New Belgium Blue Paddle

I was at Hy-Vee liquor store on State Line recently and picked up a mixed 6-pack because I wanted to try a few different light and summery beers. I’m not sure if I’ve had New Belgium’s Blue Paddle before, so it was an easy choice.

Blue Paddle is a pilsener lager. Pilseners (sometimes spelled “pilsners”) tend to be light, crisp, easy to drink and dry. Perfect for summer, in other words! On a side note, not only is it close to 100° in Kansas today, but Overland Park has a water boil alert on due to a water main break, so I’m getting back to my pioneering roots by subsisting on beer instead of that dirty water! 🙂

Pilseners were first brewed in Bohemia in the 1800’s and they spawned a whole new movement in beer. In England, where thick, dark porters were the norm during this time, the German pilseners took over a large part of the market, causing English brewers to dream up (thank God!) the English pale ale style.

Blue Paddle pours super clear with a yellow-gold-straw color. Nice full, fluffy white head and a lot of bubbles in the beer. If you weren’t paying attention, you’d think you were served a Bud Light or something, although the color is deeper and more robust. It’s a nice-looking beer after I’ve been used to dark and cloudy stuff for so long.

Aroma is very mild with a little maltiness and maybe a touch of noble hops. The first sip is just wonderful. I’ve always found the first sip of a pilsener to be the best one! This is one of those flavors that takes me back to the 1970’s when my dad would sneak me a little taste of his Pabst or whatever he was drinking at the time (back when macro beers at least tasted like real beers). It’s a great memory and pilseners always take me right back to that time!

Each sip is malty with a good hop balance, and the aftertaste is all noble hops and slightly bitter for a very dry finish. Pilseners are case studies in proper beer balance and Blue Paddle is a great example. Lots of carbonation, a dry, almost astringent finish, and a touch of sweetness tempered by a touch of bitterness. This is what a summer beer is all about. Very refreshing, easy to drink, simple but still with flavor to explore and enjoy. The 4%-ish ABV is a nice side-benefit in that it is a session-able beer and you can stay hydrated throughout a long summer day without ending up face down in the pool! If you’re on the fence about a beer to pick up for this holiday weekend, make things easy on yourself and grab a six-pack of Blue Paddle!

Shmaltz Brewing Co. Mermaid Pilsner

The Coney Island line of lagers are a series of beers made by Shmaltz Brewing Co., which also makes the Hebrew brand of beers. I picked up a 12-pack sampler of the Coney Island beers this summer and found a couple still hiding in my fridge, so it seemed like a review (albeit out of season) was in order.

The Mermaid Pilsner is a pilsner made from four hops and seven malts and I found it to be an easy drinker and a great example of a clean pilsner beer.

Coming in at about 5.0% ABV (according to BeerAdvocate… Shmaltz’s website is light on info!), Mermaid pours a fairly clear dark yellow color with a foamy head. I drank it from a pilsner glass, of course.

Aroma is clean and has a sweet, malty character. I thought of honey when I was smelling the aroma, although it isn’t brewed with honey nor does it have any honey characteristics in the flavor.

The beer has a nice amount of carbonation which makes it really easy to drink. It has a malt-forward, but well-balanced flavor, with a finish that is slightly bitter from the hops. This beer is REALLY easy to drink and just goes down great. It’s a nice thirst-quencher, and at 5%, you could drink a few of these without being in too bad of shape!

Mermaid is a really crisp beer with a surprising amount of complexity. Although it is well-balanced, there is a distinct difference between the malt-forward initial part of the sip and the hoppy end/aftertaste.

Initially turned off a little by Shmaltz’s corny schtick, I’ve found that their beers in both the Hebrew and Coney Island line are really well made, and I’m a fan. Mermaid is a great example of a pilsner and it should be a go-to beer in the warm months. This would be an excellent choice to have at a party for your non-craft beer drinking friends, too. Can you say “gateway” beer?

North Coast Brewing Scrimshaw Pilsner

North Coast Brewing Company is a company that has been brewing craft beer in Fort Bragg, CA, since 1988. I didn’t realize how many North Coast beers I’ve had until I looked at their website for this article! They must keep the “North Coast Brewing Co.” logo very subtle on their packaging because I’ve also had Old Rasputin (imperial stout), Old No. 38 Stout, and Acme California IPA, all without knowing they came from the same brewery!

In any case, after a bit of a hiatus from drinking beer worth mentioning I decided to continue on with my “summer series” of beers and especially pilsners and session style beers. Scrimshaw is a pilsner in the German style, with 4.4%ABV and 22 IBU’s. It pours a hazy straw color into a pilsner glass with a nice, fluffy white head.

There isn’t a whole lot of aroma to capture out of this beer. Pilsners are subtle, well-balanced beers, so the aromas tend to be very faint in the European hops and a little malt, but I find myself having to essentially hallucinate to find either one.

Scrimshaw has a nice mouthfeel with just the right amount of carbonation. It’s an easy drinker but still prickly enough to quench thirst! In the early taste the European hops North Coast uses are apparent, but they quickly give way to the malts in the second half of the sip. Not much of an aftertaste. This is a solid, very balanced, clean beer. Scrimshaw would make an excellent choice for a “light” beer for guests who tend to like Bud, Miller, etc.