Great Divide Nomad Pilsner

Brewed by Great Divide Brewing Company
Style: Pilsener
Denver, Colorado USA

Serve in Flute, Footed Pilsner

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first whiff is "this won’t do". DMS / stewed corn, concrete mix, dish soap and honey-tinged apples in the nose, it’s a big mess, and there’s definitely none of this "lively floral" character mentioned on the label. fizzy and assertive carbonation is bothersome, while the husky and grainy baked cracker malt is affected by more sulfer / DMS, though lighter than in the nose. round, chewy body (for pils), comes across a tad syrupy though has adequate lingering hop bitterness. but as a czech pils it stinks. and as just a lager it still stinks. i can actually put up with drinking it, taste-wise it’s not far off from what you’ll find from any other American brewery doing a pils, but it smells absolutely terrible. and at the end i have to wonder why they brewed it to five and a half, that’s 13-14° territory. if you’re going to make pils, you need to shoot for mid-fours. i guess the lesson here is, if you can’t brew a proper svetly, mention something about it being your "spin" on the style, because the world’s finest classic beer style, brewed for hundreds of years, needs to be spun. sigh.

Pours pale gold with 2-finger white head that dissipates quickly. Nose is Saazy hops, caro syrup malt, spicy citrus. Tastes crisp, with hops and some fruity honey flavors, some pine, and a bit of a late cloying finish. Not Bohemian enough (tart) to pop this into the upper echelon of bopils. As a regular pils, it is above average.

12 ounce bottle from Wegmans Lake Manassas. Pours a slightly hazy very pale straw color with a thin frothy white head. Decent head retention. Aroma of big bready malts, cracker notes and herbal, floral hops. The taste is grassy, green hops, bready notes and some nuttiness. Medium bodied, lingering bitterness. Quite nice.

Bottle @ home. Transparent, golden orange appearance with a sizable, pearl white head. Sweet pils malty, bready, earthy, a bit buttery, a touch floral hoppy aroma. Musty, soapy, mild corn, grassy, straw, dull pils malty, earthy, floral flavor. This is really not smooth at all. Very disappointing.

Pours a clear pale straw color with a medium thin and lasting white head. Spotty lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of mild hops and malt. Light body with flavors of bready malt, grassy hops and a bit of tangy fruit. The finish is mildly bitter with a short hoppy aftertaste. Slightly above average overall.

Bottle. Sweet barley malt and herbal hops aroma. Golden yellow color with small head. Honey barley malt and moderately bitter herbal/quinine flavor. Pretty nice.

Bottle 12 fl oz
Aroma: good , golden malts , slightly salty , meadowy hop feel, slightly peppery. 7-
Look: fine haze , tad pale golden large with medium plus fine white top Good rings with lace. 3+
Taste/palate: medium bodied. Bitter chewy noble hop feel tad a la Urquell , fairly soft Bohemian like in character. Refreshing , dry enough , soft enough. Good malt bottom. Fell true with is not always given from US brewery.

12oz bottle pours crystal clear gold with decent enough near white head. The light aroma offers up a mix of spicy to floral hops that are pleasingly not backed up by over sweetness like many of the style. The taste is straight up bitter spicy and floral hops forward and then winding down clean Pilsener malts that create space for a modest increase in hop flavor. Clean and refreshing and leaving a pleasing hoppiness into the after taste.

bottle, thin clear golden yellow with minimal foam, aroma is dry lemon zest and dusty boxes, flavor of clean lemon and flint rock, clean bitter finish

12oz bottle from Premier Gourmet. Clear, oily-looking brassy light gold with a fairly large fizzy white head. Smells pretty good - light cereal, a little acidic tang, nice grassy bitterness, maybe a bit of honey ’n heather. Taste follows, but a little less pleasant - more grain, less grass, some alcohol - somehow it doesn’t quite gel well. Slick, a bit oily, lightly astringent, decently carbonated, medium length finish; I suspect on tap this would be damned fine; just a tad harsh in the finish.