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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Beer # 142 Tailgate Pilsner Grand River Brewing

Tailgate

Grand River Brewing Company

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Pilsner 4.5 % ABV Brown Glass bottle 500 ml
$3.50 (Canadian) At LCBO 


Twitter: @grandriverbeer

There is not a lot of information about Grand River Brewing on the web, and they haven't been on my radar long enough for me to know a lot about them. They are from Cambridge and they are situated in an historic 100+ year old Victorian factory. that was home to the Galt Knife Company. (Galt Knife is the name of one of their beers too!) Galt was actually the original name of Cambridge It was changed in the Second World War during sweeping anti-German sentiment. (The city next door Kitchener... used to be called Berlin). Interesting side note is that Galt's hockey club played for the Stanley Cup  (pre-NHL era). On January 5th and 7th 1910 the Galt Hockey Club Challenged the Ottawa Hockey club for the Stanley Cup and lost.

Enough history... onto the tasting.

Clear gold in colour with a thin white head that disperses almost instantly leaving a soap suds slick across the top of the beer. Nose is very grain forward, almost skunky when I first sniffed it. slight hints of ammonia and wet grain. The wet grain and ammonia carry over into the taste. grain is way to strong. what little citrus I can sense is stomped all over by the malt. Finish is sour. Body is very thin, and lacking in character. Aeration brings more grain forward, and a touch of citrus, aftertaste is thin and watery.



Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS

Beer Style: 2/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  0/6 FAIL
Experience:  3/6 SO-SO


Final Thoughts: 

Well I didn't know what to expect with this beer and it really threw me for a loop. when I first got my nose over it I thought it had gone skunky. but the "brewed on" date said June 2014. Something just never sat right with this beer. There is the bones of a pilsner in there, but they are hidden. There is too much malt, it overwhelms. A pilsner is and easy drinking crisp clean beer, it should not be weighed down with a ton of malt. I have had, however, some malty pilsners that were good... this was not one of them. Very disappointing indeed. I don't often say this, but this is probably one of those beers you can avoid.

Cheers

CJT



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Beer # 68 Yanjing Beer

Yanjing Beer


Bejing Yanjing Brewing Company
Bejing, China
Owned by the Yanjing Beer Group
Pilsner 5.0% ABV Tall Can 500 ml.
$1.95 (Canadian) At LCBO.

Only in operation for 32 years (at the time of press) The Yanjing brewing company has garnered much success; The official state brewery of China, the brewer of China's #1 selling beer and a major beverage sponser for the 2008 Bejing Olympics. Today the Yanjing Beer Group operates 21 affiliated breweries across China, with a total annual production of 3.5 Kilolitres of beer with a reveune of 9.1 Billion RMB Yuan (about $1.5 Billion CAD)

 Onto tonight's tasting:

 Light straw in colour with a fluffy white head comprised of medium sized bubbles, that do not last long. Head dies away to a thin skim of yeasty, sake smelling froth on the surface. There is a lot of sweetness in the nose, the rice used in the brewing is very evident. Bread and flowers also make a brief appearance on the nose. First taste is slightly sweet malty and crisp. The mouthfeel is very thin and airy. The malt taste lingers and builds leaving almost a pumpernicle aftertaste, both sweet and tart.




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:   4/6 PASS


Final Thoughts:

Malty and sweet for a pilsner, yet still light. Seemingly better suited as a food beer. I can easily imagine this beer going well with a spicy Hunan or Siuchuan meal.

Cheers

CJT

Beer # 50 Aguila, Bavaria Brewery Colombia

Aguila 

Bavaria Brewery, Columbia (Owned by SABMiller)

German Styled Pilsener 4.0% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 330ml

$2.05 (Canadian) at LCBO.

"Aguila" means eagle in Spanish. That is the majority of the information I could find on the web about this beer. Brewed by the Bavaria company, which was started in 1889 as  Kopp's Deutsche Brauerei Bavaria and Aguila was launched in 1913. Bavaria was one of the largest Brewing operation in South America when it was purchased by SABMiller in October 2005. The beer's website although seems to contain nothing about the beer except a warning in Spanish that drinking to much "es perjudicial para la salud" (hazadous to the health). And they have something called "Las Chicas Aguila 2011" I won't explain... just click over and see.

On to tonight's tasting:

Clear gold in colour with an off-white head made up of small bubbles. Head is very narrow and short lived. Oily hoppy aroma light citrus herbs and mineral. First sip is light and clear. Mineral character of the water stands out, sharp bitterness, and herbal, with a  stale finish. Aeration brings out florals and herbals. Aftertaste is bitter herbs.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional

                                                                                                               

Cost:  5/6  PASS

Colour:  3/6  SO-SO        

Beer Style:  3/6 SO-SO    

Re-Order:  3/6 SO-SO   

Experience:   4/6  PASS

Final Thoughts: Unremarkable, probably best left to the beaches of Columbia, where a light crisp beer like this deserves to be drunk.

Thanks for tuning in If you have any comments on the new format (good, bad, or ugly) please feel free to use the comment form below.

Cheers

CJT