Crisp NY Pilsner
Niteglow Beer Company

 

 

some confusion with these guys, as some of the beers appear to be numbered, some appear to have names, or like crisp isnt really the name its just a heading, and the beer is actually numbered under the crisp heading, but this is a new york ingredient pils that leans a touch more german than czech to me, my first from niteglow, a solid beer but actually not that crisp, which makes no sense, but its true, i love the grain in this, i like the hop balance, decidedly american really, which makes sense given the ingredient selection, but its the lagering that to me leaves a little something to be desired, still a nice beer though, drinkable and distinctive in a samey style space. nice head on this and lots of bubbles, neither as clear nor as yellow as is classic with a pils, generally speaking, but lively and excited looking, still bright and backlit. the aroma and flavor have a nice earthen pale pils malt core, lightly nutty but not toasted, loaded with minerality, faint astringency, and soft bready character, a lot to this, and they do a nice job letting it do its thing in here, cool malt for sure, a highlight of this for me. the hops have some spiciness but also some bitterness that sets in a little earlier than is common, not overdone but thats where i think they are pulling crisp from, it has that effect, snapping this up a bit, and it is on the dry side, but its the fermentation that isnt as clean as the word crisp generally indicates, like i get some lightly estery character late, like a red apple fruitiness and it lingers past the swallow, so the refreshment factor is reduced a bit there, and it has some late almost tannic character, perhaps a product of the grain and some warmer temperatures, but it hits in a space where there should be nothing or very little, maybe not quite a flaw, but its not crisp either. i liked the beer maybe better than its ratings add up to here, but with a name like crips, beer or series or otherwise, it should be exactly that, so its hard to overlook that, but cool use of local ingredients, wonderful carbonation, and a brewery id love to drink a bit more from...