Visit the Called to the bar site

Now this is a lager and a half. Tasted at the Vermont Brewers Festival last Friday in Burlington, held on open ground right next to Lake Champlain, a stunning location that beat a municipal hall in England or Belgium any day. It was brewed by Alchemist Pub and Brewery (sadly closed when I visited next day), an imperial Pilsner I would say given that its IBU was 65 and it had been lagered for 14 weeks (longer even than Budvar’s 90 days). I loved it. Despite the IBU extremity it was soft floral and piney in its hop character and certainly not palate rasping. There was a lemon/grapefruit nose with a light peachy/apricot character clanging away in the mouth alongside a sensous centre of malt before a magnificent bitter finish. It’s a lager, it’s hoppy and it’s wonderful and the fact I went back for it twice says something. As the Three Degrees once sang, When will I See You Again. Great fest as well — all sorts of folk there, with the only drag being the queues for a beer as the evening progressed.



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