Hutton & Smith "Fermi Paradox" Pilsner

I believe this is only my second beer claiming to be an Italian pilsner. This is also my second beer claiming to be an Italian pilsner that is not from Italy. With the first one, I questioned whether or not they were actually basing it on some kind of strange Italian take on a pilsner. At this point, I have to assume that is the case. I didn't do any research, and I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to assume that my favorite lawyers who brew did the necessary legwork for me. Let's see what they came up with.

Well, the beer looks very pilsner. It is light pale yellow with a white top that has at least some retention - as usual, especially around the sides of the glass, but it also leaves a bit of lacing. The beer isn't quite as clear as I expected pilsner to be, but maybe there's something in an Italian pilsner that makes it okay for it to be a tiny bit hazy. This would never be categorized as a hazy beer, but it is my understanding that pilsners are supposed to be particularly see-through. The aroma is really good with a grainy malt and a lot of lemons right up front. It smells great. I want to dive in.

First sip is a little over-carbonated, but light citrus combines with a relatively weak malt to give it a very refreshing taste. There seems like there is a bitterness that kind of clamps on with the carbonation, but it dissipates fairly quickly. The resulting beverage is good enough in a sip, but it doesn't really seem like it would stand out. I'm not sure if this is intended to stand up to a particular kind of food or not, but it doesn't seem like it would stand up to much. I'm doing nothing other than drinking this beer right now, and it's difficult to remember what it tasted like when I sip it just moments ago.

Tip-in is carbonation across the mouth with light lemons and grass touched by an unexpected and fairly nice sweetness. Carbonation continues to reign over everything else as the middle becomes a somewhat watery slosh down the gullet with just a mix of previous flavors getting a little more washed out. Bitterness clamps on at the end as the carbonation settles, and - unfortunately - the robust flavors of the beginning are lost well before the trail off.

Bottom Line: There's something good in there, but it gets lost in the shuffle.

2.5/5