18 January, 2016

Porky Pils: Pils Al Pastor by Evil Twin Brewing



Yet another Evil Twin brew. This is, if my count is right, the third brew that they had their hand in that I've in the past month or so. I use the word "they" but honestly don't know if anyone beyond founder Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø is actually a part of the company.

While I'm not positive, I do believe that I bought my bomber of Pils Al Pastor back in October around the same time I secured that bottle of Bela. I was perusing the beer at Jenifer Street Market and noticed several single bottles of interest. Most of them were pilsners, curiously enough.

I finally got around to sampling it earlier this week so the bier suffered because of my unfortunate tendency to buy too many beers and not getting around to drinking them in a timely manner. Some brews have certainly suffered at my hands and I've been up front about that. Others have handled the indignity well. Indeed, some are just fine after their extended stays in my cellar. Thankfully my backlog of brews is down to about a week's worth of reviews. After that it'll be some dips into my Limited Exclusive Cellar Reserve™ series as well as some newer brews. So you two people who read these things will have some fresh and novel stuff to deal with.

And so back to the brew at hand, Pils Al Pastor. Evil Twin has this to say about it:

Spicy, sweet and sour – this beer was inspired by a rad barman's ancho chili, pineapple and lime accented cocktail pairing for the iconic pork and pineapple taco served across the street. A provocative pilsner; feel free to drop a dime (vintage phone booth style) on it. A little good-natured defiance of the bar’s cheeky name is part of the plan for this roguish collaboration.

Because I'm at that age, I have no idea what "feel free to drop a dime (vintage phone booth style) on it" means.

Anyway, Pils Al Pastor comes in a 22oz bottle and I guess one would consider it to be an imperial pilsner as it comes in at 8% A.B.V. In addition it is flavored with pineapple, lime, and ancho chili.

It pours a lovely light gold color and appeared to have just the slightest bit of haziness. Curiously enough, my pour produced only the most minimal white head which was gone in a New York minute. I have to wonder if whatever was used to add the pineapple, lime, and chili flavors, which I presume were real pineapple, lime, and ancho chilis, degraded the foaming action here. On the other hand, there were more bubbles than even Raymond Babbitt could count.

On one hand, the aroma was sweet and pineappley. On the other there was a big wave of hops that were West Coast IPA heaven with a juicy mix of citrus and tropical fruits along with a dash of the floral. They signaled that this bier was deviating from the norm and was not akin to traditional pilsners. Those hops were very much present in the taste where their luscious fruit/floral flavors stood equal to the sweetness here which seemed to come from the pineapple as well as a more honeyed contribution from the malt. Although pungent, the hops were not particularly bitter and so allowed the earthy sweetness and gentle heat of the ancho chilies to come through. The lime flavor was restrained and seemed to be blended in with the hops.

The fruity/malty sweetness slowly faded on the finish. The ancho spiciness and its mild heat filled the vacuum along with a very pronounced spicy hop bitterness, the bier's only concession to a traditional pilsner. Just as at the start, my glass was quite pretty adorned as it was with plenty of Schaumhaftvermoegen. There were streaks of foam everywhere.

Being an imperial pilsner, Pils Al Pastor is a big beer. But not only in terms of its A.B.V. It has a medium body but a heavier mouthfeel with its pronounced sweetness. I liked the rush of fruit'n'floral hops here and they complemented the other fruit additions well. The flavors here are big but balanced…for the most part. The thing that I just couldn't abide was the sweetness. While I liked the combination of flavors, it was just too syrupy for my taste. All of the fruit flavors here made for an overall taste that was cloying and akin to soda, especially with the abundance of carbonation. I suspect that I'd have enjoyed this more had this been a non-imperial pils with more a more restrained fruitiness.

Junk food pairing: In keeping with authorial intent, I'd have plenty of chicharrón/cracklin/pork rinds on hand when consuming your Pils Al Pastor.

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