It is seldom that you come across a good Pilsner in a can. Let’s face it; most of them are mediocre macro-made brews not deserving of a pint glass pour. Thanks to Discount Liquors in Milwaukee I was able to get my hands on some Oskar Blues (their entire line-up to be exact). Not sure which one to drink first, I put a sixer of Mama’s Little Yella Pils in the fridge for a later date. That day came on July 21 when the temperature rose to a stupid 100 plus degrees and humid. I’m not use to that kind of heat here in Chicago so I needed a cold brew to help me best the heat. Three cans later this is the conclusion I came to.

Oskar Blues Pilsner (in my opinion) is one of the best Pilsners here in the US second only to Victory’s Prima Pils. In the American craft beer movement, these two set the standard for what a Pilsner should taste like. However, they do so in contrasting ways. While the focal point of Prima Pils is the dry, crisp assertively hoppy quality, Oskar Blues has a different approach.

Mama’s Little Yella highlights the wonderful malt profile of the style. It is sweeter, bready, and has a faintly heavier mouthfeel than your average Pils. Please don’t hear me wrong. There are still classic characteristics of the style such as a dry finish, grassy hops, and lively carbonation. While displaying these qualities this malt forward lager provided an interesting insight into the malt background in both aroma and taste.

The appearance exhibited a brilliant sun drop yellow hue with a white fluffy head that plumed. It did seem a shade darker giving me some indication of the sweeter flavors that were to come. My nose caught a hefty waft of farmland grains like oats, wheat, corn (not in a bad way), and barley along with some hay, straw and grass. The Saaz hops were earthy, but the sweet malt notes gave off a bready quality that was the attractive aspect of these beer.

Creamy and smooth, the malts lapped over my taste buds offering a refreshing relief while sitting in front of a box fan. The layers of flavor started as a dry and sweet front, a pleasantly sweet middle, that moved to a dry finish. The aftertaste was a combo of hay and straw along with an earthiness hop profile. Surprisingly enough I was left with a juicier malt component than a mouth smacking dryness.

A great Pils!