Were the other boys mean to you?

Who You Callin' Wussie: a name which suggests it's a pilsner for men with self-esteem issues. This has been imported from Stone headquarters in San Diego rather than the local operation in Berlin, and isn't quite street-legal in Europe as there's no metric unit measurements on the can, nor an EU address. Fortunately, nobody bothers enforcing consumer laws in this country so the importer won't get in trouble.

It pours out in proper continental style: that there's only 473ml of it leaves plenty of room for a tower of foam in my mug, over a pale gold body with just a slight haze through it. The aroma is quite sickly, suggesting all of the beer's 5.8% ABV and more, with lots of sweet and meadowy German hops. This is followed by a strange herbal mash-up of a flavour, throwing in medicinal eucalyptus, bitter thyme, pithy citrus and a funk which I can only liken to old stale piss. It's certainly not bland.

My only problem here is that it's an extreme version of the sort of German-hopped beer I've never really got along with, ramped up and intensified in that quintessentially American way. It would probably have been better served properly cold, but even then I don't think its particular flavour combination would have suited me.

I guess I'm a wussie.