Tribute
Lolev Beer

 

Poured into a narrow imperial pint glass: color is hazy straw gold with brighter white frothy head that presents two inches thick, head lingers well and leaves spotty lacing on the glass sides.

Smell is sweeter pilsner malt, crackers, biscuit, floral, light orange, grassy and pepper notes with warmth.

Taste is mixed pilsner and cracker/biscuit malts with floral and earthy notes - and as described notes of basil, orange, and sunflower like notes - very interesting and unique flavor profile.

Mouthfeel is moderate carbonation, moderate sweetness, moderate bitterness.

Overall a very unique flavor but it kept me coming back for additional tastes - malty, light citrus, herbal with a basily note, and a sunflower flavor that emanates with warmth.

Review: 2180
Name: Tribute
Brewery: Lolev Beer
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Style: Imperial Pilsner
ABV: 6.6%
Date: No Date
Lolev Beer has crafted this beer, Tribute, which supports the ALS cause and generously donates a portion to this great cause. I served Tribute at 44 degrees in a pilsner glass. The pour creates a frothy, foamy, one-fingered, white head with above-average retention. The slow dissipation leaves chunks of lacing on the glass, a testament to the beer's quality. The color, rich amber with straw yellow hues, is transparent and charts at SRM 6. The appearance of the beer is not just above average.
When I nose the beer, I initially smell malty sweetness, oranges, and floral blossoms. The hop profile has pepper, tropical fruit, floral blossoms, oranges, and bay leaves. The malt complex is toasted malts, crackers, and dough. Other aromas I noticed are earthy and light phenol. Tribute has a massive hop aroma and a pilsner malt profile.
The first sip is odd; the flavor starts with candied orange peel wrapped in a bandaid. The hops also have grapefruit, peppercorn, earthy, floral esters, and anise. The malt profile is toasted malts, crackers, and doughy, with a moderate malty sweetness.
The mouthfeel is astringent, finishing powdery and tannic. The body is medium and has medium carbonation.
The hop profile hit my palate hard. The anise is strong, but the candied orange and band was a new experience. The malt is firm yet a bit flimsy under the weight of the hop profile. It is an intriguing beer with a unique hop combination. I enjoyed sipping the beer, feeling the warmth of this fantastic summer night, which made the experience even more enjoyable.

16oz can purchased off the shelf as a single for $4.37 plus tax. Canned on 05/30/24, so this is two months and one day old.

Look: Pours out with a beautifully fluffy off-white head. The head was initially two fingers tall, and ultimately dissipated to a thin layer. Nice lacing. The color is like a toasted straw color. This is the third West Coast Pilsner that I have had (Human Robot and Ten7 were the others) and this one has the darkest color. This is also an Imperial Pilsner and it is a bit higher in ABV. The beer is basically clear, it has just the slightest haze to it. The beer gained a soft haze upon pouring the rest of the can.

Smell: On the nose, nice grapefruit and spice up front. Green bell pepper and jalapenos without even swirling the glass. Fresh flat leaf parsley after swirling the glass. The parsley note is actually quite strong, I just couldn't identify it right away. The green notes on this beer are nuts! There's some floral character there (geraniums perhaps?), but it's hard to pick up behind the strong pepper and green notes. There's a touch of lemon zest also.

Taste: It's really tasty, very smooth. Super drinkable and refreshing, and surprisingly balanced for an Imperial Pilsner. Initially, I thought that this beer is more complex on the palate than on the nose. However, I was eventually able to find increasing complexity on the nose. Up front, it has some of those green pepper notes along with some spices like clove and peppercorns, and some grapefruit notes. The beer has a nice, full body. The finish is both dry and sweet at the same time. It's initially dry, but as some of the bitterness fades then the lingering perception on the palate is a pleasant and familiar cereal grain sweetness. Nice grapefruit pith and peppery notes on the finish.

Feel: It's very smooth and the beer has a nice mouthfeel for its size. The carbonation is relatively soft and pleasant too.

Overall: This is very good. I just wish that it was a bit more balanced in showing more fruity, citrusy notes and not as much green notes. Regardless, it's very tasty, interesting, and different. I'm just not sure what makes this a West Coast Style Imperial Pilsner. I guess that I will see when I taste Grandar and compare the two.