Beer Review: Stoudt's Pils

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.4 percent

Appearance: This brew boasted a bright yellow color. It sort of glistened in the light with it's golden hues. Up towards the fluffy, white and bubbly head was a few layers of hazy fog. It looked as if this aspect sort of dissipated as my eyes went down to the lower portions of the glass. The bubbles in the head helped to leave some thick and ample lacing. I also noticed a few solid columns of carbonation bubbles in the middle of the body that danced slowly upwards.

Smell: I got decent portions of bread and grass aromas. That was pretty much it. In a good way it was clean and simple for the aroma department.

Taste: Despite the lower portions of the brew appearing transparent and watery, that wasn't the case once I began to drink this. On the front of my tongue I got a helping of bread and cracker flavor along with a touch of sweetness. I even got a bit of citrus, most likely lemon albeit very faint. There also was a nice hop bite on the back. Still, I must admit that it was fairly strong for my taste.

Overall Rating: 

I enjoyed this as part of the Stoudt's sampler I purchased a good while ago. I measure German Pilseners based on comparisons to Troegs Sunshine Pils. This was surprisingly close. The cracker flavor was close to the typical biscuit I enjoy in this style of beer. To some, biscuit and cracker might be considered the same taste. I don't toss them in the same basket. Maybe that's why I'm a snob? Who knows. Not on par with Sunshien, but still an enjoyable drink.

Beer Review: Brooklyn Pilsner

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.1 percent

Appearance: This pilsner had a real crisp appearance to it. It was really a classic look. Clear, yet golden body with a half-inch thick head. The head was bright white, foamy and ended up leaving a lot of thick lacing inside the glass. As most of us enjoy in brews of this style, there was a lot of carbonation rising towards the top and feeding the head of the beer.

Smell: For me, this was nice and grassy. It was even a bit grainy to my nose. There was also an intriguing floral hop aroma that I took in.

Taste: I actually got a touch of sweet malt on the front. That surprised me and tasted kind of odd once the rest of the beer's flavors hit me. Overall, this brew tasted very crisp and sweet. This is a German Pilsener. So, I expected to get a bit more hop content than I actually did. There was a bit of zing to this, but what I mostly tasted was crackers and maybe even a touch of corn.

Overall Rating: 

I'm not completely opposed to corn in my beer. I'm all for trying different styles of beer. Especially ones that are broad interpretations of a style. This seemed to be one of the latter. A quality beer. I just wanted a little more bite on my tongue. Definitely an interesting one, though.