Oskar Blues Mama's Little Pils

Today Beer! asks the age-old question, can bottled-beer flavor really be found in a can?

Brewery: Oskar Blues Brewery
Location: Lyons, CO
Style: Pilsner
Brewery Website
Rating: C+

There has been a small resurgence of canned beer in the craft beer community as of late. The question is whether this is merely a novelty or if these beers can really hold their own against their glassbound brethren. The Mama's Little Yella Pils comes in your standard-issue 12 ounce can. It pours up a deep yellow-gold color with some haze and a foamy white head. The nose detects wheat and lager notes on the malt side as well as some herbal and fruity hops notes.

On the palate there is an initial lager malt character that seems to be on the light side. The flavor seems a bit flat to me. There are wheat bread and malt syrup notes. This does seem to have a bit more sweetness than I'd expect from a lighter pilsner. Bitter hops do appear after after a few sips. There is a hint of herbal/floral hops and some fruit hops as well. Mama's Little Yella Pils is medium-bodied, but it does seem a little flat on the carbonation side. The finish has lingering grainy sweetness with faint bitter hops notes.

I really wanted Mama's Little Yella Pils to be good, but I am unfortunately rather unimpressed. This beer reminds me more of it's canned adjunct-lager brethren than a craft beer in a can. There is a bit of a grainy/corny sweetness that, coupled with the can-flatness, really reminded me a lot of the usual fare from Bud/Miller/Coors. The hops component was disappointingly mellow as well. This is definitely an upgrade over the usual mass-market lager, but not by enough for me to want to try it again.