Pilsner Prosim Czech Style Pilsner
Saint Benjamin Brewing Company

Saint Benjamin Brewing Company "Pilsner Prosim"
$6/pint @ Kensington Quarters, Philadelphia, PA on 1 June 2018

Notes: Typical Pilsner appearance. Average head retention and lacing. Grainy Pilsner malt in the aroma with some balanced grassy and slightly lemony hops. Bright and fresh. The flavor follows, balanced by a firm bitterness that leads to a dry finish with some additional spicy hop notes. Nicely balanced. Medium bodied and crisp. Very nicely done.

 

Hazy straw gold with two fingers of dense off-white head that last a good while. Spotty lacing.

Bready grains, some light grassy hops and the lightest hint of lemon in the nose.

Soft bread and grass up front in the taste, and a firmly bitter aftertaste. A distant hint of metallic water and lemon in there as well.

Soft, fluffy feel for the style with just enough carbonation.

None of the crispness I like in a pils, even for the Czech variety, but the bitterness in this one is really growing on me. 3/1/18 canned on date.

 

 

12 oz can poured into a Sam Adams Perfect Pint glass.

Appearance
Blonde with 1 finger of creamy white head. Slightly hazy. Moderate carbonation.

Nose
Cracker, grass, honey, and bubblegum.

Taste
Honey drizzled cracker. Grassy hops with touches of earth, green florals, and spruce.

Mouthfeel
Light bodied, crisp, and clean with a moderate bitterness.

Overall
Certainly to style. Very refreshing with an abundance of flavor regardless of the 4.2% abv.

 

 

I am now waffling between the eradication of The Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody & the CANtinuation of The CANQuest (tm) since I have made signifiCANt strides on the former & the latter dovetails nicely with some upcoming bottles. In the interim, I have enough CANs for a brief brewery horizontal with Saint Benjamin so that will be my next focus.

From the CAN: "Assertively hopped with Czech saaz and brewed in the traditional decoction method, this unfiltered lager will be empty before you finish reading this[.]"

Unfiltered? In a standard sized CAN? Following the Crack!, there was no question but that I would be CANducting an inverted Glug. I got two-plus fingers of foamy, rocky, bone-white head that took a deep breath & then exhaled, falling away to wisps in a quick hurry. Color was a hazy Straw-Yellow (SRM = > 2, < 4). Nose had the aggressive grassy hoppiness that is the trademark of both the style & Saaz hops. Mmm. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was grassy, hay-like, with a peppery bite and an underlying biscuit maltiness. Man, they really seemed to have nailed this one! I CAN remember a time when craft brewers were (mostly) reluctant to brew lagers, but this proves that those days are behind us. It does not hurt that they are a PA-based company, where our German heritage means that we have a long history of brewing lagers with a wide base of a brain trust to whom we CAN turn as needed. I prefer Czech Pilsners to German ones & this was right up my alley. Finish was clean, dry, slightly spicy, very grassy/hay-like. I CAN see drinking this all day out of a cooler at the beach.