Beer Club Volume 11 - Pilsners

*Editor's note - one of these months I'll get my Beer Club write up posted in time. July was not the month though.*

When I first started Beer Club, I would have never dreamed about doing a month focusing on pilsners. At the time, I associated pilsners with the yellow fizzy American macro lagers that Beer Club was supposed be leading me and my beer drinking buddies away from.

I'm not sure at what point it was that I drank a really good pilsner that made me re-evaluate what I thought about them but Pilsner Urquell was definitely one of the beers that made me revisit the style.

Somewhere along this beer journey of mine I got too consumed with bigger, badder and bolder beers to the detriment of appreciating and enjoying the more subtle and yet equally well-crafted styles of beers such as pilsners and even pale ales. Some people of influence made me realize the error of my ways. This Beer Club was designed to not only correct that but to illustrate just how far everybody had come in the past 11 months.

I picked out a lineup that did a pretty good job representing local stuff (Schell's) and US breweries from California (Lagunitas, North Coast) to Michigan (Bell's) to Pennsylvania (Victory) and threw in a couple from across the pond like Bitburger and the previously mentioned Pilsner Urquell.

From top to bottom, the beers went over very well with the guys (and girl). I actually thought there were a couple different ways to do the style and I couldn't decide which way I liked better. Beers like Scrimshaw and Pilsner Urquell had a very bakery fresh type of aroma and flavor to them in my opinion and beers like Schell's and Prima Pils had a very nice bitter hops character to them. I felt like a winner no matter which style I drank.

Just for fun, I took a Michelob Golden Draft Light (I believe this is somehow the most popular beer in Minnesota) that I found in the back of the fridge (left by guests no doubt) and had everybody try it in the middle of the lineup. It was pretty funny seeing everybody's reaction.

To me, it just tasted like carbonated water that I spilled an ounce of Schell's into. To others, it turned into a drain pour. This is the beer that half these guys used to stock their fridges at home a year ago and now they didn't even want to finish a 2 oz sample of it. Looks like I'm accomplishing something!

Like I said, everybody seemed to have a different set of favorites for the night. I already knew how good Pilsner Urquell and Schell's and Prima Pils were but the surprise to me was the Scrimshaw. It was a last minute addition when I couldn't find Brau's pilsner but it was damn good. I also think it was the best one in the bunch that could pull a yellow fizzy drinker over from the dark side.

I'm not sure if these beers will catch on for everybody and be the kind that they'd stock at home but now we all have better options when we want something on the lighter side of things than reverting back to Miller Lite or Mich Golden.

A Little Sumpin' Extra to kick off the weekend

I've learned to trust the Four Firkins whenever they email/Tweet about a new beer they got in because they have yet to steer me wrong. I'll be honest and tell you that when I heard about Little Sumpin’ Extra Ale from Lagunitas I was intrigued just because it was a cool sounding name. When I got to the store on Wednesday night I grabbed a couple of bottles because it was cheap (relatively anyway, I think it was $4.99).

It was sort of an afterthought but I threw one in the fridge because I figured if it was good I'd grab another couple bottles or so while it was still in stock for that price. Little did I know I'd be tasting one of the best beers I've had so far. This stuff is just amazing if you're a fan of fruity/citrus hops (and I am). The aroma is overwhelmingly pleasing to the nose, I could just smell it all night. The taste is just as good as the smell with wonderful flavors dancing on your tongue.

If you're a fan of the fruity profile of IPA's but not necessarily the bitter hops element, this could be the beer for you. Hell, if you just like good flavors in a beer this IS the beer for you. I just wish IPA's stored as well as stouts because I'd build a cellar to store stuff just like this. I'll be back to the Firkins this weekend to pick up at least a couple more bottles of this. You should do the same.

Cheers!

Some Hometown Love & Something Stoopid

The first beer of tonight is from my hometown brewery, a Schell's Hefeweizen. I was never very crazy about most of Schell's beers but I'm guessing now it was because I never got into the kinds they are good at making. This was a very pleasant surprise, it's too bad we're at the end of the season for this brew. Makes me look forward to my first tour since their remodeling.

I gave it a 3.9 on RateBeer.com with the following comments:
Golden in color, slightly cloudy. Fresh aroma with a yeast element and a hint of lemon. Clean and very smooth mouthfeel. Tangy flavor, citrus notes. Very good beer.

Next up was Lagunita's Hop Stoopid. Dude at the Four Firkins recommended this when I told him I was a Furious and Un*Earthly Fan. It smelled wonderful and ranks closely to Un*Earthly but the finish is a bit too harsh to catch the top IPA's for me.

I gave it a 4.2 on RateBeer.com with the following comments:
Deep golden color, wonderful fruit & floral hops aroma. Thick and sweet mouthfeel with a bitter citrus flavor. Lingering bitter finish on the tongue. A little bit harsh on the finish but overall a great beer.

That's about it for the night, two excellent choices one off another Firkins suggestion and one from my own gut feeling. Looking forward to some 2-for-1's at Mainstreet tomorrow, it might be time for me to give an official rating to Newcastle.