The Tasting Panel magazine

July 2013

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GADD'S SIXPACK When All You Want Is a Cold Beer CALL IT PILSNER, PILSENER OR JUST PLAIN PILS, THIS PALE LAGER IS A THIRST-QUENCHER ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC Firestone Pivo Hoppy Pils There's no lack of craft ales, but craft lagers—including pilsners—are rarer than mopeds on Sons of Anarchy. This beauty from Central California simply sings. Bright, fresh and very much alive, it is a stunning reaffirmation, in an age of try-too-hard brews, of what beer is all about. At a modest 5.3 percent alcohol, you can—and will— quaff away until the owls turn in. unpasteurized. Rich, rounded malt dominates the mild-mannered hops, placing this one firmly in the European camp. Also available in cans in the U.S. market—one of the first Belgian breweries to can its products, at the request of U.S. importer Global Beer Network. GLOBAL BEER NETWORK FIRESTONE WALKER BREWING CO. Victory Prima Pils This zippy pilsner from the outskirts of Philly employs a palate-walloping dose of Czech and German hops for a revved-up bitterness that could only be "made in America." But there's plenty of deep malt substance under the tongue-tingling whole-flower hops, creating a suave, lathered texture on which the IBUs ride out to an ultra-dry finish. Pils FTW! VICTORY BREWING CO. Noble Pistol Whip'd Pils The golden yellow color is a promise of refreshment even before this grassy, herbaceous pilsner from Orange County hits the tongue with bitter grapefruit peel from the New Zealand Motueka hops. Edgy and crisp, it's a beer with a surf's-up summertime attitude. An even better reason than Disneyland to visit Anaheim. NOBLE ALE WORKS Bavik Pils The "other" pilsner from Belgium (and with nary a branded café umbrella in sight), Bavik is lagered for 36 days for complexity and bottled Praga Pils The original pilsners were Czech, and this newly imported sleeper, made at a brewery founded in 1795, captures the heritage, right down to the rumble of beer wagons on Prague's cobblestone streets. The Old World taste, with its dusky, somber malts and undertones of weltschmerz, will take you back to Central Europe in the days of Franz Kafka, and the retro packaging only reinforces the notion. GLOBAL BEER NETWORK Pinkus Ur-Pils From the venerable Bräuerei Pinkus-Müller in Münster, this definitive German pilsner has a texture of heavy cream whipped just short of the Chantilly stage. Mouthfilling and complex, yes, but also completely refreshing on the go-down. A real winner that sets the benchmark for this type of beer higher than Woody Harrelson. And it's USDA-certified organic to boot. 90  /  the tasting panel  /  july 2013 TP0713_066-99.indd 90 6/24/13 5:49 PM

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