Pikne
Pühaste Brewery

 

Pours a cloudy, pale golden coloration with a medium, fluffy head. Smells of biscuity, slightly doughy malt and tropical, citrus hops, with notes of passion fruit and grapefruit, with some grassy and floral accents as well. Taste is a good balance of biscuity, slightly doughy malt and fruity, floral slightl grassy and resinous hops, with tropical and citrus notes of passion fruit and grapefruit, as well as just a hint of pine. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some passion fruit, grapefruit and floral accents lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

When I saw "West Coast PIlsner" written on this, I was intrigued. A Pilsner with a strong bitternes and some pine resin? That might actually work and make for quite a nice, unusual example of the style. Unfortunately, this completely lacks both that crisp and clean feel that I expected from PIlsner, with very little malt presence as well, and the strong resinous bitterness that I expect from a West Coast IPA. This is an India Pale Lager, plain and simple. It's very much dominated by the Strata and Citra hops, while Bobek brings at least a little floral and resinous accents to the table here. This is not to say that this is a bad beer, it's actually quite a nice IPL, but just doesn't qualify as a "West Coast Pilsner" to me.