Kaltenberg Pils
König Ludwig Schlossbrauerei Kaltenberg

 

 

Can from a supermarket in Sofia, Bulgaria.

C- / BELOW AVERAGE

 

 

Solid pils. Bought in Croatia.

 

 

This beer was sampled from a can, brewed under license in Belarus - a few "beer miles" then in travelling to New Zealand.

A very moderate pilsner, lacking hop depth. Generally watery with low carbonation on the one sampled. How true to the German original it is, I'd love to find out.

Minimal head retention, yet remained crisp.

Unexciting and very standard German style pilsner.

 

Poured from a chilled bottle into a tall pilsener glass.
Golden straw in appearance, almost like apple juice in its colouring, with quite high carbonation, the bubbles were clearly visible like from a soda (potentially why the head was so resilient). Though the head of course receded, it created a nearly solid ring at the "top water mark." Aroma really promised nothing but a weak yeast flavour, which when sipped yielded an extremely smooth mouthfeel---until I swallowed and the remaining fluid seemed to attack me, for the carbonation had been re-awakened. In the meantime, there's not a whole lot going on in the taste---really not much of an herbal feel or interesting malt flavour, more like a carbonated mineral water that has a quintessential "grassy" taste with a bit of yeast---until the aftertaste kicks in from the throat, yielding a very balanced and pleasant bitter hops that makes you want to hold on from the next sip for a good while, because the taste sticks with you for so long and seems to very idly tap dance. Then, you begin the process, again until all disappears.

I much prefer Krombacher's pilsner overall (I confess I have to this point sampled very few German beers, so I trust others, who have pointed to much better alternatives), though it does not have quite the same level of delightful "hoppiness" as this one does in its aftertaste.

 

 

Light & clear looking straw colour with a tinge of gold. There is a thumb sized, bubbly white head on the top that halves in size.

Light with some grain, sweet malts and touches of corn. There is some grassy hops and a little skunk to round thing off.

Crisp with some corn and a light, lager hops taste along with some very mild citrus and grain. There isn't a lot else and the finish is clean with very minimal bitterness.

Light on the body and with medium carbonation and a clean, crisp finish. Very refreshing and pleasant on a warm day.

A decent enough lager and its main selling point would be the palate and how well it went down in the sun, the taste and aroma are basic though despite being well done and having an okay balance.

 

 

A straw colored clear beer, a white firm head leaving some lacing.

The smell is mostly in the malt register, biscuits, banana, somewhat citric, orange.

Tasting of digestive biscuits, lemon and orange, and a rather fresh bitterness.

Medium high carbonation, refreshing with a dry finish.

A rather good and well balanced lager, license brewed by Krönleins from His Royal Highness Prins Luitpold of Bavaria.

A somewhat pale gold with a small white head which turns into a thin film and leaves generous lacing behind.

A slightly skunky aroma with some sweet malt in the foreground.

Taste was a marginally better. A honey sweetness is joined by a mild lemon presence. Some biscuit in there as well.

Mouthfeel was smooth, slightly thick for a pils, and with a nice carbonation bite.

This pils makes for a decent summer thirst quencher. Not among the very best of this style, but an interesting alternative to the usual suspects.

Notes: Brewed in Bulgaria by Boliarka-VT.

Appearance: Poured into a branded Kaltenberg pint glass from the 330mL bottle. The beer is a bright and pure gold color topped by a 2 and a half finger thick pure white head. A lot of carbonation coming up through the glass.

Smell: Aroma is fairly light. Nice biscuity malt in there with a light floral note. Some honey is evident.

Taste: Up front, most noticeable was a nice light maltiness. A sort of fruitiness in the middle, followed by a slight floral hoppiness well balanced with a nice biscuity flavor.

Mouthfeel: Nice and light.

Drinkability: The balance and low ABV make this a great session.

Light yellow body, tending to gold. Good creamy white head. Lacking carbonation.

Light sweetness on the nose, with a slightly floral hoppiness.

Banana characters on the palate. Quite sweet, but with a refreshing bitterness at the end. Mouthfeel is nicely creamy, not spritzy - it's surprisingly good. Easy to slug back.

This was a pretty good pils - nicely layered palate, refreshing and easy to drink.