Czech This Trit Out
Whistle Punk Brewing Company

a collaboration with a brewery called varietal, which i had not heard of before this one, not sure who actually brewed it or which page it should be listed under, but i had it at whistle punk, so this is where i added it. its an awesome beer, my favorite one i had in here, done with locally malted triticale to add a whole new dimension to a generally very predictable style. looks like a pils, yellow to golden in the glass, clear and pale, with a frothing white head that has great retention and a lot of lace as i drink it down. aroma is pretty straightforward as well, a little almost earthy rye spice to it from the triticale, but noble hops, european pils malt, and a familiar lager yeast strain are all in front of it. the flavor is where this gets different for me, on top of the normal pils malt base is this intense flash of peppery, dry, uniqueness, its like rye, but its window is shorter and it seems more concentrated, there is a crackery breadiness to it as well, a real harvest element, but its tough to describe, i dont think i have known this grain in beer quite this well before, really a neat twist, almost like it has some bitterness of its own too, and so plays well with the grassy hops that rise up in the finish, this is quite bitter and fast on the swallow. its still very much a pils, the lager profile is obvious and also quite professionally and patiently done, but this little twist in the grain bill really makes this special. i have long been of the mind that this is not a style that has a lot of room for experimentation, that if you dry hop it like crazy, make it imperial, ferment it with brett, than its not really a pils anymore, and that all the good ones are brewing to the same standard and generally taste the same, with very little wiggle room, but this beer proves that stance wrong, so i stand corrected. i loved this, and i respect it like crazy. brilliant use of a little known grain in a style where it can really be appreciated. bravo!