Bottle. Pours crystal clear pale golden, melon white head, good lacing. Aroma is Bready, grassy, grain, light floral hops. Flavor is light sweet, light plus bitter. Medium body, creamy mouthfeel.

12 oz. bottle. Slightly hazy golden body. Smells of sourdough bread, grassy hops, and a slight green apple fruitiness. Tastes of grassy hops up front, a touch of grain behind it that turns into doughy malt flavors. Back end is just a little yeasty with an almost tangy bite, again reminiscent of that sourdough aroma. Finishes with lingering doughy sweetness and spicy hop bitterness after the tang dies down. Light body. I am certainly no expert on this style, but this seems to be pretty damned good.

2017 version. Pours a hazy golden yellow from the bottle with bubbly white head that leaves moderate lace. Aroma of nice pilsner malt and grassy earthy hops. Taste follows, biscuit malt and grassy back end, with a clean creamy mouth. This might be one of the best lagers Ive ever had.

[ Keg ][ 16oz ][ New Glarus ][ $8 ][ NG Pilsner Flute ][ 10.18.16 ]
>> For my 10,000th beer review, I wanted to skip through some of my backlog and post my favorite beer from 2016. New Glarus revived their Zwickel for 2016 and I just so happened to be in Wisconsin and dropped in - what a nice surprise! This was available on tap at the brewery and also to go in 6-packs only at the brewery - no retail distribution. For the side of me that is pilsner/German lager obsessed, NG’s Zwickel absolutely nailed it. This is a perfect looking beer in the NG pilsner flute glass: crystal clear golden with ferocious, champagne-like bubbles that never end. The beer is topped by a lasting, meringue white foam. The nose is fresh bread, lemon, and grassy hops. Nothing crazy, but the malt character is perfect. In flavor, this is rich and bready with perfect buoyancy from the high carbonation. The palate is juicy, silky, and super smooth. Thick breadiness piles on and goes a bit lactic in the backend like good sourdough. There is just a touch of sugar and apple sauce. Really, nothing says hoppy in the taste, but the balancing character is there. It’s a simple, soft, quenching beer that has a lot of finesse. Maybe it’s something about drinking this outside in NG’s gorgeous Swiss Village/Disneyland-looking immaculate space. I took this beer with me on a little walk through the woods on their trails. Sitting under the trees with chipmunks scurrying around - it was a perfect day.

Pours a hazy straw yellow into New Glarus dimple mug. Apparently this is sold only at New Glarus brewery. Must only be made in small batches. Great biscuits and crackery flavor with a spicy hop profile. Fresh and complex. A yeasty finish with some lemon. Easily one of the best lagers I have ever tried. Surprised they don’t feature this as one of the brewery’s staple beers.

Very pleasant aroma yeasty dough like and bread bakery hints. appearance pale, golden, slightly hazy, with a minimal white head. taste meadium sweet not bitter at all a light tasting beer. On the palate medium creamy texture with an average carbonation with a long finish. This looks like but is not your average beer. You can tell it is well crafted. Can only be bought at the brewery itself and is a limited addition.

Tasted from bottle. Pours a clean gold with white head. Faint aroma of straw and grains. Taste is mildly sweet with no bitterness. Flavors of crackers, straw, grains. Very sessionable and crisp. Quite nice. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottle shared by Jack, thanks! Pours a clear yellow with a white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has a lot of straw with some biscuit and a sweet grain backbone. Flavor has sweet grains, hay and a bit of biscuit underlying.

12oz bottle from the brewery. Wow. This is a great beer. Filtered orange-tan body, fluffy white head. Clean, doughy malt tones. Lots of depth, but all balanced. Grassy, peppery noble hops. Deep lager notes. Awesome.

12 oz. bottle via trade. Pours a clear gold with a small fizzy white head that settles into a ring that lasts all the way down. Clean and crisp at the start, especially when colder, with straw, cracker, grass, earth, cereal - the Munich malts shine through, with a decent hop snap and some malty and light fruity sweetness. Light-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a malty, sweet, but refreshing mouthfeel. Good Zwickel.