Crooked goes straight

I've come to associate the Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project with interesting and innovative sour constructions so I wasn't sure what to make of it producing a straight-up pils. It's called Von Pilsner and is 5% ABV. The colour is that shade of pale yellow which is almost tinted with green, topped by a tight bright white head. It smells middle-eastern: enticing bitter herbs and overtones of sharp citrus. Though there was lots of fizz as it poured, the texture is beautifully smooth, with no carbonic edge at all. I took the "keller pilsner" designation as marketing nonsense, but I can see what they're getting at with it: this does taste, or at least feel, like it poured from a barrel in a cellar somewhere. The flavour is rather more American, leaning heavily on those lemons. They're quite candied ones too: the bitterness is definitely lower than I like in a pils. Still, this is a very enjoyable beer, and one I would definitely have enjoyed another of, after I quaffed the first.

Instead, I turned to Crooked Stave IPA, another mainstream style. Denver is a long way from New England so I was surprised when this poured a hazy creamsicle yellow. There's a soft texture to go along with that, and it's all very easy-going despite the 6% ABV. The word "tropical" appears on the can and that's often a harbinger of disappointment, but this one really delivers: after the lemonade aroma there's a very realistic flavour combination of mango and passionfruit from the Amarillo, Mosaic and Azacca hops. The balancing bitter veg kick on the end is presumably the work of the Motueka. Only the faintest hint of sesame seed interrupts the hop fun with a savoury note, but it's barely noticeable, and there's no flavour interference from the haze: as it should be yet so rarely is. I bought this casually; an afterthought to fill out a 4-for-€12 in Stephen Street News. I didn't think I was buying such a finely-honed precision instrument. Honestly, I can't remember my last American IPA as good as this.

I don't know if Crooked Stave was ever a trendy brewery; it certainly doesn't seem to get much attention these days. On the strength of these two future classics, that's utterly undeserved.