Big Crispy
Bewilder Brewing

 

 

we are probably needing a west coast pils style here on BA, seems to be about the hottest trend out right now, everyone is doing it, and the variations have been wide spanning. i classed this as an india pale lager rather than as a euro pils of any persuasion but i think the west coast pils is a thing unique from either of those. either way its nice beer, really hoppy and modern, much less of a pils, but the hop profile is awesome. i also think the name is kind of misleading, copy cat, and lame, like this isnt very crisp, its juicy and long to finish despite being well lagered, its not a true "crispy boi" in the way it has come to mean, and expecting that because of the name made this at first disappointing, its just not that type of beer, which isnt a problem at all. the hops are awesome, 586 or now krush leading the way, pineapple candy, muddled lemongrass, thiols and terps to me, white wine and green table grapes, green gooseberries, lush aloe, super springy and appealing, some bittering there too, but i would not call this bitter. the malt is light in aroma and in flavor and in body, to me this is close to grain neutral, not really with pils malt flavor as a central element, and i feel the same about the yeast, its drying and fine, but the ferment isnt really a flavor here, the way it should be in a pils, so i dont know, its nice hoppy lager, modern, american, and good, but its not crispy and the pils side of this is maybe inadequate. im being too negative, i love how juicy this is, how unique the hop profile is, and how the saphir and eureka compliment the krush, mango and lemon at the end, green papaya, coconut water, its ripe and fresh and very easy drinking, even if it isnt crispy as such. id maybe like this more under a different moniker, but this is objectively good and loaded with personality.

edit: this may change some from batch to batch, seeing language about other hop combinations out there about this, but i also found it a little more pils-like the second time around, more malt personality and more appreciable lager yeast, which seem like improvements in something calling itself pils. the hops maybe less juicy this time, but also maybe less fresh. do the hops rotate in this? somebody fill me in. still a great beer, leaving scores alone, but it presents a bit different than i remember, low bitterness but more balanced, nice with salty foods, these guys have it going on right now.