Türk Tuborg Fiçi

Tuborg Fiçi is a Turkish pilsner and I just had to try it when I spotted the unusual shaped bottle in Home Bargains.  The bargain price of £1.29 was another attraction, of course.

It's a deep golden beer with a frothy, very rapidly disappearing cream coloured head and it has a traditional continental beer smell of hops and malt.  

I was surprised how malty it tastes as I would normally expect a darker body to correspond to this amount of malt.  I'm not complaining at all, I love a malty beer!  There are also notes of tangy hops, sweet caramel and biscuit.  The body is quite thin but it's not watery as the soft, low carbonation gives it a tingly mouthfeel.  

It's a lovely malty, refreshing beer.  It would be perfect to quench your thirst on a hot day so I would definitely be seeking it out if I ever went back to Turkey.  For now, I'll keep an eye out in Home Bargains and hopefully, Ale Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by Türk Tuborg Brewery, Turkey
5% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at Türk Tuborg Brewery

Swinckels Superior Pilsner

This is a bright golden yellow pilsner with a loose, frothy off-white head that retains a patchy layer of foam.  It has a surprisingly strong aroma for a pilsner with lovely fruit and hop notes.

It has a lovely clean and refreshing taste of tangy hops, sweet malt and citrus fruit.  It's really well balanced with sweet notes at first followed by a light bitter finish.  It has quite low carbonation and a thin body so it feels pretty smooth in the mouth.

This really is a lovely pilsner and I was pretty impressed.  If gold had a flavour it would taste something like this.  Ale Be Seeing You again.

Brewed by Swinckels Brewery, Holland
5.3% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 4/5

Find out more at Swinckels Brewery

By the Horns West End Pils

West End Pils is a pilsner lager that's full of flavour.  It looks like a perfect traditional beer with its deep golden colour and frothy off-white head.

It smells surprisingly fragrant for a lager, with a combination of sweet malts, tangy hops and a slight hint of lime.  Flavour is similar with notes of malt and hopes, ending with a dry finish.  It's thin bodied but not watery and it's quite softly carbonated to give a smooth mouthfeel with a tingly finish.  

It's a very refreshing, tasty lager.  I wasn't expecting it to be so nice so it was a very pleasant surprise and it's one I would recommend trying.  Ale Be Seeing You again!

Brewed by By the Horns Brewing Co., London
4% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.5/5

Find out more at By the Horns Brewing Co.

Original Stormtrooper Lightspeed Pilsner

It's the 4th of May so Happy Star Wars Day!  I really couldn't have found a better beer to review today than The Original Stormtrooper beers from St Peter's Brewery so I'm posting not just one but two reviews today!  I bought the Lightspeed Pilsner in a gift pack with a glass for £5.99 from B&M in December 2019 but you can also buy glasses and gift packs direct from Original Stormtrooper for the Star Wars fan in your life!  Just click here to take a look.

May the force be with you

Gift set from B&M

As I'm a fan of ale from the dark side, I haven't really experienced a lot of pilsner, however, this Lightspeed Pilsner more than exceeded my expectations.  It is a deep golden yellow colour with a frothy and surprisingly robust cream coloured head.  The aroma is deliciously hoppy and smells strongly of sweet stone fruits with a hint of citrus.

For a pilsner, it is surprisingly flavourful; a lovely blend of malt and hops is evident in the taste along with a grassy and sweet fruit flavour.  I didn't really get any hints of sweetcorn that was mentioned on the label but it may have mixed in with the sweet stone fruits I could taste.  The initial blast of flavour is then followed by a delicious crisp and dry bitter finish.

With medium carbonation and medium body, it's a very refreshing beer.  It most certainly lives up to it's  description of 'lager with a twist'.  It's been years since I've had a lager but the addition of fabulous bitterness pushes this more into the ale category for me.  This could definitely bring a lager drinker over to the dark side of real ale. 

I would definitely have this again, especially as a light refreshment on a sunny day, so Lightspeed Pilsner Ale Be Seeing You Again!

Brewed by St Peters Brewery, Suffolk

4.2% ABV

My rating:

My Untappd score: 3.75

Find out more at The Original Stormtrooper

Adnams Dry Hopped Lager

A light straw yellow lager with an almost non-existent head.  It has a lovely fruity pineapple aroma and lots of hops.  It tastes so light and refreshing and it's definitely on the dry side - I almost felt as if it needed a squirt of lime to give it a bit of sweetness and some flavour.

It is different from standard lagers, although it feels quite thin and watery in consistency. It has a slightly sour and bitter taste but is so crisp that it's definitely well labelled as 'DRY'.   Despite the lava lamp appearance, it is surprisingly lightly carbonated and would be a perfect thirst quencher on a sunny day, should we ever get one in the North East of England.

Brewed by Adnams, Southwold, Suffolk
4.2% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Adnams

Brutal Pistonhead

I was really surprised with this one.  I'm not usually a fan of golden yellow ales, never mind lagers, so I put off drinking this for a while; a can with a skull on the front can't be good - how wrong I was!  It's a crystal clear traditional looking lager with a bright white loose frothy head and a delicious aroma of hops followed by sweet pineapple.  

It is not at all what I expected.  I can only describe it as sweet and sour and lip-smackingly good.  It is so bubbly, like a glass of champagne but very easy to drink and so refreshing. For a lager, it is full of flavour and so very unusual.  Top marks!

Brewed by Brutal Brewing, Sweden
4.6% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Brutal Brewing

Schwaben Bräu Das Schwarze

It's so unusual to see a beer with a bottle top these days and you get a satisfying pop like a champagne cork as you lift the bar to release the lid.  There is a lovely malty chocolate aroma as this jet black beer is poured into the glass.  It has an initial substantial frothy beige head that changes to a thin later of foam but it isn't really strong enough to cling to the glass and result in any lacing.  

The malty taste is the first thing I notice and ticks the flavour box for me.  There is a rather pleasant sweetness that lingers in the aftertaste, almost like burnt toffee, caramel and dark chocolate.  As with all pilsner style beers, it is very fizzy and leaves you with a tingly, prickly tongue.  Due to the intense carbonation, it does feel rather thin and pop-like but I can forgive the lack of body due to my appreciation of the taste.

I probably wouldn't go out of my way to buy another one, but if I saw it on the shelf it might just find its way into my shopping basket.  An unusual black beer that I'd say is well worth trying.

Brewed by Schwaben Bräu, Stuttgart, Germany
4.9% ABV

My rating:

Find out more at Schwaben Bräu

Pilsner Urquell

This was a lovely birthday gift from my friend, Karolina, and the first beer I have tried that has an appearance in my World Bottled Beers book.  It is a deep golden colour and has an abundance of energised bubbles, resembling a lava lamp.  Now there's an idea - a beer filled lava lamp...  It has a tremendous head that shows little sign of disappearing and I could smell honey and hops on pouring along with a slight citrus aroma.

It is very pleasant on the tongue; as bubbles burst I could taste hops and ears of corn along with something I couldn't quite put my finger on.  So I ended up cheating and looking in the book; it's herbal aromatics, and I would never have guessed that, despite partaking in the odd Jägermeister or two.  Due to the herbal aromatics, it has such a complex aroma and flavour that it's really difficult to describe, so you really will just have to experience it for yourself.

Pilsner Urquell is tasty and flavoursome; it's certainly one to be savoured as opposed to downing in haste.  I really enjoyed this most excellent gift!

Brewed in Plzeň, Czech Republic

4.4% ABV

Find out more at Pilsner Urquell

Zeunerts Höga Kusten

This is a lovely dark golden, almost molten light amber colour.  It smells of tropical fruit, particularly pineapples and has a slightly sweet taste.  It's not as fizzy as it looks - but like Goldilocks, is just right.  It has a perfect amount of head leaving amazing lacing as it is consumed.  It has a lovely subtle taste and reminds me of a refreshing continental lager and I couldn't put it better than the statement on the label - it is 'the bridge between ale and lager'. 

Brewed by Zeunerts, Sweden

5.3% ABV

Find out more at Zeunerts - don't forget to hit 'translate this page'