Punk Rock Pilsner

Unfiltered and dry-hopped, Punk Rock Pilsner owes its existence to the folks at Ridgeway, Ontario’s Brimstone Brewing Co. At 4.6% alcohol, PRP is a quaffable pale lager—and pale it is a clear sunshine yellow brew with a load of carbonation and a thick (but short-lived) white head.

According to the copy on the 473mL cans, PRP came into the world as a sudsy complement to a punk rock showcase at the Brimstone home base, known as The Sanctuary. The beer has a cereal-heavy nose backed with a whiff of Czech-style bitterness. The mouthfeel is fresh and light, and its flavour starts out malt-and-grainily, but finishes with a slight clamour of floral hoppiness at the back end.

This is a crushable beer. It isn’t complicated or fussy—it’s the kind of grog a younger me would slam with abandon and the current me would ... slam with slightly older, significantly fatter abandon. However, something (my money’s on the dry-hopping) gives this beer a crafty quality that sets it apart from its macro brethren. 

PRP isn’t a Euro-style pilsner—no, this beer has an impatient, North American feel that suited me fine. What it lacks is a well-developed opening note; however the finish is delightful and the flavour is pretty respectable given the constraints of style and percentage. Would buy again.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10.