Hey, Sunshine

Yesterday I decided to pop open a few bottles of the beer that's stocked under my kitchen table and around the washing machine. Yea, it's got to that point. The two lucky brews? Hofbrauhaus original Lager and Troegs Sunshine Pils.

The Original Lager is a Munich Helles Lager and was the official German response to the creation of Czech Pilsner. I guess the Germans felt that they needed to counter in some way? Sunshine Pils is a German-style pilsner. I'm guessing that this came much later than the first brewing of the Munich Helles. Just in case you ever need to tell German Pilsner from a German one, the latter is usually spelled just "pils."

I used to really enjoy the Czech style, but I've recently found myself enjoying more and more of the two styles that inspired this post. The Munich Helles is a lot maltier and the pils is a bit more hopped, but has a citrus-like zing to it.

Luckily, I had a case of Sunshine Pils drop into my possession late in the season last year. I'm still working on it. Thus, that's how I was able to open one up. If you follow the Troegs Twitter account, you might have noticed that it's a bit closer to being the time of the year for Sunshine Pils.

@troegsbeer #sunshinepils began shipping to our Central PA market today and cases, sixers & singles are now available in our General Store!
— Tröegs Brewing (@TroegsBeer) March 25, 2013

Beer Review: Hofbrauhaus Original Lager

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.1 percent

Appearance: Hofbrau Original Lager is a very light shade of gold. It almost appears as if it's a more of a lighter beer. It's very transparent, which enables you to clearly see all of the bubbles float their way to the top of the glass. The head was pretty bubbly, not too thick and dissipates after a few sips. There was a lot of retention. So, expect a ton of caked lacing inside your glass

Smell: This beer smells somewhat yeasty and grassy. Reminds me of being in the back yard after the lawn was freshly cut. I realize that there isn't ever salt in the brewing process, but for whatever reason this beer smells kind of salty (in a good way).

Taste: So heavenly. It tasted very zesty and crisp. It had that tang on the back of the tongue that hop heads love, but it wasn't dominating to the point where someone like me would despise it. This beer also featured that biscuity-taste that dominates the back of most Pilsners. That's fitting since the Helles was the German response to Czech Pilsner.

Overall Rating:  

Truly one of my favorite beers. Every time I can get a glass of it I take it as it makes me feel like I'm sitting in a German beer garden every time I drink it. If there is a negative thing about this beer it's that it causes me not to try any of the seasonal offerings when I visit Hofbrauhaus on the South Side. I can't help it. I always order a stein of this when I'm there. It pretty much pairs with food, in my opinion.