Review of Russian River Brewing HUGE Large Pils
Posted By Zach Tuesday, 25 August 2009 20:37
Recently, I went on a work trip to the San Francisco Bay area and had enough time to make a trip to Russian River Brewing. For those who don’t know, Russian River is a brewery based in Santa Rosa that makes some interesting and tasty microbrews. They are largely distributed in Northern California, but apparently can be found in a few places outside of the area. They are known for their Belgian style beer and for doing lots of barrel aging. In this instance, I decided to give their pilsner a shot instead to see what they could do in this arena.Taste: B+ While I’m certainly no expert in pilsners and hell, probably not much outside of malt liquor, I thought Russian River makes a nice, easy-drinking brew. It is very clean and has more hops than say most people’s experience with the “pilsner” taste that is Miller Lite. It is smooth throughout and ends nice and crisp. Just enough hopiness for me, but probably not enough for some big hop head.
Packaging: N/A I got this beer at the brewery on draft and don’t even know if it is one that they bottle, so I have no idea on this front. I will say, I would buy this if it were in bottles, but it seems Russian River focuses on bottling their barrel aged beer. I suppose you could get it in a growler, but that probably wouldn’t make the 2,000-mile trip home very well. Anyway, this is way to much on a beer that doesn’t even have a damn bottle.
Drunkenness: B+ Russian River seems to excel in this arena and the pilsner is no different as it offers a nice 6%. As far as I can tell, their lowest ABV is 4.5%, but since their selection changes so often, can’t say for sure. Regardless, this is a nice beer to get a buzz going as they serve it in a true pilsner glass. A few of these will go great on a summer evening!
Value: A One great thing about Russian River is their pricing. The cost of the pilsner was $4.50 for a pint, which I think, is a great deal for a high quality beer. Granted, this doesn’t carry the bargin price of a macro brew or malt, but isn’t bad considering the far superior taste.
Overall: B+ I’d say with their pilsner offering, Russian River has a winner on their hands. Not really sure why I didn’t give it an A, probably because I like to reserve that for beers that I consider to be my favorites. While I would certainly order this on a return visit, it isn’t necessarily in my top 5 of all time. The next time you find yourself in Santa Rosa, stop by Russian River and give them a taste. You will also enjoy their excellent food! I recommend the calzones.