DeGroen's Pilsner

Product Reviewed: DeGroen's Pilsner
Brewed by: Baltimore Brewing Co\.
Date Reviewed: December 13, 1994
Reviewed By: David Brockington
Original Posted to Usenet: March 14, 1995

Initial Impressions:

When my roommate and myself embarked upon our whirlwind roadtrip across the country this past December, our goal was to spend several days with the venerable Charlie Gow out in the DC area prior to his move west. We arrived in Vienna, Virginia somewhat past 10PM on the 12th, after leaving Seattle around noon on the 8th. Many fine beers were sampled out of his new yardglass that evening, yet we were up before noon on the next day, with the day's mission being exposing myself and my roommate Marvin to the Baltimore beer scene. The first stop in Baltimore that day was BBC. I concentrated on their pilsner after having it highly recommended.

The beer itself cast a light-golden, almost straw hue in the glass, throwing off a moderate haze.

Nose:

This pilsner had a sharp hop nose with hints of malt dancing about in the background. The nose wasn't spicy or flowery per se, simply sharp.

Flavor:

A moderate maltiness was the first flavor encountered, which quickly succumbed to a sharp hop bitterness. A slight hop flavor edged its way into the profile, but was quickly nudged back out by the hop bitterness, which lingered for quite some time. Overall a very crisp and clean beer, lacking in any perceptible esters or diacetyl; exactly what one would expect out of a true lager. As the beer warmed, as one would expect, the maltiness came out a tad more, providing some balancing to the bittering hop.

Final Analysis:

This pilsner does a fine job at providing an aggressive hop profile, which is exactly what a pils ought to do. I suspect, due to the color, lack of malt complexity, and nature of hop aroma that this pils is cast in the German style. To that end, I believe it hits the mark very well. In fact, BBC's Pils is one of the best Pilsners brewed in the United States of those that I have sampled. It stands shoulders above most of the Pilsner offerings out here in the Pacific Northwest. The brewpub itself is a quality establishment; between BBC and the Wharf Rat, Baltimore is in pretty good shape.

Rating: ****

(5-star scale)

Next Up:

Rubicon IPA
Wharf Rat Special Bitter
Red Hook Ballard Bitter "IPA"

David Brockington

Seattle, USA
bronyaur@u.washington.edu