Friday, April 29, 2011

Tuatara Bohemian Pilsner

You pretty much can't get any further from the Czech Republic than New Zealand, but today Beer! finds out that this doesn't stop the Kiwis from making a damn good pilsner:

Brewery: Tuatara Brewing Co.
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Style: Pilsner
Rating: A-

Today we cross the Pacific on our quest for great pilsners. Today’s tasting is from New Zealand’s Tuatara brewery. The Tuatara Bohemian Pilsner pours up a deep, hazy yellow-gold color with a frothy, white head. The nose has notes of herbs, apricot and lager malt.

On the palate there is a nice progression that starts with dry lager malt, progresses to a fruity hops note and heads back to dry maltiness paired with bitter hops. The malt flavor is crisp without any skunky Eurolageriness (yes, I just made that word up) going on. There is a lot going on with the hops. There are herbal hops notes with some spice, fleeting sweet fruit hops notes of nectarines and orange juice, and bitter hops that build to a moderate level without being overpowering. The Tuatara Bohemian Pilsner is medium-bodied and crisp. the finish has long dry maltiness paired perfectly with bitter and spicy hops.

This is the first beer I’ve tried from Tuatara and I am quite impressed. The Bohemian Pilsner is a bit on the hop-forward side for a typical pils, but the dry malt never gets lost and is a perfect match to the more assertive hops. While this isn’t a big, full-on Imperial Pilsner, there is some big flavor here. Tuatara has an excellent, well-balanced Pilsner on their hands. Highly recommended.

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