PC Plznr
Waterloo Brewing

 

 

355 mL can from a sixer picked up at TBS; packaged July 9 of this year. Re-branded as 'PC Plznr', with new package art that makes use of a red/blue/white Czech Republic flag motif. I am going to grade this as a Czech Pilsener rather than a APL, since it's pretty obvious that this is what they're going for. Served well-chilled.

Pours a bright, clear golden-yellow colour, topped with one finger of soapy white froth. It recedes steadily over the next minute or two, leaving behind a filmy cap and a modest ring of lace. The aroma, surprisingly enough, seems to suggest notions of a suitable approximation of a Czech-style pilsener - grainy barley malts, a touch of biscuity sweetness and butter, and some grassy hop notes. I'm somewhat impressed so far.

My first sip forces me to conclude that this is simply a completely different beer than the one that people have been submitting reviews for in the past. They must have changed the recipe along with the packaging, because this is actually a decent imitation of a Czech pils. Is it exciting? Absolutely not, but the combination of pale, grainy malts, adjunct sweetness, and hint of breadiness leaves little for me to complain about. There is a hint of diacetyl, which is appropriate for this style but a little too strong for my tastes. It finishes with a brushing of grassy, somewhat dirty hop bitterness that does not linger. Light-bodied, with moderate carbonation levels that provide a mild bite and slight crispness to the mouthfeel.

Final Grade: 3.17, a C+. Judging from the aggregate score, PC Plznr has been turning consumers off for a decade. Of course, one of the biggest problems with these obscure budget brands of beer (at least at The Beer Store in Ontario) is that they tend to sit around for months, if not years, and when some poor sap comes along and buys it, they are presented with a very poor-quality product. This is obviously a pretty fresh sample, and that being said, I really think they've managed to vastly improve the recipe. While I would never reach for this over a Pilsner Urquell or a Czechvar, the fact remains that Brick has managed to brew up a surprisingly serviceable value-brand lager right here - and one of my favourite lager styles, to boot. Like all President's Choice offerings, this isn't a beer that will impress the BA crowd, but discount beer drinkers that also happen to like imported pilseners should consider this worth a look.

 

355ml poured into a 16oz pokal.

A - Fizzy head atop a very light yellow liquid.

S - Adjunct grains, corn. Light piney hops. Sweet and sub-par, but not the worst.

T - Bad. Cheap macro pilsner flavor. Tons of adjunct grains. Musty cardboard and dust. Horrible metallic aftertaste. Not good at all. Flavor profile is dominated by tin can, almost to the point where it's all that's detectable.

M - Somehow making my mouth feel irritated and making my palate itchy. Seriously...

D - Awful. Absolutely awful. Probably the worst beer I've ever had. This is the first beer I've reviewed that I couldn't even finish.

I poured this beer into my pilsner glass, and thought to myself, " Wow. How could a beer this pretty come at such a good price?"

Let me say that presentation is everything. Beer looks great in a great glass. I really like that glass.

The beer on the other hand... I wasn't expecting any major quality. At all. It wasn't that bad.

Too sweet for my taste. And the Corn!

Though, I still won't pour them down the drain or anything. Ice cold from the bottle is their place in life. Wouldn't be all that bad on a hot summer's day.

It's the Victoria Day holiday in Canada and that means that all the government regulated outlets that sell alcohol are closed. My room-mate and I thus made a trip across the bridge in search of beer. Quebec has some of the finest craft beers going unfortunately the only thing available in the Provigo we went to were macros so I opted for quantity over quality since quality wasn't an option and they didn't sell anything less than a twelver. I picked up a twelve of this for less than the price of six beer in Ontario.

I knew it was not going to be a great beer drinking experience since the box proudly exclaims it's brewed with corn and the bottles are clear. Maybe I should have spent the extra 6 dollars and went with Export. You see what kind of choices I had.

Now for the test: Pale yellow with a good amount of head. Smells slightly rubbery if you stick your nose in it. Tastes la lot like corn syrup. Nothing Pilsner about this except the word on the label. Not as bad as I was expecting but I was expecting sheer beer hell and I actually have had worse. A nothing beer.

I imagine that in a can this is even worse from the other reviews. The one I tried was brewed in Laval Quebec. Aftertaste is not pleasant. Plastic syrup is about all I can say.

Quite possibly the worst beer I have ever had the misfortune of trying. And it only took 3 sips, and that was it; it was then better to used to poison the shrubs I hate in the front yard.

The appearance was the nicest part about this particular brew, and I mean the can by the way. Poured a piss yellow with a hint of "green" (if many of you beer Connoisseur's can believe).

The stench, and I repeat the word STENCH, was horrendous, it made me gag. How could Brick even agree to brew this garbage. Smelt of aluminum right off the bat, and since I am a Biochemist, I know what aluminum smells like.

Taste was horrible too. As I said before, it took my three sips of this abomination, and that was it. It was far too unbalanced, including an overabundance of sodium bicarbonate and bisuphites. Rushed, just like Molson's Canadian, but worse in flavour and overall impression.

Mouthfeel? What mouthfeel, I might as well have drank water, since it was so overcarbonated and burning all parts of the mouth (tongue, throat, and cheeks).

I would never drink more than three sips; in fact, if you can get past a whole can or standard brew bottle, you are a better person that I am, and you have a strange choice in beers.

Some info about this beer before I start. PC is short for President's Choice which is the no-name or house brand for a discount grocery store chain in Canada (Loblaws/Superstore). This brand is meant to be quality products at a low price. This beer is probably only bought at their liquor stores. The can says Whitewater Brewing and some research showed that they are based in Waterloo, ON, but a web search showed that Brick Brewing (also in Waterloo) has taken over the brewing of the PC line of beers. The can spells the name "PC Pilsener". Can also says that it is "Made with Rocky Mountain water". Now I seriously doubt that they ship water from Alberta/BC all the way to Waterloo for brewing, but they might.

355ml can served in a mug.

Clear, pale yellow-straw yellow in colour. Big bubbles in a 1/2 inch white head that quickly reduces to a thin layer. The odd bit of lacing clings to the sides of the mug.

Smells like a typical macro lager. Mostly corn sweetness with maybe a hint of hops. Slightly skunky which has me concerned since this came from a can.

When the carbonation settles down you get an off taste. Probably due to the adjuncts (corn I believe). There is some sweet corn taste, but mostly bland highlighted by that crappy off taste. Aftertaste is almost non-existent, but what little there appears is slightly bitter, slightly off.

The mouthfeel is typical macro lager, light bodied and fizzy.

This stuff really isn't very good and I encourage you to avoid it. I got it at my parents place a couple weekends ago. My brother-in-law brought some in from Calgary. Doesn't really taste like a Pilsener to me at all, but they can call it whatever they want and it still won't taste good.

President's Choice - the no name brand exclusive to Superstore/Loblaws. The blue can with script "Pilsener" even looks generic. I think this is the cheapest 6 pack out there. This is a very typical light beer. Pale yellow color, no head, no aroma, not much taste. Hard to be disappointed, because you get what you pay for. Serve extremly cold after a very hot day and drink quickly. (Interesting that the brewer on the label is listed as 'Whitewater Brewing' )

Not impressed with this contribution to joke part of Doug Shoemanker's great beer tasting. Slight yellow colour. Fizzy. Somebody's underage kid was in charge of brewing this value "beer". Watery, unpleasant. To be avoided for all reasons.