Pilsner
Talking Cedar Brewery

 

perhaps the weakest of the beers i had in here, grainy, thin, not well lagered, and to me a pretty thorough miss, especially in a place where so many great lagers exist, its not awful, but why choose mediocrity when greatness is so accessible? its a strange beer, a grain water thing to it, very amateur, i was disappointed by this. pale yellow, a bit flat looking from the tap by the time it reaches me, pretty light carbonation activity as it drinks too, i like this style to sing and this one really doesnt. aroma thats slightly husky, chaff, sunflower seed kernel, light biscuit, european but maybe not well used, slightly stale even. the lager yeast is appreciable, hops are very light, water and attention to detail seem suspect, nothing crisp about it. the flavor has some oxidation, some sweatiness, and just is totally lacking the brightness i want in one of these, some more hops could easily be tolerated here, and this ends up being a bit one dimensional in an unflattering way, even in an approachable style like this, watery. the ferment is the main issue i reckon, lightly metallic later on too, cheap but not like in a way a decent budget lager generously calls itself a pils but still kind of hits, and this does not present as made by someone who is quality focused or competent in the way i would expect for place that has obviously spent some money on their facility. far and away the worst beer i had at talking cedar, in need of some serious recipe and process improvements...

 

Poured from 12oz can into a dimpled mug. Can is dated “1372024”, so I’m guessing that’s sometime in May?

Appearance: pale straw hue with a very light, shimmery dash of haze, and a finger of frothy eggshell foam atop.

Smell: lightly malty with a dash of yeastiness and a little bit of noble hop character. Not too bad.

Taste: malt is slightly sweet with a bit of graininess; that light yeast character and dash of slightly grassy noble hops comes through as well. Again, not bad.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body but with a big carbonation and a really nice creaminess for the style.

Overall: perhaps not perfectly to-style for a Czech pilsner, it’s still a damn refreshing beer on a sunny day like this.