, with a frothy collar lingering on the surface; looks normal enough to me. Peach drink and guava on the nose, with hints of crackery pale malts, passion fruit and pineapple. Not a very pilsner-like aroma, but it's appealing in its own way.

Something similar can be said of the flavour profile. I'm tasting grainy pale malts and crackers, underneath fruitier hop-derived notes of stone fruit, passion fruit and pineapple. Hints of grassy hops crop up toward the finish, concluding with very light tropical fruit notes that dissipate into a relatively dry aftertaste. Light in body, with moderately lively carbonation that briskly tickles the palate with each sip. Easy enough to toss back, but give me a real pilsner any day of the week.

Final Grade: 3.56, a B grade. I don't really get the whole "West Coast Pilsner" thing: I just don't see much daylight in between Having Board Game Rules Explained To Me and an Italian pilsner (or an India pale lager, for that matter). Furthermore, the hop flavours I'm detecting don't come off as particularly 'west coast' to me - they actually remind me more of a NEPA, albeit a thinner, drier one. These may seem like fussy beer geek complaints - and make no mistake, they absolutely are - but at the end of the day, this lager showcases very little of what I appreciate about pilsners. I doubt I'd buy this again, but if you like hop-forward lagers then it's at least worth a look.