Beer Review: Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils

Serving Type: Can

ABV: 5.3 percent

Appearance: This brew featured a straw gold body that was a little transparent, but still vivid enough in color to look great and appetizing. There was almost a two-inch head that was bubbly, white and had definitive bubbles. It was foamy at first, but faded back in quickly. Despite the appearance of the head, there weren't many apparent carbonation bubbles present to explain the head. Still, a pleasing brew to visually take in.

Smell: Very grainy and grassy. This was even a touch on the sweet side. No, make that a heavy helping of sweet!

Taste: Surprisingly, this was a bit fruity on the front of my tongue. It was an interesting flavor, but I couldn't exactly decipher what it was. The grassy flavors set in about mid-way back and helped to set up the traditional pilsner finish. I had to wait, but the hop and biscuit both bit me just as everything went down the pipe. These two flavors became more apparent in the aftertaste after a few seconds. Texture was definitely there, given the lack of carbonation that was visible.

Overall Rating: 

Definitely one of the best pilsners I've ever had. Certainly my favorite Oskar Blues offering. Sweet, yet it bites you before everything goes down. Maybe just a little more carbonation to help in the texture department. I'd also like to figure out what that fruity flavor was exactly!

Beer Review: Lagunitas Pils

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 6.20

Appearance: This beer had a golden color that was vivid and radiant. There was a finger's width of white and foamy head that appeared to have some slight sturdiness (and was almost soda-like), but eventually collapsed in on itself. Still an attractive site. Very fluffy and soft. Average lacing was left on the inside of the glass. Tons of bubbles danced around in this brew.

Smell: Just like a sweet Czech Pilsner should smell. It was very sweet and malty. There wasn't much hop presence, which I liked especially!

Taste: The flavor of the beer went much like the aroma began. It was very sweet on the front which eventually transpired into that biscuit and bitter finish. This was clean, crisp and amazingly refreshing. Still, there was a little bit of a hop bite on the finish that surprised me.

Overall Rating: 

This is definitely a winner. This adheres to the Czech style for he most part. Since this is from a west coast brewery, I wasn't totally surprised that a little hop bite was present. Even though I prefer the German style pilsners or a German Helles Lager, I think the Czech brews should be squarely focused on sweetness. I love Lagunitas, though!

Beer Review: Southern Tier Eurotrash Pilz

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.2 percent

Appearance: This beer poured a very, very light shade of yellow/gold. It is also easily seen through. If you put this up aside something like a Miller Lite, the only things that would distinguish this one would be the following two characteristics that I noticed. The head was a little thick initially, but settled in as a thin creamy layer that resonated for pretty much the rest of the drink. The carbonation rushed very fast towards the top. If you enlarge the photograph you'll notice that they're actually kind of blurred. They also formed their own twisting and bending column inside the brew. This resembled something like a waterspout.

Smell: This beer had an effervescent aroma of sweet maltiness. There actually was a ton of it. This was slightly unexpected. There was also a tad of floral notes that were able to poke through.

Taste: The label of the beer stated that this was brewed with two types hops as well as two malts. That really wasn't noticeable on my tongue. This beer was really sweet to the taste. Like a lot. Especially up front. This is a pilsner after all. So, I was looking forward to a little biscuit bit on the back, but I didn't get much. Everything seemed off-kilter in the balance department. Not much hop bite was present either.

Overall Rating: 

I like a good pilsner with a bit of bite in addition to its maltiness. I've always said that a balanced beer is a good beer. I like the sweetness of this, I just felt like the finish of this beer was kind of like when you have to leave a good movie early and miss the ending. I kept waiting for that bite, but it wasn't there.