Hoppelgänger

Hoppelgänger is a hazy golden dry hopped pilsner. It comes from Toronto, Ontario's Bandit Brewery, where it is sold in 500mL bottle. Weighing in at the standard 5%, there is a decent enough heft for a pale lager, but nothing too exciting. The aroma has the (for me at least) beguiling aroma of brewery-fresh noble hops--a mixture of bitterness and recently mowed grass. It has a grassy flavour that is grain-rich, but which picks up dry, hoppy momentum at a considerable pace toward the finish of each sip.

As always when dealing with a Bandit beer, Hoppelgänger has a very cool label. I found it to be a very satisfying take on the pilsner--dry and bitter where it counts, but also crisp, grainy, and just slightly sweet. I have no problem with brewers using hop pellets--it's a totally necessary element of modern brewing. My only beef with this beer was that the hops tasted a bit like pellets. Still, I'd buy this stuff again in a heartbeat. It was excellent.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.