the 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 20: Market Pils Kensington Brewery

Beer # 317 Market Pils

Brewery: Kensington Brewing Company

Type: Contract brewery     Est.: 2011

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Beer Style: Pilsner

ABV: 4.7%      IBU: 35

Format: Aluminium Can  Size:  473 ml

Cost: $2.95 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

Twitter: @DrinkGoodBeer

Kensington is one of those breweries that one wishes they had a bricks and mortar location because I would just love to go soak up some Kensington Market atmosphere until they decided to throw me out. Fish-Eye PA one of their other brews is a big favourite of mine as is Augusta Ale. It seems that with their foray into the area of Pilsners has been equally successful.

Onto our beer...

Pours a translucent light gold with a massive white head made up of small and medium bubbles. Aroma is a spicy mix of malt, citrus, and flint. light hints of grassy hops, and some light honey. First sip is bright effervescent citrus and hops. Nice dry mineral character. Beer is very clean with a light and airy mouthfeel. Aeration brings out the maltiness, and green grassy hops.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer: 5/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

I don't like to rave about pilsners, because I generally don't like them. They tend to be watery and bland; seemingly meant to be drunk as cold as possible to deliver alcohol as quickly as possible. This beer embodies nothing of those characteristics. This is a complex, flavourful, well crafted, and near perfectly executed pilsner. If you are on the fence or know someone who is, about making that final kick off of Macro Brewery lager swill; this is the beer to do it with. Pop one of these in the hands of that friend who won't put down the "Bud" and you should spark a craft beer revolution. Run... do not walk... to your nearest LCBO, or better beer bar and put one of these in your hand, and learn what a good pilsner tastes like



Cheers

CJT

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 19: Bryggmästarens

Beer # 316 Bryggmästarens 

Brewery: Åbro Bryggeri

Type: Independant National brewery     Est.: 1856

Location: Vimmerby, Sweden

Beer Style: Pale Lager

ABV: 5.7%      IBU: ?

Format: Aluminum Can  Size: 500 ml

Cost: $2.35 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

Twitter: @AbroBryggeri (In Swedish)

I'm not a huge lager fan, but it seems everywhere you turn today craft breweries are putting their spin on the style. Initially, I imagine they wanted to distance themselves from the Macro breweries, who brewed almost exclusively watered down pilsners and lagers specially designed to have as much flavour removed from them as possible. Beers that are meant to be drunk frost-bitten cold as quickly as possible. Now I think that craft breweries are brewing them to lure new customers away from the large labels. Reel them in on a lager and then sell them the Quadruple IPA, single varietal hop picked by virgins under a full moon. Don't worry I'm not getting cynical, I already drank the kool-aid... I love my weird beers, actually the crazier the story behind the beer the more I need it. But I can definitely understand the need for a gateway for the large portion of beer consumers, who are use to nothing more than alcoholic water. For some of us that gateway was a progression over time, an internal, flavourful journey, for a lot of people I see at the breweries, it's "Give me something that tastes like Bud..." But I fear not, the movement back to good beer is gaining momentum and speed. I see a lot more people, I would have never expected to be in a craft brewery, trying them out

Tonight's beer is a lager from Sweden. Scandinavia, and Europe are kind of the exception when it comes to Lagers. While there are still a lot of lagers that are brewed specifically to be alcohol deliver systems, They do take pride and care in their bottom fermented beverages, unlike the Macros do here in North America. There you can still find small batch, hand crafted Lagers.

Let's Try one...

Pours a rich golden colour with a short white head made ups of small bubbles. Aroma is sweet and grainy with hints of mineral and citrus. First sip just us some deeper malt complexity with a good sweetness. Bready and yeasty notes dominate with a nice dry mineral finish. Aeration is more of the same bread yeast mineral and citrus.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  5/6  PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer: 5/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

For a European lager, this was quite good, bright crisp and mineral. You could tell the beer was made from good water. Not just de-chlorinated tap water. Still lagers are not going to be my favourite, but I could certainly drink this one again. Give it a shot.

Cheers

CJT

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