Double Pilsner

Double Pilsner is Odell Brewing Company’s strongly alcoholic riff on the venerable Bohemian pilsner, though with a surprisingly low hop bitterness. Jam packed with Pils malt and less traditional citrus hop notes, this is an iconoclastic brew. Generally not found in pilsner, sweet hints of Satsuma and Meyer lemon dominate the nose, drifting over crisp, cracker-like malt notes. Pete found some “light coriander notes floating between honeyed malt and a faintly herbaceous background,” and likened the aroma to a Belgian Witbier rather than Czech pilsner. This beer radiates from the glass, a sparkling yellow brew laced with flashes of gold, and topped by a fluffy head of pure white bubbles. Supported by an emphatic hop bitterness and grassy/herbal hop notes, the sweet Ritz Cracker like malt is squarely in the forefront, with other flavors peeking in from around the edges. The malt struck Tom as “crisp and bright up front, followed by a sticky sweetness,” that he felt was out of place in a pilsner with prominent alcohol heft. Contrarily, Tim enjoyed the “bracing hop bitterness in the forefront,” and felt it “tamed the overt sweetness.” Hop flavors were “green and grassy,” rather than the expected floral and spicy notes. Though pale yellow and effervescent, Double Pilsner carries just over 8 percent ABV and suited more for sipping, rather than quaffing, on a sultry summer afternoon.