Delbert
High Ground Brewing

 

Picked this up on my way home from New River Gorge at Studio B in Fayetteville, as I never had anything nor had heard of High Ground before. Finding something in the Mountaineer State that wasn't mass-market wasn't easy and to have a Pilsner with a Art Deco look to the label made this find a bigger treat. As the previous reviewer mentioned, this was more like something from Germany than the Czech Republic but even with that in mind, I enjoyed this and how easygoing it was, to the point where this felt like it was imported!

Needless to say, this beer poured a lovely and bright straw with plenty of thick head to offset the liquid. That settled pretty evenly as a thick ring remained near the top of my pint glass with a fair amount of spots lingering near the bottom. Faint hops and grass were in the muted nose as the taste had some urine and skunk mixed in. Some grape skin and wine enlivened this as this was well-rounded both in taste and body and high enough in alcohol to feel more like something from Germany than one of it's neighbors to the east.

Even though this was categorized incorrectly on here, this was fine and fun to drink as I never felt this beer's heft at all. No date was printed on the bottom of the can but regardless of that, this looked and tasted fresh as the clarity was present throughout my session. More darkness and sweetness would have been appreciated but as it was, this was perfect for a late summer's night, down to the tattoo-like art on the label. Too bad more breweries don't give something like this a go!

So I do consider myself a Czech Pilsener fiend, it's probably my favorite style of beer. There are lots of good beers made in the US, lots of good German Pilseners especially, but, not so many Czech Pilseners. I've yet to have one that compares to any from the Czech Republic. Still I am very glad when I do see a brewery make the attempt and very happy one not so far away has done so. The beer looks nice, has the right appearance, probably needs a little more carbonation. There is a light hop smell but, you the classic Czech aroma is not here. Taste is good, I like this, but, still, not quite there. Probably just a little too dry and not quite enough hops to make the style. This is usually what I find in many attempts at Czech Pilseners, they usually end up leaning towards the German styles. This is good beer though and closer than most I've had, a little tweaking this could be there. Nice job.