Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

I didn't say it was a flavor. One could say that hoppiness is not a flavor either, but primarily an "olfactory issue." Not sure I get what your point is here.

 

Well, I happened to find this beer out of sheer luck today -- albeit, only in 12 packs, unfortunately. I honestly can't agree that this beer does justice to lagers -- it's the most resiny-bitter beer I've had since a locally brewed DIPA. The malts fight to be recognized toward the end of the aftertaste, but they succumb to the hops like Oregon to Ohio.

Now, I greatly like and respect SN as a brewery, but this beer reinforces that I'm no fanboy at all. I really don't like the strong bitter aftertaste -- as an IPA or an IPL.

I wonder how this beer would be after a few months aging..?

 

Well, different palates and all the rest, as I didn't get any resin whatsoever. Bitterness, sure. But resin? None at all. If we were closer by, I'd gladly take them off your hands

 

Seriously? Man -- the finish tasted like I was sucking on a mouthful fresh hop cones. They run the hops thru their torpedo for this beer, I imagine that extracts a lot of the lupulin.

As to the balance of the beers, maybe we can arrange a trade... but you're in California... where all the beers taste like this, don't they?

 

Suffice it to say, if I want a good resin-bomb, there's no shortage of options

 

I should first state that I have not had Hoppy Lager yet.

Below are the ingredients for Hoppy Lager:

“Ingredients

• Yeast Lager yeast
• Bittering Hops Palisade, El Dorado
• Finishing Hops Citra, Equinox
• Malts Two-row Pale, Pilsner, Munich, Caramel, Acidulated”

I have homebrewed with Citra many times and I have had Equinox in the recent SN Equinox IPA. I personally do not perceive resin in either Citra or Equinox. I suppose in combination this aspect can arise?

I look forward to trying Hoppy Lager next time I see it.

Thanks for your discussion on this beer!!

Cheers!

 

How would you say the Nooner stacked up to some of our collectively beloved German pilsners and also compared to US craft examples? Is it more continental or more US craft?

I still have a bunch of beer in the fridge to get through (including a bunch of fresh Schlenkerla I just snagged!) before getting Nooner, but I'm planning on picking some up. Just curious what you think.

 

Whenever you supply of Pilsner type beers diminish I would highly recommend that you buy a 6-pack of Nooner Pilsner and decide for yourself.

The two drinking experiences (draft vs. bottle) were noticeably different.

The draft beer was malt dominated with a BIG bready backbone. The first beer that struck my mind with the draft version was Stoudts Pils.

The bottled version was very much balanced between a bready malt backbone and noticeable hop flavor/aroma. There is no specific Pilsner that comes to mind with the specific flavors of this bottled beer. I would state that I have had many other Pilsners that match this balance but I would not state that the specific flavor aspects (both malt and hop) really match this beer.

Cheers!

 

I bought a 12-pack of cans of Nooner last night and I must say it's a damn fine Pilsner.

 

Had the Nooner last night as well. It was enjoyable enough, though not particularly memorable for me. Re: craft pilsners, the Polestar I had fresh on tap a few weeks back was more enjoyable, just feeling brighter and with a more noticeable bready-ness in the malt. But Nooner is nicely attenuated and satisfied the pilsner itch well enough, I suppose. YMMV, of course.

 

Can you make a comparison to SN's Summerfest?

 

IMHO, Nooner Pilsner is an excellent take on a German pilsner. The noble hops really shine and pop. Clean, crisp finish with a light malt backbone. It's really well done and on par with Firestone Walker Pivo Pils. Prost and here's to more decent, true-to-style pilsners in the U.S.!

 

I sadly can't -- I've somehow managed to have not tried Summerfest yet. Certainly on the list this coming year

 

That will be my first comparison for the Nooner. I really enjoy the SN Summerfest, but I still can't say it's as good in its malt character as most German or Bohemian Pilsner imports.

 

See, I feel like I'm getting glimpses of that character in some craft versions, but I'd love to experience as many of you are describing it in the actual German/Bohemian versions. I just get cold feet every time I hit the bottle shop and find 6-month old Weihenstephaner, Jever, etc. I don't want to spoil the experience by using old stock.

 

6 Months isn't so bad for an import -- they usually give a whole year for a shelf life. Being in California you ought to try Trumer, it's always been great to-style for me -- although, the last 12 pack I had seemed a little light in the breadiness, but it may have been my palate being off.

Check out the date on the Weihenstephaner Pils I reviewed last month.

And from that review:

I go on to say that when you focus on the Weihen you can discern differences, but it's still kudos to SN.

 

Yup, Trumer's definitely on the try list. And good to hear your thoughts re: freshness/dating. I suppose I'm jaded as an IPA drinker, as anything beyond 3+ months gets me awful skeptical in that department. (Not that so aged a beer can't still be tasty -- only that I know it won't be what it was fully meant to be. Ah, but this is what you've all been saying about German lagers/pils all this time )

 

A 6+ month old German import will indeed taste different from a fresh(er) version. Beer styles like Helles, Kolsch, Pilsner, etc. are delicate beer styles.

I drink the vast majority of German imported beer on draft at local beer bars. I have batted 1.000 so far with these draft beers; none have been stale.

As regards buying bottled German imports just keep trying. A month+ ago I was able to purchase a 6-pack of Jever that was bottled in Sept. 2014. I have one bottle from that 6-pack left; it is now 3+ months old. I don’t often find German imports this fresh but I buy them when I do.

Cheers!

 

A few threads I've leafed through keep having posters emphatically saying the two beers are quite different and shouldn't bother being compared. I'm not sure I agree with them on that- though slightly different styles I think they can broadly be compared in terms of hop presence and flavor, bitterness, malt backbone, and drinkability.

I'm probably going to pick some Nooner up this weekend for the football games (Go Packers!). I'm expecting it to be as drinkable or more so than Summerfest, with a slightly more pronounced hop flavor, slightly less bitterness (even though Summerfest is hardly that bitter), and slightly lighter body.

I'll be happy if it falls somewhere on the Rothaus-Pivo-Prima spectrum, ideally somewhere between Rothaus and Pivo in terms of body, hop presence, etc.

 

Well, you can compare by contrast without having to pick one winner over a loser, but I always trust my own palate more than most others on BA -- especially when it comes to traditional lager styles.