Schlägl Abtei Pils
Stiftsbrauerei Schlägl

6/15/13 draft @ Melk Abbey

 

 

Pours a hazy dark gold with a foamy khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Foamy swaths of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of toast, grain, cracker, and earth aromas. Taste is much the same with toast, earth, and metallic flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is an above average beer that is drinkable, but the slight metallic flavors I am getting are not all that pleasant.

Serving type: bottle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A - Poured out a clear, golden yellow color with a bubbly, white, one-finger head. It left thin sheets of lace on the glass.

S - It smelled floral and grassy with some caramel and butterscotch notes.

T - Some spicy bite up front with toffee, caramel and grains.

M - Crisp, sharp and smooth. A light to medium bodied ale with a dry, clean finish.

O - This is a nice pilsener. An nice find at a store that I rarely go to.

 

(Served in a strange)

A- This beer pours a clear body with a hint of a copper hue and a sea of slow motion carbonation that supports a rocky off-white head that looks like baby swiss cheese and leave register marks with each sip.

S- The soft dry Noble hops has a wet stone hint and a cream hint but is otherwise very clean.

T- The sulfury grainy pils malt blends with hop bitterness and a chemical lemon cleaner note follows. There is a tonic water taste with some green apple note in the finish and a rough bitterness that is not really hops that lingers.

M- The light mouthfeel has a big dry fizz that taste almost astringent as the beer opens.

O- This beer is a bit harsh and astringent with very little of the character coming from hops or yeast. It wasn't really refreshing, just too dry and a bit too sulfury.

Poured from tall bottle into shaker pint glass.

Appearance - yellow clear with high carbonation. Excellent 2 finger head with nice fluffy, sudsy head. Great lacing on glass.

Smell - Slightly skunky (hopefully not skunked) but decent scents.

Taste - Clean and very crisp. One of the more hoppy pilsners I've had and has a lingering aftertaste.

Mouthfeel - I don't do mouthfeel ratings...I just don't get it.

Drinkability - Fairly drinkable but it doesn't have those certain beer flavors that I crave. Slightly bitter aftertaste also makes it a little less drinkable than some other less bitey Pilsners out there.

Overall - I enjoyed this beer, but I'll go for some other Pilsners on a 2nd time around.

I had their roggenbier a couple of months back (thanks, Chris!), and was surprised and happy to see this pils on the shelves at State Line yesterday.

Clear golden yellow, there's a dense, white head that slowly recedes leaving a rather intricate pattern of lace on the side of the glass. The nose is solid. Definitely on the milder side with the grainy, husky sweetness being more noticeable than the dusty, earthy hop character, this is closer to a dortmunder.

The palate opens with a definite sweetness, grainy, mildly sugary and rather rustic. While it's a possibility, I don't think this is *too* old, as the hop character is rather fresh, but also quite light. Mildly leafy, mildly earthy, mildly dusty, there's a firm bitterness on the finish, one that leaves a delicate bitterness and a mild sweetness. Light in body with fairly lively carbonation, this is pretty smooth on the palate. The contrast between the dusty character and the rather soft palate, probably from soft brewing water, is pleasant. Very clean, there are no off-flavors here. A solid enough example of the style, there's just many beers that are significantly better than this one. Nonetheless, this bottle is not a problem, and if I have the chance to sample it on tap, I will.

As I said, this is sweeter than it needs to be, and I'm not sure what backing off on this aspect would leave, probably a delicate helles lager that is prone to suffering greatly on trans-Atlantic journeys?

Bottle from Gourmet Haus Staudt. Clear, golden - looks like a pils. Pours with a solid finger of head that retains well and leaves plenty of stickage on the glass.

The aroma is sweet, a bad sign for a pils. It's also somewhat zesty and herby, which is pleasant enough, but there's a slight soapy/perfumey quality about it as well. Who knows how fresh this is, there's no packaging date on the bottle. I know it hasn't been on the store shelves long, but that doesn't mean much.

It tastes nice in an average sort of way. More malty sweetness than I want in a pils, and little depth. The soapy, floral, perfumey quality carries over from the aroma, which may just be from the hops. The finish is brief, sweet, not very bitter. This is generally fine, but it's far from outstanding. Pretty much average for the style.

.33L 'Langhals' emptied into a Pokal.

A: Pours golden with a soapy 2-finger white head which receeds to a thin ring. Good lacing in the upper third of glass.

S: Smell is overall quite light. Grassy hops, sweet pale malts, citrusy.

M: Medium bodied with excellent carbonation.

T: Spicy Mühlviertler hops with an earthy undertone. Subdued malt. Crisp finish with a lasting, tannic aftertaste.

D: A well crafted Pilsener. Very nicely balanced and quite refreshing. One of my favorites. Shame it's only available in the .33L 'Langhals' (literally longneck) which is indigenous to the Mühlviertel, it never is quite enough to quench my thirst.