Fra-Gee-Lay
Call to Arms Brewing Company

decent italian pils, im thinking we need a special style category for that here on BA. this is drinkable and full flavored, but its not expert and not in the elite range for the burgeoning style, which is coming on real strong right now. golden and clear, with a short white head reducing back to just a thin foam cap, racing carbonation replenishing it constantly. the nose and taste are somewhat understated, a generic maltiness i have not associated with the actually italian grain this style is supposed to be built on, if its here, they have not gotten its essence out into the beer particularly well, its continental, familiar, crackery, and off dry overall, more body than a lot of pils types have, but it doesnt carry with it the anticipated extra flavor. the hops are all on the back end, restrained bitterness, more of a dry hop profile, but to me this is kind of stinky, a catty mosaic type note, a sulfur and even green onion thing as it warms, not sure what the hops are, but either the selected varietals or the way they were introduced is not as clean and bright as i generally expect in these, so overall its a little disjointed, and ends up sort of west coast pils in some respects. good carbonation through, nice water chemistry and soft edges, and well used lager yeast adding a nice layer in here. the quality of the brew is there, but im not sure the recipe is quite doing it for me. it was great to get back in here after a long time away, but this was not one of the more impressive beers i had here this time through. good, but not quite doing justice to the style...