Segretissimo
1937 Brewing Company

1937 Brewing Co. "The Italian Job"
on tap

Notes via stream of consciousness: A mainly clear deep golden body rests gently beneath a finger's width of white foam. The aroma is sweetish, grainy, and lightly grassy on the malt side, and softly herbal and spicy on the hop side. There's a hint of apple to it, which is nice, and a very light suggestion of lager yeast sulphur but on the whole it's a remarkably clean lager. On to the taste then, it follows the aroma exactly as is quite often the case. The malt is there with its light sweetness and grainy and grassy character, and it's clearly Pilsner malt. The hops are well balanced within that malt base with floral, grassy, and herbal notes. The yeast has contributed a touch of apple and some very low level sulphur that helps to balance and round it. The bitterness is spot on given the malts that's there, around 25-30 IBUs, and it finishes dry and refreshing. I'm quite sure that they were going for an Italian Pilsner (who wouldn't be given the name?) and they've definitely nailed it. I travel to Italy every few years and this is really up there with the best of them, except for the head retention and lacing. The head dropped on it almost immediately and there was no lacing left at all. Not surprisingly, perhaps, or not, this is also a problem with many Italian-brewed Pilsners. In the mouth it's medium bodied and crisp so there's no fault there. I've really enjoyed this, and it's rare that I'll finish an entire pint before I finish writing unless it's a very complex beer, so that says something. I also wish I had another one, so that goes towards "drinkability".
Review #8,626