Esser's Cross Plains Special
Cross Plains Beer Company

Very good beer. Had ice cold out of bottle. Some fruity tones but still true to pilsner. Refreshing and enjoyable

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured out of a 12 oz bottle into a tulip.

A) Straw yellow, and clear. Ample carbonation. About a finger of foamy white head. No retention on the head, and no lacing.

S) The aroma is of grain, cornhusk, and a white wine sweetness.

T) The taste is pretty close to the nose. It's a little buttery, and it closes with a nice hop bitterness.

M) This is a light bodied brew with ample carbonation. It is rather crisp and has a dry finish.

O) Well, not special as the label proclaims. It did quench my thirst after enjoying some award winning cheese.

 

Transcribed from my notebook.

Pours out transparent golden straw colored, short lived head that disintegrates way too quick for my tastes...but the color and clarity are nice looking...Slightly skunky aroma, but mostly light grassy hops on mild biscuit malt, but way too much buttery diacetyl is present...hops are too lackluster in flavor, body is of pleasingly light texture and good carbonation at least, but most other aspects of this brew need some serious work. Drinkable, but that is about all, so I can't really recommend it.

12 oz twist off bottle.

It pours a honey gold with big, bulky bubbles and a soapy white head.

The smell is light and clean. It is unoffensive, with noble hops and light biscuit.

Th flavor is a bit of a letdown. It has a big buttery diacetyl flavor and it is under carbonated. Other than that there is a mild hop flavor, but it is a buttery, sweet, malty pils.

Poured into a pint a clear honey golden with a white head that fades immediately. Little nose, just a hint of hay and crackers. Mouthfeel is light & satisfyingly carbonated. Clean flavors of grain & hints of biscut with a sweet finish, lacking the sometime sour after taste this style can have. There are no dominating big flavors and that's not a bad thing. This is a crisp pils with lots more flavor and character than the macros. Nice, not great.

I am sad to say that there is nothing special about Esser's Cross Plains Special German Pilsner. There is an initial monster foamy head that very quickly dissipates. The aroma is a first yeasty and then only slightly floral, with a metallic note hitting the nostrils. The taste is empty and wet. I do not recommend trying this beverage, if any other options are available.

A: Yellowish straw in color. Served with a 1/4" of white head that dissipates quickly.

S: Biscuit malt. Straw. And the flawed scent of diacetyl.

T: Biscuit malts and classic noble hop bitterness. Has a surprisingly long finish. Thankfully, the butter aroma is not present in the flavor.

M: Thin with relatively high carbonation. Light and crisp. Refreshing summer beer.

D: Easy drinker and easily sessionable, but not really a beer with a lot of character, even for the style. Butter aroma is off-putting and there really isn't much more going on that would make it worth returning to.

Pours a clear, golden color. 1/3 inch head of a white color. Decent retention and poor lacing. Smells of slight roasted malt, yeast, hops, and slight citrus. Fits the style of a German Pilsener. Mouth feel is smooth and crisp with an average carbonation level. Tastes of slight pale malt, slight roasted malt, yeast, hops, and slight citrus. Overall, a better than average German Pilsener. Good body, complexity, and drinkability.

Beautiful light yellow and clear with a lovely white fluffy head, thick and creamy with good lacing.

Smells of fresh malts and hops, very inviting.

Roasty malt fills the tongue, with a slight bitter bite at the end, just right for the style. Stands up to some of the macros of this style very well.

Decent heavyness for the style, good carbonation, just a great ballpark type beer. This looks light colored like a macro but drinks much nicer.

Very drinkable and satisfying, would make a nice session beer, abv estimate is around 4.5%.

Lemony appearance and aroma. Some wheatgrass tossed in. Smooth and inoffensive in flavor, feels fairly thin during swallow. Almost no hop presence to speak of, this beer reminds me more of a general American lager than a pilsener. Not memorable at all, but definitely a local brew I could drink while grilling out on a nice summer evening.

Golden orange with an active swarm of bubbles, thin soapy head, then nothing. Looked like apple juice, and was actually mistaken for Red Bull when sitting unattended on the counter. Swilly grains and dull generic beer smell. Maybe a touch of honey sweetness, but that was a stretch. Flavor was watered down and sweet grain was about the only identifiable taste. Bland and lacking distinct character. With a bigger chug, there was a vague bitterness suggesting trace elements of hops, but no actual taste from them.Thin and gassy, not a crisp clean Pils like I was hoping for. Inoffensive all around, which seems to be what they were shooting for here. Won't try this again.

Poured into a Pils glass.

Pours a light honey with a bubbly head that disappears immediately. Crystal clear.

Aroma is light DMS and cooked veggies. The grain on the nose comes across more like wet cardboard than grain.

Flavor is slightly sweet malt with a huskiness to the grain. There is a small hop hit, not bold like hallertau or munich's, more like a few cascades per barrel. The grain gives a slight sweetness. Refreshing, just bland and thin.

Mouthfeel is thin and bubbly.

Picked up a single bottle to try(not available in Iowa).

This beer pours a very macro like appearance. Clear yellow with small head that doesn't stay around. Nose is weak but clean and fresh with grains and slight malt.

Taste is slightly tart or hoppy with a mild hop flavor. Mouth feel is of average carbonation and leaves the tongue feeling slick.

I don't want to be too harsh here. This is way better than most macros; just not distinctive. Overall a very drinkable beer.