Truth be known, I didn't notice that A) it was a "Belgian
pilsner" and B) it was canned back in March until I had opened the beer,
poured it into my glass, and tasted it. There's something to be said for the element
of surprise instead of researching something to within an inch of its life on
the Internet prior to trying it. After reading the words "Belgian
pilsner" I figured somebody in Belgium is making a pilsner, right? It
wasn't a distinct sub-style that I'd heard of and figured that it was simply something
Allagash made up. The label indicates that this is a blended beer, i.e. - a pilsner with an admixture of "wild beer, blended for balance".
Is a Belgian, blended pils something Allagash, or at least
Americans, invented? I mean, there could be a whole network of brewers from
Antwerp to Brussels to Charleroi adding wild ale to pilsner and I wouldn't know
about it. Still, I very much suspect this is an American invention. But it's
not like Belgian brewers don't blend beers. Witness the gueuze, a mixture of
old and new lambics.
While the Belgians have the reputation of being the only makers
of styles that feature a combination of beers, blending was more common back in the
day and it was practiced outside of land of lambics. For instance, English
porters used to be blended. As 70s punk rock aficionado and beer historian Ron
Pattinson noted, "The porter you would have had in a pub in 1840 almost certainly would
have been a blend of two beers — one aged and one fresh." In addition to
Pattinson working with Goose Island to recreate an 1840s porter, here in the
Madison area, Dan Carey paid homage to porter from the days of yore with his
Old English Porter, a mixture of fresh and soured beers.
The blending of beers has a long and storied history and
there's nothing wrong with adding a wild beer to a pilsner even if it is a
categorical violation that would send most German brewers into apoplectic fits
of Reinheitsgebot rage. I'll admit that it seemed gimmicky to me when I first
read it on the label but that was more cynicism engendered by years of American craft
brewing chicanery than genuine outrage.
Truepenny had a slightly heavier body than I'd expect from a yellow pils and I suppose this comes from the wild ale. And I think that fruity taste
and the sweetness were also from the ale. Truepenny is like a palimpsest with a
pilsner having been brewed over a wild ale. While I really enjoyed this beer, I
do wish it had more hoppiness to it. The subdued hops here may simply have been
a function of age. Only comparison with a fresh Truepenny would yield the
truth. Unfortunately, the Allagash website lists Truepenny as a
"Limited" brew so I guess I'll be waiting until next year. Or perhaps
this was a one-off. Still, if you see some around, I highly recommend trying it
because it is a wonderful beer. Fairly light and smooth with a fine fusion of
pils and wild ale flavors where neither dominates the other.
Junk food pairing: Because this is a fancy schmancy blended beer,
go upscale on your food pairing. Apply liberal amounts of cheddar Easy Cheese
on Chicken in a Biskit crackers.
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