So, I'm a huuuuge fan of Victoria's Driftwood Brewing, so whenever they come out with something new here in Manitoba, I have to buy it.. I don't care what it is, I gotta have it!
Yesterday I saw a new-to-me beer called Arcus, a North German-style Pilsner by Driftwood - I've said time and time again, I'm not really a Pilsner fan, aside from when I was a big fan of Labatt Blue when I was 18 years old. That being said - I've honestly started to enjoy a LOT of craft Pilsners in the past few years, such as Winnipeg Brew Werks' Pils, as well as a few Pilsners I tried in Montreal for Mondial de la bière a few years back - that was the first time where I actually preferred to drink a Pils(e)ner over a Sour or a hoppy IPA. Craft Pilsners now days are a bit more complex than ever, but they still retain a lot of the profile notes you may know and love of the style, but for me to actually enjoy drinking the style? That's a bit of a shocker, but many craft breweries have done a great job in refining the recipe to be approachable to your classic lager fan, but also have a bit of a complexity that a beer geek may enjoy.
Appearance: Arcus pours the typical light yet golden straw yellow that you typically get from Pils(e)ners from just about anywhere in the world. Definitely not as watered down as some of the Caribbean/European ones I've sampled over the years, thankfully. It has a moderate amount of carbonation that's not quite as bubbly as your classic macro lager but the bubbles are definitely there. The head starts off with a very thick amount of snow white foam on top, and it gradually diminishes to leave behind a layered lacing on the side of the glass. It looks beautiful so far.Aroma: It has a light sweet maltiness from the barley, a bit of a grain bin aroma to it, followed by just a squeeze of lemon for a bit of zestiness, and lastly.. a light hoppiness that gives off a grassy presence to it. Light amount of breadiness to it. Judging from the aroma so far, it's incredibly light but it's a very welcoming aroma.
Taste: The malt is definitely a bit more present this time around, the barley is giving more of a (I'm looking at you, Jets!)
toasted barley vibe, which gives it a good amount of sweetness to it. There's a light amount of lemon, as well as a light grassy hop presence to it. This is a crisp, light Pilsner that isn't aggressive at all, it's easy to drink, a tad citrusy and definitely worthy of watching your favourite NHL team lose 3-2 in overtime
Overall Thoughts: After seeing the rice vs corn Superbowl debates going on lately, this has neither.. it just has a crisp, light flavour with a moderate amount of malt sweetness and a squeeze of lemon to give it a bit of something extra to it. This isn't anywhere near as sweet as the common corn syrup/rice lager, so this one is actually fairly light yet crisp and easy to drink. Unfortunately, I do feel that the Bud Light drinkers in my life would still hate this beer because it's too hoppy or too sweet when neither are really the case. Some people don't want to get outside of their comfort zones, which I get, but others give a beer a quarter of a sip and hate it even before they swallow it, not actually experiencing the beer itself. Ah well, I'll continue to review what I can and hope to influence at least one person to try something different because that's the entire reason why I ended up liking craft beer, all because of recommendations from friends and the Internet.
https://driftwoodbeer.com/beers/arcus/
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