Someone once said, “beer is only as good as the people who make it,” and by that logic, If the brewer is an ass, chances are what he or she makes will end up with notes of ass. On the flipside, if you put two of the goofiest beer nerds from two of America’s best breweries in a room, chances are what comes out is going to be magical.
A great example of this is Short on Long Term Goals, a collaboration Italian Pilsner from Green Cheek and Firestone Walker.
During their brewday, I can only imagine the chit-chat about how to mirror Milan, Italy’s sulfur to chloride water ratio to properly isomerize the copious amounts of earthy-herbal Calista hops in this masterpiece lager. I bet Firestone’s Matt Brynildson teased Green Cheek’s Evan Price about having a proper brewer’s beard. In reality, they probably shared dad stories and drank beers while an assistant brewer did all the dirty work, stopping to smile for a photo op.
Matt Brynildson first introduced me to Italian Pilsner with Pivo Pils around five years ago; a beer inspired by his travels to Italy and the beer he drank at Birrificio Italiano: Tipo Pils. I’ve sampled Tipo at Firestone’s Pils is Love Festival, and what makes the beer special is the dry hop charge. Pilsners on their own have a notable hop character, but adding a huge charge of noble hops adds a big earthy-herbal nose to the beer; sort of like lemongrass, wet hay, and chamomile.
Grab a four-pack at Green Cheek before they’re gone!
Green Cheek is at 3108, 2294 N Batavia St unit c, Orange greencheekbeer.com
Greg Nagel has been writing about beer since 2011, is an avid homebrewer of wine, cider, and beer, is a certified Cicerone Beer Server, level 1 WSET in Wine, a podcaster with the Four Brewers Show, and runs a yearly beer festival called Firkfest happening on June 29th in Anaheim!