Highland Laddie
Wild Card Brewing Company

I should note, there is no labeling on the bottle that states the style, and you'd think that the intention here was a Scottish Ale. However, the lady at the brewery I bought it from said it was an unfiltered pilsner that was made as a fundraiser for some local highland dancers, hence the name. Just thought that should be clarified.

Appearance: Clearly unfiltered as a foggy trumpet brass tries hopelessly to conceal a solid amount of carbonation. Produced a finger and a half of head that did not lace but had average retention.

Smell: Floral with a hint of citrus, as I'm fairly sure that Saaz hops are what was used here. They are in firm control of the aroma as only a faint whiff of bready malt seems to slip by. Warming isn't really needed here.

Taste: I'd say best described as perfectly accurate to style, but not pushing the envelope. A faint touch of bready malt with a slight hop floral hop presence, which gives itself over to a crisper earth, citrus and more powerful hop note that doesn't get out of control.

Mouthfeel: I find that because the hops have a presence during the first moments of the beer, the crisp snap of a pilsner falls a bit flat on this one. However, it makes up for it with carbonation that helps out the entire body and completely preventing the hops from clinging. The transitioning is good as well, but it comes across as basic. I wouldn't call it smooth so much as a beer that just passes it's aspects along.

Drinkability: Light bodied but approaching medium, there is a lot of flavor packed in this 4% offering and it certainly refreshed with no gas issues. While I wouldn't say it's a guzzler, it kinda fits a mark just above that where you would typically drink it faster then most, but the hops curb that well enough.

Final Thoughts: I was really hoping for a Scotch Ale when I first saw this, but then when I was told this was brewer as a fund raiser beer, I wasn't about to back out after that. It's a good thing too because this was a pretty good pilsner, which is everything I expected it to be. Thumbs up.