Dolo
Fifth Frame Brewing Co.

 

4 oz "side pull" pour on tap at the brewery. I don't buy "Italian pilsner" as a style; this is a hoppy pilsner, no more no less. Anyhow, it's pretty good - nice crisp pilsner malty flavor with a nice dose of American hops (citrus). It's not my favorite style, but it's a successful beer for what it sets out to be.

Fifth Frame identifies this as an "Italian Pilsner". The beer is (SRM3-4) straw gold, with occasional tiny carbonation randomly dispatching upwards. A thin, translucent head is formed by tiny bubbles and is short lived. There is no lacing on the Pilsner glass.

The aroma is similar to crisp straw and white bread dough. A sharp hop aroma fits in nicely. None of these components dominate.

The flavor is well balanced between sweetness and bitterness. Pleasant spicy and herbal hop flavors layer against subtle malt grain. This beer is superbly fresh with a floral touch. Late in a mild finish, something odd comes out -- perhaps puffed rice.

The body is medium with soft, bread-like texture. There is no presence of alcohol, while the carbonation is light an fizzy.

DOLO is super easy to drink. With such low alcohol, one could spend a long afternoon, with this beer, while catching up with old friends or at a family gathering. This is my first "Italian Pilsner", and, if it represents the style well, the "Italian Pilsner" style will be a welcome addition to the Pilsner family.

Poured from 16 oz can into a pilsner glass. Looks cloudy gold color with a white head that fell to a thin cap. Looks great! The smell reveals a pretty strong hop aroma, but it's not excessive. You get mostly citrus fruit here. Taste is grapefruit, orange pith, bread dough from the malt. Some hop bitterness is present, but this is a sweeter pilsner. The hops really shine through here. Feel is medium bodied with light and tight carbonation. It sticks to the tongue and doesn't have a dry finish that other pilsners give you. Overall, it's tasty, it's refreshing, and it's light enough in ABV you can have a few. A pretty good beer in all.

On tap at Fifth Frame Brewing in Rochester, NY.

This one pours a slightly hazy golden yellow color, with a small head, and lots of lacng.

This smells like spicy hops, citrus, bready hops, floral hops, etc. It smells great.

This approximates the style fairly well, but I would definitely want a bit more crispness here. There's a nice spicy hop character, with some herbal and piney hop character. There's a touch of malt, but it's mostly hops here.

This is light bodied, crisp and clean, but not quite as fully crisp as I'd want. It's quite drinkable.

I definitely like the somewhat new trend towards Italian-style pilsners. I want more breweries to go that way.