Buzzards Bay Pilsner

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 4 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

Bottled@The Chriso Gaylord Tasting. Golden colour, small white head. Aroma is quite dry pilsish (a.k.a. bready malts, some grassy and hayish notes along with some slight saltwatery notes). Flavour being much the same.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Unreadable Bottle on date; Sampled December 2008
A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a three finger thick, pale tan colored head that leaves a lot of lacing patterns on the sides of my glass as it slowly subsides. the head sits on top of a lightly hazed, pale-orange tinged, full gold colored beer that shows a bright gold hue when held up to the light. The aroma smells of spicy, herbal hops (that have me thinking of Saaz) and clean pale malt. Notes of lemon zest, a hint of parsley, some thyme as well as notes of saltine crackers, soft artisan bread crumb aromatics, bready malt and a hint of sweet grain that barely intrudes on the over all dry presence of the nose.

Crisp and dry up front, the beer picks up a hint of malt sweetness before an excessive carbonation causes this beer to foam up, which tends to dry the beer out quite a bit. Grassy, herbal hop notes and a nice bitterness are quite present as well. The malt has a hint of something that makes it seem a bit stale somehow, but it is fairly fleeting. The excessive carbonation is take care of by a few quick swirls of my glass, though the stale malt doesn't disappear quite so easily. I like the bright hop character that is found in this beer; spicy lemon grass, a touch of white pepper, menthol or perhaps rosemary towards the finish as well as a clean, biting bitterness. Malt flavors of grassy grain, a touch of toast, and a nice bready / cracker grain note plays a secondary, but important role in the flavor. The body is nice and light; enough to be quaffable but not so much that it becomes thin or watery.

A pretty good Pilsner, I really like the zippy hop character here and the malt is great except for that sometimes noticeable stale note. Definitely enjoyable and it hits the spot.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

From a bottle. Pours a clear gold with a thick white head, a really good looking beer. Aroma is light and grassy. Flavor is surprising. I'm not a pils fan, but this actually has a lot of flavor and surprising hop bitterness. Gives pilsners a good name.