Arrogant Pilsner

So it has that slightly sweet, unattenuated malt character that can weigh on your palate? Honestly, not being facetious, those beers always seem unfinished to me.

 

Nah...its actually quite dry. Think less Carlsberg Elephant than FAXE. Let some warm up a little last night and the resinous flavor started to stand out pretty strongly. Also felt pretty tipsy after 2.5 cans of the stuff and ended up falling asleep. I would suggest drinking it pretty ice cold if you do give it a try.

 

Still haven't seen it anywhere around here. >shrug<

 

As luck would have it (and being prompted by this thread) I found some of the AP at a (somewhat) out-of-the-way retailer today. I'll review it on a cleaner palate with more focus later, but first impressions: Um, is there any malt in this?

First smell is all piny hops, very un-Pils like. Flavor is the same piny note with some spiciness and light citrus... but there's no malt character at all. As with HerrB, it reminds me of something, but it's not Danish strong beer. The hop note leans it more to an APA, but I feel there's a beer I've had in the past of which this one is very reminiscent. Unfortunately, I'm sure it wasn't any sort of traditional Pilsner.

And yeah, talk about a "fizzy head," this one is so sudsy and dissipates so quickly, I feel like I have a BMC in my glass.

 

Agree that I detect no breadiness to the malt here -- much more crackery if anything.

 

Right at the end of the tasting, on the back of my tongue, I started to taste some malt, but it's all hop juice to my palate. Again, more in a review when it's not week's end and I'm prepping Friday night date night.

Oh, and also not to demean this beer, it's certainly drinkable and not at all in-your-face... it's just far from any Pilsner I know (yeah, that didn't sound back-handed -- sorry).

 

FWIW- I had one from the beer fridge yesterday, just for the hell of it, and it was a vastly different experience from my first one. The malt was rounder and more pronounced, the hops weren't as fine and sharp, and it wasn't as tightly knit. This beer wants to be served cold.

 

I had another of the Stones this afternoon after cleaning out my wife's car. Can was in the fridge overnight and was plenty cold. Still nothing but hop juice to me in a very APA perception.

However, a very enjoyable and refreshing APA. Just no Pils

Not sure how you're dissecting malt from this beer @TongoRad, but maybe I've just been drinking too many malty beers lately and my palate isn't picking up the lighter character in this.

 

It's definitely there for me, but I'll just chalk it up to palate differences. IIRC, we saw Pivo Pils differently as well, and pretty much in the same manner.

 

There is something more harsh in the hop character of Pivo (to me) than Arrogant Pils. Given the choice, I'd take the Stone as it just seems more refreshing to me... in that APA way.

 

After having Prima Pils again, I think Wussie may have taken it's place as my favorite "light" beer.

 

This was a dominant feature of the hop profile for me as well. Although there was almost a blend of Noble and American hop characteristics.

Ha, yup, I think yesterday's second can (I had my first the day before on a fresh palate) was my third beer of the day, and I started feeling buzzed halfway through this can.

The same thing happened to me, I kept thinking, "I've had a beer like this before...something American, but I can't pinpoint which one."

Ahh, I was writing this it came to me as I read the Pivo bit I quoted below. It reminds me of the Stivo draft I had a few weeks ago. Perhaps a bit less sweet/malty than the Stivo, and a bit more of the pepper spice to it. The Stivo was also drier and more crisp, but not by much.

Overall profile of the two fits from memory. Probably tastes like another American beer (lager?) I've had before as well, but I can't think of any. Maybe Peak Organic's Fresh Cut.

I did get some subtle malt character in the back end, a slight sweetness, but it was there. Still hop dominant.

It's a hop-forward offering for sure. But at 47 IBUs, from Stone, and at 5.8% ABV, what did you expect? I'm also not knocking it, I expected it to be the way it drank. Not a classic Pils by any means, and probably not one I'll seek out again (because my preference is a more "traditional" Pils, not because the beer wasn't enjoyable). I'll definitely grab it on draft if I see it to compare.

I agree with the harshness of the hop character compared to the Wussie, but I'd take Pivo over Wussie. More Pils malt character in that one, and far less hoppy (to my palate at least).

Sorry for quoting everyone, but all of your descriptions virtually wrote my review for me!

 

Silly me -- it says Pilsner on the can, don't know what I was expecting.

 

Ha, I actual started rephrasing that comment when I was writing it, because I didn't really mean to aim it at you directly. It was a general commentary on expectation.

I've eased up on my expectations with US breweries and anything more subdued and traditional. The US craft landscape has become its own thing, and unless a brewery goes out of its way to tout itself as a more traditional brewery, I expect something hoppy, barrel-aged, experimental...

That's what your craft beer drinker expects and desires, and we're in the minority if we desire something different. I know where to go to find that, and I mix it up between "traditional" and "American". Maybe I've been having too many "juicy" IPAs lately, but they do taste quite good, and they're very well done in my area. I just make sure to have a nice traditional lager on hand to cleanse my palate afterwards.

 

It's all good!

Cheers!

 

I'd have responded similarly.

Dunno about that... from Lew Bryson:

 

Okay, I have to promote Lew's last two paragraphs of his article because they are classic.

Just another damned herbivore -- LOL!

 

I picked up a sixer of this and I enjoyed it quite a bit and the cans are cool, a worthy edition to my Pilsner rotation.

 

Snagged a can of this. Looking forward to trying this out soon.

Cheers!

 

Any sightings in SF Bay Area? I have a feeling that this is one of those beers that our distributor passed on (like Enjoy By Unfiltered)...