After recently reviewing a German style pilsner, Victory Prima Pils, I thought it would be nice to compare it to a Czech style and I happened across a bunch of Lagunitas beers at the candy store (that’s what I call my beverage center) and there it was… it said so on the bottle.

Lagunitas Pils claims to be opposite of ales, i.e. a lager. It is that, but it is really not much different from many other lagers. In their words:

Where ales are meaty, lagers are sinewy. Where ales are street, lagers are ‘haute couture’. Where an ale might hit you over the head and take your wallet, lagers donate to charity and adopt stray cats. While an ale might steal your car or try to date your daughter and keep her out all night for who-knows-what purpose, a well bred lager would offer to clean your house while you’re on vacation and leave fresh scones and coffee for you when you return.

Actually, what makes this lager different from most lagers is that 1) it is in a brown bottle and has no off flavors, and 2) it is not nearly as dull as megabrewery American pilsners. It is also true to the style, being less hoppy than a German style pilsner. (and, I liked it despite that.) It was very balanced, light in both bitterness and sweetness, but not flavorless at all.

The beer had light to medium carbonation and was pale yellow. (Don’t let the flash on my camera fool you, it was more of a yellow hue than orange.) There was almost no hop aroma, but you could taste some of the saaz hops along side of the light malt.

Now, this is the beer I had while eating my tomato salad and I have to say it wasn’t a very good pairing. The vinegar in the salad was way too over powering to the mild taste of this pilsner. (That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it) This pilsner is better paired with something very light like crackers, steamed clams or pasta. Just as good, enjoy it unaccompanied sitting on your porch on a hot summer day.