REVIEW 139: WHO YOU CALLIN' WUSSIE

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  Arrogant Brewing

STYLE:  Pilsener

ABV:  5.8%

PURCHASE:  Draft (pint), $7.00

SERVING:  Chilled pint glass. Standard 3/4" head from the tap. Good retention.

APPEARANCE:  Classic golden-straw color, see-through, with an equally classic sudsy white head. Very faint but visible bubbling. Picture-perfect lacing around the inside of the glass.

BOUQUET:  Citric and noble hop bitterness are immediately noticeable. Malted barley and yeast lurk in the background, aromatically. Somewhat grassy.

PALATE:  Moderate body with mild carbonation. Doesn't take long for hop bitterness to take hold, but it never goes too far. Rounded out very nicely by the malt and citrus notes--almost comes off as a pale ale. Finishes with a too-prominent uptick of yeast, but it's a meshing of hops and citric bitterness that saves, then carries, an otherwise addictive and lingering aftertaste. Just the right amount of complexity. 

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  Prior to the advent of the mass-produced adjunct lager, this was likely what most people would call "regular beer": The pilsener. 

Credit the American microbrewer, in this case Arrogant Brewing, with bringing it back. This was introduced this past June, roughly one year after Arrogant split from their longtime parent, Stone. (Both breweries remain situated in Escondido, California, outside San Diego.)  The aim of this brew, as advertised on the Arrogant website, is to return the pilsener "to its almighty glory." 

At the very least, it's a great start.




GRADE:  A-