This. Is. Ehhh.

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Yesterday Alec and I had a Christmas dinner in Wetherspoons and as part of the deal for £8.99 you can get a beer… luckily, these days, it’s not restricted to Carling or Ruddles. These days you can get any of the craft cans, any real ale or either of the craft beers on keg.

I got Brewdog This. Is. Lager with mine, which I have had many pints of before but last night I realised I don’t like it as much as I thought I did.

Last night, I just found it all wrong, so unbalanced. Too sweet yet too bitter, too carbonated yet too dry, when previously I had proclaimed that it’s everything I want in a Pilsner.

And then I realised what the problem was.

Pilsner Urquell.

Yes, the problem was that earlier in the evening I’d had two pints of Pilsner Urquell, the classic, the original, the legendary Czech pilsner. So beautifully crisp, floral and creamy; a beer you can drink pint after pint of without getting bored.

A pilsner that ruins all other pilsners because of its perfection.

Of course, I am well aware that it’s a bit wrong to essentially compare the original pilsner to one from a 21st century brewery who claims to be revolutionising the style, but still.

Don’t get me wrong, This. Is. Lager is still a very good beer. It’s well made and had I not drank the Pilsner Urquell, I would have probably sunk several pints of it last night but what’s happened here is a case of “I drank something better and now I don’t like the one I liked before”

Maybe for research purposes I’ll pop in Wetherspoons this weekend and give This. Is. Lager another shot, just to see if I still feel the same about it.

I’d also really like to try get hold of a bottle of This. Is. Lager to see how it translates, and maybe do a proper, untainted review but until then…

Nate

Comments

  1. Unknown14 November 2014 at 12:22

    There's so many oddities to PU's brewing process that it's noticeably different to other golden lagers in Czech, never mind elsewhere in the world. The distinctive and in this case desirable diacetyl character in the middle of it that gives that surprising butterscotch sweetness, the depth of flavour for its strength, all the hop bitterness, all from that slightly different process (Jeff Alworth did a great post about the brewing process here: http://beervana.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-birthplace-of-modern-beer.html).

    I think BrewDog's is a very different beer, lighter in body and more dry and herbal in bitterness, like Budvar or a German pilsner. Very easy to drink but after PU I can see how it would seem lacking in areas. I'm going to get some bottles and try this for myself, probably once the PU in brown bottles gets over here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown14 November 2014 at 12:28

      Cheers Chris - yes, it is completely different to anything. I could never put my finger on what it was until yesterday when we had a rep from PU in The Mash Tun explaining it all to us. It was very insightful!

      Yup, TIL is incredibly different, again to anything else because they've tried their hardest to make it so different!

      Delete
  2. Steve th14 November 2014 at 17:07

    As ive always prefered budvar to pu I need try t I l next time I'm in spoons. Though most likely spoons for me to visit doesn't have it, line is instead leeds's leodis (yes spoons can do small local deals at times)

    ReplyDelete
  3. beersiveknown14 November 2014 at 23:23

    For me PU in Czech Republic was butterscotchy and flabby in comparison to Bernard svelte. Wasn't keen on this.Is either

    ReplyDelete

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