Fort Hill Pilsner
Bent Stick Brewing Co.

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor store - and so named after one of the first breweries in Edmonton, which was by then a City storage shed 15 years ago when I lived just up the river valley bank from it, and would either walk or cycle past it on my downtown work commute.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium golden yellow colour, with four fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and well-bubbly eggshell white head, which leaves some decent streaky cirrus cloud pattern lace around the glass as it slowly sinks out of sight.

It smells of gritty and grainy cereal malt, pressed green grapes, some mild earthy yeastiness, faint gasohol, and plain leafy, herbal, and grassy hop bitters. The taste is grainy and crackery pale malt, a mild apple and pear fruitiness, faded estery yeast, some damp minerality, and more understated earthy, leafy, and wet-hay hoppiness.

The carbonation is active in its palate-prickling frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and mostly smooth, with nothing in particular getting in the way of a generally swell time here. It finishes trending dry, the malt ceding the stage to the lingering verdant hoppy essences.

Overall - this is supposed to be a 'new World, German-style Pilsner', whatever that means. It do suppose that the hops are a tad more lively than yer typical version of the style, which is the standard for any North American craft iteration. So, is this good? Yup. Is it ground-breaking? Not really - just something to go with the BBQ wieners that won't knock you on your proverbial ass.