The other day I reviewed a rustic lager collab between 2 Crows and Indie Alehouse. Today's review is a New Zealand-style Pilsner between 2 Crows and Bellwoods Brewery. All the breweries I just mentioned are breweries that make some of the best beers in Canada so I'm excited.. even over a New Zealand-style Pilsner.
A few of you will recall that I once had a weekly beer column in The Brandon Sun that lasted just over five and a half years.. very impressive for a weekly column in print media anywhere! When I was coming up with my first every column in the Sun, I initially had a hard time coming up with something to write about, but then I decided I wanted to do a review on something I felt like the average (Bud Light/Stella Artois) drinker in the community would agree on, a Pilsner, specifically a New Zealand-style Pilsner that changed my mind on that lagers/pilsners are bland and boring. Really, NZ-style Pilsners/Lagers were ahead of its time but incredibly approachable... but anywho.. here's my review of the collab between 2 Crows and Bellwoods for their beer Birds and the Bells. 4.4% ABV, 35 IBU
Appearance: God, I wrote a whole lot about nothing. This Pilsner has a very bright yellow-straw appearance to the beer with a very liberal carbonation in the body, it could definitely be a bit more golden, but definitely has a slight cloudiness to it. The head is off-white, thick and doesn't really want to diminish, but it has to eventually... so it leaves behind globs of foam on the glass as well as a bit of a lacing.
Aroma: Hop and citrus forward. I'll start off with the hops - Pretty much what you'd expect from a NZ-themed beer - it's got a floral and citrusy hop presence to it, decent amount of lemon. The malt gives off a bit of a prairie grainery aroma with a hint of pepper and a hint of oats even though there likely aren't any... the grains used just remind me of all the graineries.
Taste: The hops pop out first to give off a floral, citrusy and even tropical vibe to it.. I think I got a hint of dill, a bit of a leafy hop and lemon. It's decently dry and has a crisp barley taste that gives off a slight grainy taste to it, a tad bready, very smooth and non-aggressive in any way.
Overall Thoughts: When I think of a NZ Pilsner I think of a crisp, light malt and a floral yet citrus presence from the hops. This beer was much more aggressive but it was so smooth on the palate that the beer was gone before I could write a complete write-up of this beer. I'd like to see more lagers like this for sure.
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