Ball Lightning
Catskill Brewery

Ball LightningBall Lightning
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From:
Catskill Brewery
 
New York, United States
Style:
Bohemian / Czech Pilsner
Ranked #55
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
88
Ranked #14,275
Avg:
3.93 | pDev: 7.38%
Reviews:
22
Ratings:
55
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jun 11, 2023
Added:
Sep 01, 2014
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  2
Brewed with Saaz Hops.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ajdemma:
Photo of ajdemma
Rated by ajdemma from New York

4.5/5  rDev +14.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Jul 08, 2020
More User Ratings:
Photo of Spike
Reviewed by Spike from England

3.47/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
On draught at The Beer Garage in the West Village. A clear, golden pilsner with a thin head that leaves rings of lacing. Nose is light but clean. Nicely spicy flavour but a tad too sweet for my personal preference. Kinda oily mouthfeel with low carbonation and light carbonation.
Jun 11, 2023
Photo of cambabeer
Reviewed by cambabeer from New York

4.01/5  rDev +2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Super standard straw yellow pilsner look, totally clear. Fluffy white head with a lot of lacing. Smell is malt bread, crackers, flower powder, lemon. Super classic taste, clean, lemon, bread, tea, flowers, corriander. Clean mouthfeel with a very minimal and clean aftertaste. This is really good.
Mar 03, 2023
 
Rated: 3.92 by smithj4 from New York

Feb 25, 2023
 
Rated: 4 by Jdells09 from New Jersey

Feb 24, 2023
Photo of LesDewitt4beer
Reviewed by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota

3.83/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75
16oz can into a tall Pilsner glass.
L: Pours lightly yeasty straw light caramel w a 1+" rounded eggshell white head w VG retention and a cap, light carbo, rhythmic sticky lacing and some light banding.
S: Crackery malts, lightly floral, wet hay, a hint of bread, lightly earthy spice.
T: Earthy light fruit, latent light zest, slightly sweet caramel malts, no linger, a hint of aftertaste, fast moving tastes to a quick closing finish.
F: Moderately smooth and slick, med-light body w a fairly non- drying semi-fast finish.
O: A light tasting and enjoyable Pilsner that is EZ drinking though I prefer the style more crisp & dry. It is good in its style.
Jan 03, 2023
Photo of mikeinportc
Reviewed by mikeinportc from New York

3.87/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
An ink mark on the bottom of the can, but no legible dating. The store just started getting Catskill's stuff in late July, so this is somewhere between 6 days & 6 mo old. *shrug*

Hazy deep gold, with substantial , long-lasting ivory head. I see others have described it as clear. I poured it outside at 10F/windy , so maybe why the haze? Looks good in any event.

Smell is fresh hay, fresh bread, a slight sweet floral aroma, and a bit of coriander and black pepper.

Taste is coriander, slight dried lemon rind, rehydrated, bread crust, a lightly-sweet floral element (as in fresh herbal tea - borage+rose+hibiscus?) , finishing with some black pepper bite and a bit of sourdough bread/tang. Light-moderate bitterness.

Feel is light-medium, about like a hefeweizen, with moderate, very,very fine carbonation tingle-then-bite. (Rating this on how I like it, rather than to-style)

Overall, pretty good. As others have mentioned, it's a tad sweeter than normal, but I don't find it off-putting. Reminds me of vonTrapp Bohemian Pilsner, but with more substantial body. Bohemian pils isn't my preferred type of pils, but this is good enough for me to get it again.
Dec 23, 2022
 
Rated: 3.94 by Timfromthemainland from New York

Jul 31, 2022
 
Rated: 3.62 by DruC4 from Michigan

Jun 18, 2022
 
Rated: 4 by bigred89 from Maryland

Apr 11, 2022
Photo of GreesyFizeek
Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York

3.97/5  rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
On tap at Happy Valley in Beacon, NY.

This one pours a clear golden yellow color, with a small head and lots of lacing.

This smells like spicy hops, with a slightly sweet malt background.

This is pretty basic, but not bad by any means. The malt character is maybe just a little sweet, but I appreciate the crisp hop bite that this one has.

This is light bodied, with a very nice drinkability - the malt sweetness might be out of place, but it doesn't really detract too much from the enjoyability of taking this one down.

I definitely enjoyed this one, even despite the fact it wasn't quite right stylistically.
Mar 30, 2022
Photo of maddogruss
Reviewed by maddogruss from New Jersey

3.42/5  rDev -13%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
A: pours a golden body with a thick white head with nice retention and lacing.
S: sweet toffee notes with an earthy finish.
T: light bodied; sweet, honey, sweet malt notes.
M: light bodied; a little thin.
O: ok feel and taste combo; decent feel.
Mar 28, 2022
Photo of Gajo74
Reviewed by Gajo74 from New York

4.34/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Pours a clear golden to copper color with visible carbonation. A large foam head retains well and yields lots of frothy lacing.
The nose opens with bright notes of citrusy hops, particularly grapefruit, orange and lemon. Nearly dank with notes of grass, chives and pine; almost IPL like. Aromas of bread, cracker, biscuit and honey round things off.
The taste opens with a very pleasant silky and grainy malt sweetness, featuring notes of cracker, honey and biscuit. Bright flavors of citrus, fruity and floral spices evoke notes of orange, lemon and peach. Earthy notes of grass, chives and pepper.
Light to medium bodied with sn appropriately crisp mouthfeel. The finish is dry with a touch of caramelized malt and peppery bitterness. The carbonation is moderate to lively.
Simply put, a pretty damn tasty Pilsner overall. Very balanced with beautiful malt and hops character. I would have again.
Dec 23, 2021
Photo of REVZEB
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois

4.17/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Clear yellow body with a finger of white foam with speckled lacing all over the glass. Classic pilsner malts and yeast with lemon and grassy hops for the smell. Taste had more depth with added hints of grains, cereal, and bread, a kiss of pine in the finish as it warms. Feel is malty and medium bodied but a little flat for style. Still a highly drinkable pils that is classical in delivery
Aug 12, 2021
Photo of TheBigBoy
Reviewed by TheBigBoy from Pennsylvania

3.02/5  rDev -23.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
really did not get much here. Seemed virtually tasteless. Admittedly Czech pilsner are not my thing, so maybe that is why this one tasted "off" for me.
Aug 07, 2021
Photo of Greywulfken
Reviewed by Greywulfken from New York

4/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
It's pretty damn on-point - outta the can (as opposed to the in-store sampling), it tasted a little sweeter, but not to any detriment - a nice pale malt lager, a little bit of grainy chew, honeyed sweetness on the grains and a mild citrus and pine and herb hop profile... Might be a bit too sweet for purists (?), but it is a highly drinkable lager with a good mix of heft and height (make of that what you will)... Great aftertaste of drying alcoholic grain...
Jun 05, 2021
Photo of stevoj
Reviewed by stevoj from Idaho

3.86/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
16oz can from Halftime. Almost clear golden, small foamy head. Sweet, grainy aroma. Crisp, biscuity taste, snappy. This is really nice. Tasty, smooth.
Mar 09, 2021
Photo of mycousinvinny
Reviewed by mycousinvinny from New York

4/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
pours clear light gold color with a very nice frothy 1/2 inch head
smells honestly like beer with a hint of lemon or lime
tasted very crisp just right amount of bitterness and slight taste of lemon
nice lacing
very good beer from a local brewery
Dec 28, 2020
 
Rated: 3.9 by SpaethJam from New York

Nov 21, 2020
 
Rated: 3.69 by plaid75 from New York

Jul 28, 2020
Ball Lightning from Catskill Brewery
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 55 ratings