Samuel Adams Noble Pils

Brewery: Samuel Adams
Style: Pilsner
ABV: 4.9%
Country: USA, Massachusetts

Another malty beer here. Sam Adams released this as an early spring seasonal. The name Noble Pils is a reference to the five noble hops that this beer contains. What is a noble hop you say? Noble hops are a series of aromatic hops from central Europe: Hallertau, Hersbrucker, Saaz, Spalt, and Tettnang. This pour was a pale yellow with a crystal clear body. It had a big fluffy head with thick lacing. Pleasing aroma that had some sweet lemon citrus, peppery spice, and earthy hops. Plenty of flavors hit all at once. The lemon, pepper zest from the aroma is certainly present. Herbal and grassy flavors are also noticeable up front. Taste is clean enough that the minerals in the water appeared in the finish. Speaking of the finish, it had more bitterness than I was expecting and was puckeringly dry. Its leaps and bounds better than most light beers claiming to be pilsners *cough*Miller*coughcough* though that isn't a high bar to judge by. A better way to put it is that this has to be the best pilsner I've had. It was greatly refreshing and I would certainly enjoy this again. Would be perfect on a hot day. A-

Pilsner Urquell

Brewery: Pilsner Urquell
Style: Pilsner
ABV: 4.4%
Country: Czech Republic

Pilsner Urquell comes from the Plzen region of the Czech Republic. Astute readers with futures as police detectives will notice that Pilsner is awfully similar to Plzen. The reason for this would be the fact that the Plzen region gave birth to the Pilsner style of beer. One of the main reasons for this was that the soft water present in the region gave the beer a unique character at the time. The style goes back to 1842 and Pilsner Urquell claims to be the standard bearer of the original. As most lagers produced and consumed are of the light pilsner style, this is a bit of a big deal in the beer family tree.

Pored a bright straw yellow and perfectly clear. Standard sized head was bright white and settled out rather quickly. Aroma was plenty grassy and earthy. The aroma is often described as "skunky" though for this beer, it is a desired characteristic. A "skunked" beer is on that has been damaged from UV rays. In this case, the "skunky" flavor comes from the yeast and hops. First flavors of the sip match the aroma perfectly with both grassy and earthy. The mouth feel was fantastic with a nice heft to it that was crisp and bubbly. Finish had a light bitterness along with some biscuity malts. Overall I really enjoyed this one. Clean and simple, this is easy to drink but still has enough malt and hop presence to not be dull. B

Victory Prima Pils

Brewer: Victory Brewing Company
Style: German Pilsner
ABV: 5.3%
Country: USA, Pennsylvania


I grabbed this bottle at the always amazing Total Wine. Seriously, I'm like a kid in a candy store there. It takes me for ever to make up my mind among the awesome choices.

Anyhow, I poured this one into my ever handy pint glass. It pours a bright, sunny yellow. Head was about a finger thick that settled into a nice, lingering lace.

The aroma was mild and grainy with a hint of citrus.

Flavor is sweet and malty with a medium body. This wasn't overly carbonated allowing it to be easily swirled around the mouth. There are more bitter than floral hops but the citrus scent shines through along with a hint of spice near the end. Aftertaste is crisp with a dry and bitter finish that is well balanced with the sweet malts and more grain flavor. Overall this is a good, drinkable beer even though I usually prefer something with more flavor. There is certainly more bitterness than is usually found in a pilsner. I could certainly put a few of these back in one sitting.

I'll give this one a nice and solid B+