Saranac wild Hop Pils Pilsner

In the world of craft beer trends come and go. I believe that one trend coming is more pilsner style, like hoppy pilsner, imperial pilsner, or wheat pilsner. This is Saranac (been in operation for 125 years) Wild Hop Pils, 5.2% ABV. This is a German style pilsner. Saranac is the first to use Belma hop first discovered on growing wild on a farm in the Yakima Valley. Wild hop Pils pours a nice clean golden color with a bright white three quarters finger head. There isn’t great retention on the head.  I found plenty of light coming through the glass with lots of carbonation bubble racing from the bottom to the top. This beer really looks a good pilsner should. The aroma on this is nice a floral with a tiny hint of a breaded note.  When I smelled the aroma on this it reminds more a little of a pale ale or an IPA. The taste is first crisp with nice light hop flavor in the middle, but it the hoppy bite at the end is not as hoppy as the start. There is a nice kind of grassy flavor that is almost leafy green like with the smallest hint of pine needles the mouth feel is light to medium and crisp. This Saranac beer finished nice with a slight hoppiness, but not overwhelming, and leads to a slightly hop bitter but clean aftertaste. Overall this is an interesting take on a pilsner, Saranac really takes a ho hum beer style and makes more interesting and flavor, not that some pilsner have no flavor, pilsners across the board as a style aren’t know for bold flavors. This is on direction that craft beer is moving. So I am giving this A-, a really good beer and an interesting take on a pilsner, but I think that the balance between the pilsner malts and the hops could have been taken up just half a notch, but still a great interesting beer and in my opinion the next popular trend in the craft beer world. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!