Bilbo's Beer Tasting report card #4

Bilbo here!
This week was a return to basics as they said with a list of lagers and pilsners. I have a natural inclination towards the simplicity of a nice lager, so I had high hopes. Overall, the beers were good with only a few standouts either good or bad. Here we go!

1. Zwiec Original Beer - ***1/2 This was a nice clean Polish lager with a light feel and taste that went down pretty smooth. Not much else to say, nice.

2. Innstadt Neues Helles Premium - ***1/2 Very much like the Zwiec except a slightly sweeter taste in this German Lager. Also nice.

3. Reutberger Export Hell - *** This was another German lager and it wasn't quite as crisp and nice as the previous two and also had a bit of a sweetness to the taste. It was fine, but not as refreshing as the first two.

4. Gold Bohemia Beer - *** This is one of those beers that is perfectly ok but really has no character. It is slightly bitter but that may just be the tongue searching for something interesting. Completely inoffensive but bland.

5. Mahr's Brau Pilsner - *1/2 Here is a perfect example of a bad German pilsner. It is both bitter and skunky. Not good at all.

6. Allgauer Teutsch Pils - **1/2 This one was still a bit bitter, but crisp and without that skunky grossness from the previous one. Not great, but not terrible.

7. Monchshof Kellerbrau - *** Again from Germany comes another fine beer, this time with a bit of a sweet honey overtone. Not as refreshing as some, but not sickly sweet either. Very middle of the road, hence the three stars.

8. Ettaler Kloster Dunkel - *** Here we get a beer that has that grain smell to it which I find slightly off-putting, but it's ok. The taste is slightly sweet and generally fine. Again a beer which falls into the average field.

9. Monchshof Schwarz - ***1/2 This is kind of a darker version of the Kellerbrau. Also smells grainy and it has a darker sweet flavor. Overall it is a nice dark German beer.

10. Lagunitas Czech Style Pilsner - ***1/2 Now here was a surprise. This was one of the few non-imported beers on the list and it's a pilsner. It had a lot going against it. But against all odds I enjoyed this beer. It had a slight hoppy flavor which I would expect from a micro brew, but the taste was clean and nice. I would certainly drink this if it was on offer.

11. Sudwerk Pilsner - *** Back to Germany and back to and average pilsner. It had a crisp and slightly sweet taste, but there was some underlying skunkiness that couldn't be hidden. This kept it from attaining a higher rating. I have a very low skunk tolerance level.

12. Victory Prima Pils - **1/2 I am sad this this is one of the few representatives from the PA brewing world. Victory as a brewing house does not impress me, and while this is kind of an ok beer, it is also sort of weird in an undefinable way. Just eh.

13. Sam Adams Boston Lager - ***1/2 Now I am no Sam Adams fan, but this is one of the two things that they can brew that's any good. It is just very pleasant and balanced in its flavors. Nothing to write home about, but very drinkable.

14. Paulaner Salvator Double Bock - *** Here marks the return of that grain smell, but the color is nice and there is a caramel sweetness in the taste. Seems to be fairly standard for dark German beers.

15. EKU 28 - **** This is what you could call an ass-kicking brew. Its ABV is 11% and while you can taste it a bit, there is also a nice apple flavor in there too making this a slightly peculiar, but altogether pleasant beer. Should probably start with one of these and move on though as it might be a bit too much if you try more than one in a row.

Well there you have it. The lagers. A pretty decent tasting overall. Until next time...

Bilbo.