Five Roads Pilsner
Five Roads Brewing Co.

Clear pale tan-straw color. Poured a medium head that turned into medium sized bubbles within half a minute and collapsed to a thin skiff after a couple of minutes. Low flow of mixed size bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass. Left a few tiny patches of lace, but most of them just flowed down the glass.

Much stronger malt scent than expected from such a light beer. Also rather strong, but clean yeast smell. The overall scent is close to a day-old multi-grain bread. Swirling the glass kicked up a faint, sweet barnyard and mint. Both scents disappeared in seconds.

The flavor is very malt forward and slightly sweet. Medium bitters that taste stronger than the IBU 20 listed. Slight citrus flavor. The aftertaste is a quick burst of citrus (orange? tangerine?) then hoppy bitters that slowly fade out.

Some tongue tingling as it foams up to larger bubbles. A bit heavy for a Pilsner.

I really enjoyed this. This is at the border between German and Imperial Pilsner. Much stronger flavor than I was expecting. This is a beer for sipping by a winter fireplace, not for drinking at a hot beach. Unlike most West Coast Pilsners, it did not have the nasty metallic or fishy taste that is so common.