A Pint Half Full

It being summer and hot and humid down here in the mid-Atlantic, it's perfect weather to just do nothing, sit around and have a refreshing beer.  When I talk about summer beer, I'm not talking about beer with oranges in it, citrus all up in your nose, limes clouding any flavor your could get from an already light beer.  I'm looking for something light but robust, with a crisp, thirst-quenching aspect to it, a little clean hop bite that is balanced in its bitterness throughout a drink with a malt backbone that you don't even notice is there - but it is.

A pilsner beer really meets alot of these characteristics.  In fact, alot of the big beer companies, like Miller, Budweiser etc are pilsners.  They don't taste like a true pilsner however due to the additions of grains like corn or rice rather than hops and malt for flavor.  It really just doesn't give you that clean taste that you'd get from something like the Avery Brewing Joe's American Pilsner.

At first glance, this looks like your typical American light beer.  But when you drink it, it's actually a pretty bold example of the style.  There is a rounded crisp grassy hop bite on first sip which gives way to some grapefruit sprinkled with some pepper.  It warms a little bit after going down the hatch and the malt balance and 4.7% alcohol leave your palate clean and quenched.  The low ABV makes the Avery Pilser very drinkable and sessionable - perfect for hanging out during those long summer days.  This exemplifies the pilsner style to me and is an all around great beer.