Stoudts Pils

I've only had a few German Pilseners before and it was actually a beer straight from Germany, the other was Victory Prima Pils.   They were both great so I do have some high expectations from Stoudts Pils.  Stoudts describes it as delicately dry with a firm bitterness.   They believe that the crispbness of Saaz hops and a dry malt finish make it an excellent aperitif (whatever the hell that means.)
It's been voted #2 in blind tasting in The New York Times.  Also it was selected #3 by Men's Journal for Best Beers in America and has won 5 awards at the GABF (Great American Beer Festival.)   So the beer definitely has a good track record.   It has a session-like ABV which is 4.7% and an IBU of 40.

A:   Nice gold color with a billowing two finger head.   Tons of sticky lacing that clung to the beer all the way down the glass. 

S:  I feel it has a pretty unappealing scent.    A strong bitter scent mixed with pungent skunky grain.   Kind of a turn off for me personally.

T:  Very nice taste mixture of bitterness and malted grain.   The grain taste is semi sweet but doesn't last very long as a bitterness takes over and sticks around for a long aftertaste.

M:  Light bodied and medium carbonation.   It's crisp and refreshing.

O:  It's a pretty drinkable pilsener and the taste isn't bad.    Could drink quite a bit of it, but I'd rather drink Prima Pils.

S.O.S. (Save Our Shore)

What's better than drinking beer with proceeds going to a good cause?  Not much.

S.O.S.  or Save Our Shore according to the bottle "is a message in a bottle...a distress signal for the troubled waters of our Gulf Coast. For every bottle sold Abita will donate 75¢ to the rescue and restoration of the environment, industry and individuals fighting to survive this disastrous oil spill."

I picked this beer up solely because of what it said on the bottle, and it was relatively cheap.   So even if I didn't like it, not a waste of money any way you look at it.  ABV seems, in my opinion, rather high for the classification they give this brew, which is a Weizen Pils.  Although experts seem to put it in the German Pilsener style, which is what I will rate it as.

A:  First of all, love the look of the bottle, and that is actually something I do take into consideration when I'm rating the appearance.  I take into account the overall presentation of a beer.  Cap, bottle, and actual look of the beer are all things I look at.
Clear bright goldenrod/honey hue.  1 to 2 finger thick fluffly head which disipated at a moderate speed.   The head leaves a nice blanket on top of the beer and also leaves sticky foamy lacing on the glass that dries into place.  Looks like a great beer.

S:   Fresh cut grass scent is present up front which is followed by a grainy malt sweetness.  On the finish of the scent is what seems to be some lemon citrus combined with spicy hops.  Rather simple scent, but I wasn't expecting anything complex.   Pretty average straightforward.  

T:  Piney and grassy sweetness is the initial taste found.   It's followed up with some grainy malt notes.   I was actually surprised that pine was going to be the dominating taste in this beer.   It's not bad, just unexpected for me.  Also the finish is slight lemon zest and herbal hops.  The front of the taste is rather unbalanced, but by the finish it's smooth.

M: Medium leveled carbonation with light to medium body, and a crisp, mouth-watering finish.

D:  The drinkability is quite good, and the relatively high  especially with a 7% ABVthat fails to show itsel.   It's always good when the brewer masks the alcohol as excellent as Abita has done with this one.

Grade:  One thumb up.  Not a wower, but a solid beer.

Here's another picture of the bottle, which I really can't say enough about.

Radeberger Pilsner

As most of you already know I'm doing an internship with Walt Disney World right now which has drastically cut into my beer reviewing lately.  I just don't get the time to sit down for an hour, enjoy a beer and then give my thoughts.    Yesterday though, I got the opportunity to attend Disney's Food & Wine festival at EPCOT which also has quite a bit of beer.   I had the mindset going in that I wanted to try a handful or two of different beers so I could treat you guys to multiple reviews as an apology.  I succeeded.   The next few reviews will all be from beers that I had yesterday.  Some were better than others.

Radeberger Pilsner

I neglicted to get a picture of the Radeberger Pilsner so I'll just include a stock photo of it.  I aplogize.

Radeberger Pilsner is a German Pilsner, brewed by Radeberger Exportbierbrauerei (yeah a complete mouthful), and it has a 4.8% ABV.   Radeberger suggests that it's ingredients are pale malt, aromatic anad bitter hops, with soft water and yeast.    Radeberger really stresses that they are state of the art when it comes to their beer and put a lot of time and effort into making quality "perfect" beers, with their pilsner being no exception.


A -  Pours a clear yellow color similar to corn.  A one finger soapy style head that dissipates rather quickly and leaves minimal lacing.

S - Bready malts with sugary citrus.   There's also a hint of yeast and some bitter hops.

T - Bitter front that gives way to sweet citrus and sweet malts.   The finish is dry and grainy.

M -  Light bodied beer with medium carbonation, which is ideally how a pilsner should be.

D -  It's an average tasting beer, but when you combine that with it being light bodied and a <5% ABV it leaves it pretty drinkable.  I'd find it more desirable if it didn't have a grainy finish/aftertaste.

Grade -  One thumb up.   It wasn't a good/great beer.   It was okay.   The only thing I didn't like about the beer was the finish taste of the beer.

Victory Prima Pila

There's a lot of hype with this beer. It's considered one of the best Pilseners in the world.
This is going to be my third beer by Victory, the other two (Whirlwind Witbier and Sunrise Weiss) were just downright mouthwatering beers so I have high expectations with this one. I'm convinced Victory doesn't make a bad beer.

A - Slightly hazy, pale golden color. About a 1" fluffy pillowy (if thats a word) head. Bubbles rising like crazy. Looks really carbonated. Lacing is wonderful and just sticks around forever. It's about 5 minutes after my first couple sips and it is just stuck to the glass. Hasn't even slid down an inch.

S - Very fragrant. As soon as I poured it I was hit with a lot of citrus. (Grapefruit and Lemon) Also some honey.

T - Grassy malt is the first taste. Leans a bit more in the sweet department rather than bitter in my opinion. The flavor from the hops actually has way more bite than you would think from the smell. Definitely didn't think it would taste this way at all. Really hoppy for a Pilsener. After the original hops taste begins to subside I found myself left with a lemon taste. A lingering grain taste sticks around for a decent amount of time after a taste.

M -Medium-bodied. In my experiences with pilseners this seems to be a bit more bodied. Very well carbonated but not to the point it's bad.

D - Very refreshing, and crisp. I'm going to cut this review short so I can finish this beer now.

Two Thumbs Up! Yet another solid beer from Victory

Urtyp 1878

A - A nice clear gold color. Small white head, but very nice sticky lacing.

S - Hint of apple and floral hops. A little caramel malt, not much else though.

T - Crisp malt with a spicy hop at the finish. A little weak taste, but good nonetheless. Pretty solid on the taste.

M - Smooth.. On the lighter side when it comes to the body. Carbonation is moderate. It's a little on the watery feel, but it's not a bad thing.

D - A very pleasant easy to drink beer. Definitely could kick back and drink a few of them.

One Thumb Up!