Calypso Pilsner
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

 

Not a bad addition to the iron hill menu, pours clear golden in a pint glass. Plenty of influence from Prima Pils here, nice hoppy finish. a good everyday pilsner. Nice floral notes throughout, it's well made. Plenty nice for lunchtime or a couple during a game or other social gathering.

On tap @ Iron Hill West Chester on 8/5/11. Served in a 10 oz goblet.

Pours a crystal clear copper, with a finger of bright-white foamy head. This maintains a nice looking rich frothiness, leaving back a solid cascade of rich and spotty lacing behind. The aroma is bright and grassy in the nose, with notes of fresh pine and earth standing out as well. Tart lemon character adds some zesty fruitiness to the proceedings, while toasted grains (and a touch of egg) from those Pils malts are supportive underneath. The overall nose though definitely keeps the hops here at the forefront of this.

The taste is really interesting; with a pronounced fruitiness (there is a LOT of tart lemon present but some softer fruit notes are here as well) that trails into more assertive notes of pine and spice in the backend of the profile. Like the nose, the malts offer a tight bready sweetness for those hops to bounce off of, yet still keep them the focus here for the most part. The finish is fairly clean and dry, with just a bit of lingering earth and pith hanging on a tongue a bit. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a crisp and prickly carbonation throughout that gives the hop profile a little added oomph. That 5.5% ABV is spot on here, well hid yet still giving this some presence in the mouth.

This was a solid intro to this new hop varietal and I think that a Pilsner was a good style selection here for it, as it helped keep the malts and yeast in the backend and the focus more on seeing what they could bring to the table. I would be curious to see more of what this could possibly bring to some other styles but as for now, this was a tasty and easy drinking Pils. I enjoyed this.

Given a sample upon recommendation from the bartender. She told me they were excited to have this on as it was the first use of the new Calypso hops - an apparent hop hybrid. Iron Hill's site lists it as a "traditional German lager." Poured into a 5 oz taster glass...

A - Pours a brilliant, clear pale yello color. A nice .5 finger bone white head forms and retains quite well.

S - Typical pale malts with some very nice fruit aromas from the hops. Lemon and some faint pear aromas come out. Not sweet or obviously sugary.

T - Follows the nose quite well with the addition of some stronger malt flavors. The fruitiness of the hops really comes out nicely with citrus flavors. Nice bitterness and slightly dry.

M - Light and crisp on the mouth. Dry finish with a moderate carbonation.

O - Really nice, refreshing beer. I wasn't blown away, but I could notice some subtle nuances the hops had added to the style.