Czech Mate
From the pour alone, I can tell that this is going to be a good interpretation of a Czeck Pilsener. It certainly looks the part with its billowy white head staining to escape the glass, and the straw-coloured body with steady streams of carbonation rushing to help the cap in its efforts. With each sip a new ring is deposited, showing that this beer measures its age by each visit to the mouth. Twenty visits old and there should be nothing left. The aroma is grassy, but not without spice. It's a rolling Czech meadow with wildflowers and herbs crushed underfoot. Somewhere in the distance a fresh loaf of bread is baking in preparation for the evening meal. I partake of the bread as I life it to my mouth, and I'm taken to that meadow. The grass is verdant in my memory, and the herbs and flowers take something which could be one dimensional and transcend it to a thing of beauty. Aye, there's beauty in this drink, but also a refreshing simplicity. Its what I look for in a pils, and Paddock Wood have hit my nail on the head. They've even got the mouthfeel spot on, with its crisp carbonation, and its bready, but crisp finish. I enjoyed this. I rarely reach for a pils, and in the long Canadian winter I have little inclination or opportunity to crack open a refreshing beer, but this is a good quaff. It transports me to some sunny day, and with the wind howling from the north, that's not a bad thing.