And the Oskar goes to

The Colorado veteran Oskar Blues makes a welcome return to the blog; welcome in particular when it comes bearing lagers.

Mama's Little Yella Pils has been part of the range since forever but appears only sporadically over here. I grabbed it when I saw it. It's a spot-on 4.7% ABV and a lovely rich golden colour, more amber than yella and looking every inch the Czech classic it's modelled after. I get a mild grassy Saaz aroma, and there's merely a lacing of this in the flavour. Otherwise it's malt-driven: rich and biscuity with elements of honey and golden syrup. That sweetness is the only thing I can ding this for. While I loved the fullness of it all, I was expecting more of a pils crispness, and it doesn't really deliver on that promise. I'm kvetching about what is a perfectly fine lager, though, and "Mama's Little Amber Helles" isn't as catchy a name.

Edit: I hadn't realised I'd had this before, back in 2014. These things happen.

The yin to its yang today is Slow Chill Dunkel. I ran my eye over the Helles in the same series a while back, and quite liked it, but again quibbled over stylistic accuracy. The Dunkel looks the part: cola-brown though looking a bit twee in that most unBavarian half-pint tankard. There's an interesting peppery quality, or maybe cinnamon, in the aroma, with a hint of more typical liquorice. The texture is smooth and heavy, impressively so for the modest 5.5% ABV. All the right notes are hit by the flavour: caramel, hazelnuts, cocoa, and a fun lemonade citrus side which balances it beautifully without throwing it off. The subtlety thrilled me. American brewers have a tendency to go overboard on European styles, but this example has clearly been hewn from a genuine respect and love for proper dunkel. Three cans would fill a Maßkrug nicely.

I like when the package size is the worst criticism I can level at an American beer. Both of these are excellent illustrations of Oskar Blues's no-nonsense brewing acumen.

Summer in the mountains

From the official brewery of the American outdoors comes Mama's Little Yella Pils, a 5.3% ABV pilsner lager. Yella is right: a brilliant glaring gold, shot through with just a slight haze and topped by a stiff white foam.

I'm sure a brewery of integrity like Oskar Blues brews this from an all-malt recipe, but there's a certain corny quality to the taste; a sweetness I normally associate with the cheaper 'n' nastier sort of lagers. The aroma is dry, grainy and not entirely pleasant. So where's all the Saaz at? There's a tiny bitter bite -- no more than  a nibble -- in the finish, but none of the lovely grass notes you get in good pilsner. At this point I looked at the bottom of the can and noticed that this was packaged nearly seven months before I opened it. Perhaps that explains some of the problem, though I'm positive that the likes of Pilsner Urquell is more robust than this, distance travelled notwithstanding.

A bit of a disappointment then. It's even a little too fizzy to be properly refreshing. If I were hiking up the Rockies (don't laugh; it could happen) I'd be packing Dale's Pale Ale instead of this.

And staying in Colorado but flipping to the other end of the calendar, I recently acquired this unseasonal can of Euphoria, the winter pale ale from Ska Brewing. It pours the brown-amber of a twiggy English bitter, and it's fairly malt-forward, a warming 6.2% ABV with smooth chocolate flavours infused with oily mandarin and a classy touch of rosewater. While it's far from fresh at this time of year, there's still a lovely sharp citrus aroma, though that's where the big hop action starts and ends. Still, good in any weather, and very much preferable to the elderly pils above.