Jaromir Lagr
Troubled Monk Brewery

 

 

 

1L howler from the good ol' Sherbrooke Liquor Store. Gotta say, Jaromir Jagr has proven to be one of the most exciting, and (who'd a thought?) most enduring NHL players of all time - glad to see a local-ish brewery take a stab at making a 'pivo' (Pilseners are indeed lagers, FYI) from his homeland, in his honour.

This beer pours a clear, bright pale golden yellow colour, with two fingers of puffy, broadly foamy, and somewhat bubbly dirty white head, which leaves some random coral reef cave lace around the glass as it quickly settles into the neutral zone.

It smells of gritty and grainy pale malt, white saltine crackers, some subtle underripe lemon rind, and leafy, weedy, and grassy noble hops. The taste is grainy and cereal-esque pale malt, wet soup crackers, muddled apple skin and generic citrus zest, a hint of old-school gasohol, and more zippy green hop bitters, of the floral, leafy, and grassy variety.

The bubbles are rather engaging in their soft and bedroom-eyes prone frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and generally smooth, just a wee gassy hop (?) thing evoking a very minor concern here. It finishes off-dry, just, as the lingering hops start to muscle out the remains of the malt, who seem to be all sensible about things in calling it a day.

Overall, a very well-made, and true to form version of the style, starting with the ode to M. Jagr, and ending off with a near-genuine example of the beer that Bohemia is rightfully famous for. Easy to drink, a tad challenging in its hop schedule (in a good, good way), and well worth checking out for any and all reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with hockey - take my word for it!

Just sampled a delicious pint of the latest offering from TM. This is a dandy pilsener with an even better name. It's a gorgeous golden beer with a lovely white head that hangs around in switchbacks on the edges of the glass. The bright, faintly hoppy character I love in this style of beer is here in exactly the right proportions. The carbonation is active and on par with the style. This is another lovely seasonal from my local brewery - I foresee many pints of this in my summer plans.