Kane Sideshore

Work has been insanely busy, so we’ve spent the weekend doing nothing. I did crack open a few beers, so let’s see how it was.

ABV: 4.8%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to wikipedia.com, “The city of Pilsen began brewing in 1295, but until the mid-1840s, most Bohemian beers were top-fermented. The taste and standards of quality often varied widely, and in 1838, consumers dumped whole barrels to show their dissatisfaction. The officials of Pilsen founded a city-owned brewery in 1839, called Měšťanský pivovar Plzeň (German: Bürger-Brauerei, English: Citizens’ Brewery – now Pilsner Urquell), which was to brew beer in the pioneering Bavarian style. Brewers had begun aging beer made with cool fermenting yeasts in caves (lager, i.e., German: gelagert [stored]), which improved the beer’s clarity and shelf-life. Part of this research benefited from the knowledge already expounded on in a book (printed in German in 1794, in Czech in 1799), written by Czech brewer František Ondřej Poupě (German: Franz Andreas Paupie) (1753–1805) from Brno.”

Random: I have never been to the Czech Republic before. Once traveling is safer, I would definitely go.

The beer poured with a two finger, pure white head. It dissipated slowly and left a nice amount of lacing on the glass. The body was mostly clear and light yellow in color. There was a lot of carbonation visible. The nose had some grain with mineral water. There was also a touch of sweetness. The taste was crisp and clean with grain and mineral water. I didn’t pick up a lot of sweetness. The body was light with lots of carbonation. The finish was quick with grain. I enjoyed this beer and it went down easily. I would have this one again.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

SingleCut Plain Top Pils

I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts lately. Since we’ve been trying to stay at home as much as possible, I find it really easy to get into a podcast while I’m doing chores around the house. I tend to listen to true crime and have gotten into one called “True Crime Garage” that is quite good. They also do a quick craft beer shoutout and review at the beginning of each episode. If you’re into that genre, definitely worth a listen.

ABV: 5.2%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “SUBTLE IS BEAUTIFUL. This new year-round pilsner is brewed with a unique combination of New Zealand, Czech and PNW hops and the absolute finest European malt. Finely detailed, refined, crisp, dry.”

Random: This beer comes in at 35 IBUs.

The beer poured with a two and a half finger, pure white head. It dissipated quickly and left a touch of lacing on the glass. The body was clear and a light yellow color. There was a lot of carbonation visible. The nose was pungent for the style. There was some grass and green herbs with a touch of mint. The taste started with light grain and white bread and transitioned into grass and the same green herbal note that was present in the nose. There was a cracker note as well. The body was on the lighter side with lots of carbonation, but never went into watery territory. It had a quick and crisp finish with cracker. This was an easy drinking beer that had some nice flavors. I would search this one out.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Off Color Tooth & Claw

The one time that I went to Chicago, the only museum I got to visit was the Field Museum. It was really cool, but very small for my liking. I also wanted to go to aquarium, but never made it there. I guess I have to take Val so we can get there.

ABV: 5%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “John likes bees. John’s like of bees led him to hanging out with other people who like bees. Some of the other people who like bees work at The Field Museum. The Field Museum was opening a bistro and bar. John was opening a brewery. And that is pretty much the story of how Off Color and The Field Museum collaborated to make this crisp, clean pilsner with a dry-hopped bite far inferior to Sue’s.”

Random: All of our cats are knocked out in their boxes. I guess they all decided that it was sleepy-time.

This beer poured with a four finger, white head that was loose and dissipated quite quickly. The body was clear and straw-yellow in color. The nose was clean and filled with yeast and grass. The taste was much of the same. It was super clean with lots of yeast. It had biscuit and yeast. The body was on the lighter side with a lot of carbonation. It had a quick and clean finish with biscuit. It was $1.83 a bottle, which came to $.15 per ounce. This was a solid pils, but nothing amazing. There are many better selections from Off Color.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Against The Grain Bloody Show

I’ve gotten very behind on posting due to my work schedule. So, hopefully I can get a few posts done tonight.

ABV: 5.5%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Come one come all, Welcome to the Bloody Show
A collaboration beer between Mikkeller and Against the Grain Brewery. Simply a Blood Orange Pilsner. Brewed with German Pilsner and munich malts, hopped with American Citra, Columbus, Amarillo and Czech Saaz and fermented with Danish lager yeast. Then we added the zest and juice from a shit-ton of blood oranges. The result is a nice easy drinking lager that exhibits a tart and citrusy aroma and flavor.”

Random: I loved playing the Friday the 13th NES game, but was never very good at it.

The beer poured with a one finger, white head. It dissipated quickly, but left some lacing on the glass. The body was slightly hazy and bright orange in color. There was moderate carbonation visible. The nose was not as fragrant as I expected. There was some orange peel and a lot of malt, but nothing that I could specifically discern as blood orange. The taste had slightly more orange flavor, but not much. I picked up orange zest and orange oil and it quickly went into malt. The body was on the lighter side with a lot of carbonation. The finish was quick with orange peel. A can of this was $3.75, which came to $.23 per ounce. I really wanted to like this beer, but it was a bit disappointing. I won’t be rushing to have this again.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Uinta Lime Pilsner

Awhile back, Val took me to Savor in DC. One of the best things about it was finding this beer. It’s rare that Val enjoys a beer so much that she asks to get a six-pack of it and this was that beer. She could not get enough of it. Let’s see what I thought of it in a formal review.

ABV: 5.3%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Crisp, light-bodied and immensely refreshing, our small batch Lime Pilsner combines a subtle malty sweetness with hints of fresh lime for a little splash of summertime, anytime, anywhere.”

Random: This beer would pair well with anything, but I’d really like to see how it would hold up to fish tacos.

The beer poured with a two finger head that was rather thick and dissipated quickly. It left almost no lacing on the glass. The body was clear and straw yellow in color. There was a lot of carbonation visible. The nose was filled with lightly toasted malt and fresh lime juice. The taste started with a touch of the tartness and brightness from the lime juice. It also had some malts, but lime was definitely the star of this one. The body was light and had a lot of carbonation. The finish was quick with lime juice. A can of this was $1.67, which came to $.14 per ounce. I loved this beer at Savor and I love it now. This is the perfect Summer beer, my only complaint being that it is pretty hard to find in this area.

Untappd Rating: 5.0/5.0

Forgotten Boardwalk Free Parking

Today’s beer is one from a relatively local brewery to us (Cherry Hill, New Jersey). The brewery took over the old Flying Fish space a few years ago and Val and I visit a few times a year. They also have craft festivals in the brewery, which Val likes to go to. They’ve also been popping up in my local Buy-Rite in Pennington, so I can get their beers pretty easily. I also like that they exclusively can their regular beers. This beer is their pilsener, so let’s see hot it was.

ABV: 4.6%

Style: Czech Pilsner

Trivia: This beer comes in at 45 IBUs.

Random: There’s not much of a description about their beer on the website.

This beer poured with a full finger and a half of pure-white head. It took awhile to dissipated and left lots of lacing on the glass. The body was a perfectly clear, straw-yellow with a lot of carbonation visible. The nose had some mineral water, river stones, grass and yeast. The taste started with grain and quickly went into wheat, river stones, barley and then a baking soda note, which took away from the overall flavor. The body was on the medium side for the style with generous amounts of carbonation. The finish was quick with grain and baking soda. A can of this was $1.83, which came to $.15 per ounce, which wasn’t a bad price for the beer and it’s becoming more widely available around the Garden State. This wasn’t my favorite beer of the style, but I wouldn’t refuse one if it was handed to me.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Denizens Born Bohemian Pils

Val and I went down to DC for a weekend and stopped at a beer store in Maryland on the way back up. This was one of the beers that I picked up. The brewery is in Maryland and I know nothing about them, so let’s get to it.

ABV: 4.9%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to wikipedia.com, “A Bohemian is a resident of Bohemia, a region of the Czech Republic or the former Kingdom of Bohemia, a region of the former Crown of Bohemia (lands of the Bohemian Crown). In English, the word ‘Bohemian’ was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word ‘Czech’ became prevalent in the early 20th century. In a separate meaning, ‘Bohemian’ may also denote ‘a socially unconventional person, especially one who is involved in the arts’ according to Oxford Dictionaries Online.”

Random: It’s really hard to make a good pils and they seem to be getting more popular.

The beer poured with a two finger, white head that dissipated quickly. It left no lacing on the glass. The body was a greenish-yellow with a decent amount of carbonation. The nose was very floral with rose petals and also had some grass. The taste had grass, river stones and rose petals as well. The flavors were very clean. It had a light body with a lot of carbonation. The finish was long with river stones and grass. A pounder can of this was $2.50, which broke down to $.16 per ounce. I thought that the beer was a good price, but it was a little too floral for the style.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Terrapin Sound Czech

This morning’s selection is a beer that I had on tap when I stopped to grab a quick lunch. I paired this with a tuna dish with mango and jalapeno and it worked quite well.

ABV: 5.5%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “About the Beer: Like music to your ears, the Terrapin ‘Sound Czech Pilsner’ is a concert of flavor. Brewed with 100% Pilsner malt for exceptional crispness, and accompanied by Czech and German hops for noble superiority, this traditional lager will make you stand up for an encore performance. Pair with: Vermont Cheddar or Creamy Brie, serve with a low country boil…shrimp, sausage, potatoes, corn, onions and a little Old Bay all in the pot. Spread out your newspaper, crack a Sound Czech and feast.”

Random: Restaurant Wars is my favorite challenge on “Top Chef.”

The beer poured with a one finger, white head. It dissipated slowly and left a lot of lacing on the glass. The body was a clear, straw yellow with lots of carbonation visible. The nose had a lot of pilsner malt and river pebbles. The taste started with mineral water and pebbles. It also had a lot of pilsner malt. It didn’t have any grass to it, but a slight amount of corn. The body was very light with a lot of carbonation. The finish was quick with corn. I liked this beer a lot. It was easy to drink and had nice flavor. I could see this pairing well with almost any food. I’m glad that I gave this a shot.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Captain Lawrence 6th Borough Pilsner

Val and I saw this new offering from Captain Lawrence sitting on the shelves. The 6th borough refers to Westchester, which is where Val is from. I’ve been getting into pilsners a lot lately, so this seemed like a good choice. Let’s see how it was.

ABV: 5%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “The 6th borough may just be a state of mind, but we live here, and this beer was brewed here. Bright, crisp and hoppy, this beer will bring you back to the ‘burbs’ with each sip.”

Random: This beer came in at 35 IBUs.

This beer poured with a four finger, slightly off white head. It took awhile to dissipated and left a lot of lacing on the glass. The body was clear and bright yellow with a lot of carbonation. The nose was pleasant with bread, light lemon pith, and a touch of tin. The taste was crisp and refreshing. It had the same notes of lemon pith and tin, but a lot of grassy hops came through too. Pale malt came through at the end and gave a small shot of sweetness. The body was light with a lot of carbonation. It had a quick finish with pale malt. A can of this was $1.59, which came to $.13 per ounce. This beer was quite affordable, but it just had a bit too much metal for me. It was still a solid beer though and I wouldn’t refuse one if it was handed to me.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Service Rally Point

We decided to stay in a historic hotel in Savannah. We didn’t (or at least, I didn’t) realize that it was a “haunted hotel.” We didn’t have any unearthly encounters, but the room was really small. I must have banged my knees and toes on every single piece of furniture in the room. Add to this the drunk people because of the open container law and this just wasn’t my scene.

ABV: 4.6%

Style: Czech Pilsener

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “‘Rally Point’ is a term used in military maneuvers to represent a place for troops to regroup, but there’s no need for such formality here, soldier. Just grab some friends and gather round this light session brew. Bearing a sweet, malt character that bursts with rich complexity, this traditional Bohemian-style Pilsner’s earthy Czech Saaz hops provide a pleasant touch of spice with a clean, crisp finish.”

Random: The one thing that I did like about Savannah was that every place that we went to had a god selection of local beers.

The beer poured with less than half a finger of white head. It dissipated slowly and left some lacing on the glass. The body was bright, golden orange with a lot of carbonation visible. The nose had milled grain, mineral water and grass. It didn’t have much sweetness on the nose, but it was quite clean. The taste was crisp and clean as well with the same grass that was on the nose, but had a caramel sweetness at the end. The body was on the lighter side with moderate carbonation. For the style, it had a lengthy and earthy finish. This beer didn’t pull any punches and went down easily. This would make for a great barbecue beer.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0