Torch Pilsner - Foothills Brewing Company

wagenvolks

Texas

4.3/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at Flying Saucer, Raleigh.

Served a pint of clear, golden, straw-colored brew with a decent amount of carbonation supplying a creme white head. The retention was excellent, and left sticky rings of lacing down the sides of the glass. Aroma was a bit hard to detect, but I chalk part of that up to the crowded, smoky bar atmosphere. When I really dug deep I could detect some nice pale malts and a good floral hop presence, as well as hints of citrus.

This is one of the hoppier Pilseners I've ever tasted. That said, it's not really a great example of the style, but I absolutely loved the taste: citrusy, pine hops balanced by a light note of biscuity malts. The mouthfeel was on the heaver side of light-bodied, smooth and perfectly carbonated, with a lingering hoppy bite to the finish. Overall, this was a very enjoyable brew by the good folks at Foothills, and would make a great session beer.

Serving type: on-tap

05-17-2008 19:04:57 | More by wagenvolks

rtratzlaff

North Carolina

4.43/5  rDev +20.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

A crystal clear straw colored beer above a white 1/4" head
Smells of spicy German hops.

Taste is well balanced malt with hop flavor. Very crisp with enough pop to keep it interesting.

Very Drinkable and would go great with any light fare or German food.

Serving type: on-tap

04-23-2008 13:24:24 | More by rtratzlaff

atsprings

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -11.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served a crisp pale orange with a thin head that diminished to nothing. There was almost no aroma whatsoever. I was able to pull a little with a good swirl of the glass. The taste had a decent complexity with an almost IPA-like finish. The beer was crisp and smooth and very easy drinking. This would make a decent session beer, but there's far better stuff out there.

Serving type: on-tap

03-24-2008 17:50:17 | More by atsprings

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

3.03/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This came with a thick, bone-white head with decent retention throughout. The nose had a distinct Saaz hops aroma. The color was a deep yellow with NE-quality clarity. The mouthfeel was light-to-medium with an intriguing light sweetness on the tongue. I did experience a medium hop bite on the finish, but it needed to be hoppier throughout, IMHO.

Serving type: on-tap

01-19-2008 14:00:24 | More by woodychandler

WFU03

North Carolina

2.98/5  rDev -19.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Torch is my favorite of the regular rotation at Foothills, but that is more a result of my taste than its. I love a great pilsner and can make do with an average one. Unfortunately, Torch is pretty average, but it is not bad by any means...just average. The individual parts of the beer all are fine, but seem to add up to less than the sum, making the beer less smooth and drinkable than it should be.

Serving type: on-tap

12-10-2007 04:02:08 | More by WFU03

MSchae1017

Georgia

4.13/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This beer was tasted at home from my keg into a bitburger glass.

The beer poured into the glass with a nice darker golden body underneath a white head that holds a nice film and laces well down the glass. The smell is spicy czech hops and sweet pilsner malt. The taste is also very hop forward balanced by the malts with a nice bitter profile. The mouthfeel is great for the style. Enough body but still light for drinkability. Overall, a very drinkable pilsner. Not a german style as listed on this site, but a nice czech style one.

Serving type: on-tap

10-27-2007 20:19:20 | More by MSchae1017

BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.7/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Fairly standard offering as most Micros trying to tap into the BMC fan base. The standard canary-yellow color with an abundance of CO2, weak head formation and retention. Aromas of part-malt, part-grain fills the nose, along with hints of apples and lemon grass. Hop character seems to dominate with an earthy, pungent spiciness. Tastes much more balanced toward the hops than malts, leaving the beer grassy and piney. Raw grain flavors still persist. The body is a bit light, or seems so because of the hops. finishes quite dry and crisp with a light linger of grain husk. I liked the beer because of the hops, but it is certainly not what is expected from a German Pils.

Serving type: on-tap

10-17-2007 21:37:09 | More by BEERchitect

mikesgroove

South Carolina

4.08/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had this one on tap at Asheville Pizza and brewing this afternoon. I have seen this before in Greenville at Blue Ridge and at Barleys but have never given it a try for some reason. I actually wasn't going to today either, until I remebered that I hadn't given it a try yet, so I figured what the hell. I need to try all the foothills brews anyway so this is just as good a place to try a new one as any right. So for a warm day in July with my pizza on the table, I go with a nice german pilsner, this is the life isn't it?

Poured a bright golden yellow with a one inch white colored head. A ton of carbonation was evident right from the start as the bubbles were just screaching to the top to get out. Lots of activity from a visual perspective, however it died down very quickly leaving only a bright yellow fizzy looking beer. No lace to speak of. Not saying this looked bad, not at all. Just about your average pilsner. Maybe a little brighter then normal, but very nice clarity and overall look. On a side note this was served very very cold. Seriously I have not had a beer that cold in a long time, it was in a room temperature glass , but the beer was like ice. Very nice touch, I really felt it brought out flavor as opposed to dampening it, but we will get to that aspect later.

Very odd smell, I had expected your normal bland pilsner grain smell, but there was something decidely different here, HOPS, and a whole lotta them. Nice bitter smell mixed in with the grain and yeast. The flavor followed along tightly with this as well.Very crisp clean feel and finish. But what was the most remarkable was the bitterness of this pilsner. I really have never had one with soo much bite before. Really was extremely nice.

Overall this was a really good pilsner, and totally away from what I was expecting. It was light enough to drink on a hot day or in large numbers, but at the same time had enough character, enough profile to carry its own weight even at night. This was a superb choice at the time, and a really good brew. I would definatly order this up again!

Serving type: on-tap

07-13-2007 01:01:01 | More by mikesgroove

goindownsouth

South Carolina

4.08/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A fantastic offering from Foothills Brewing Company in Winston Salem, NC.

Golden in hue, this brew presented with a light, effervescent head that quickly dissipated. Aromas whafting of pilsner matl, slight sweetness and grassy Czech Saaz hops. Nice balance in the nose. Crisp on the palate with a good balance of the grain bill and the hop goodness. Decent body, on par for the style. One of my favorite, traditionally-made pilseners in the country. Paired well with a fresh Bavarian Brez'n with mustard...

Prosit!

Serving type: on-tap

04-15-2007 15:52:06 | More by goindownsouth

blackie

Virginia

4/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

appearance: Pale golden in color. Comes to the table in a pint glass with a low, white head that has decent retention.

smell: Pale grains and dry, grassy noble hops that add a touch of spice. Not much to it, but good enough.

mouthfeel: Medium carbonation, lighter in body.

taste: Pale grains upfront with some grassy noble hop flavors. Watery in some spots. Could be a little more crisp in regards to the hop flavor and a little more clean after the swallow. Finishes with a short lived, moderate bitterness.

drinkability: Not as poundable as I'd like a pilsner to be.

on-tap at the Village Draft House

6-4-08: snappy, crisp hop presence with clean pilsner malts, apparently much improved over my previously reviewed version, near the top of the NC pilsner heap

Serving type: on-tap

12-14-2006 06:42:44 | More by blackie

MuddyFeet

North Carolina

3.38/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured with a slight head but which was still strong enough to leave a fair amount of lacing. Color was clear gold. Nose was my favorite part... Very mild with just a slight graininess.

Flavor was full of husks and grain flavors. Kind of like digging my teeth into an seven-grain bread that was flavored with alcohol. Slight hop bite that was more citrus than pine. Medium body. Perhaps a tad too much hops kind of threw this beer out of balance.

Serving type: on-tap

10-22-2006 22:58:23 | More by MuddyFeet

Enola

North Carolina

3.1/5  rDev -16%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

This beer was a good lighter beer. The smell was macro like and the taste was too. But ice cold this sure hits the spot on a hot afternoon. I could drink this beer again. Average for the style. This could be a session beer with ease. I wish I had one right now.

Serving type: on-tap

07-04-2006 06:56:07 | More by Enola

AlexJ

North Carolina

4.35/5  rDev +17.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Pale, golden yellow with a tightly knit head of bright white suds.

Aroma is golden pilsner malts, hints of honey, crushed wildflowers, and piungent earthy and grassy hops. Smells very hoppy.

Flavor is crisp, clean malts, a touch of honey, and plenty of grassy, floral, and herbal hops providing a long, hoppy finish. Certainly one of the tastier pilsners I've tried. Very fresh too.

Body is a hair below medium. with a very brisk and crisp mouthfeel, with some light minerality in the finish.

Serving type: growler

02-02-2006 14:14:34 | More by AlexJ

Oxymoron

Colorado

3.28/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Then there was light. Or at least a Torch. Pilsner Torch, sampled on location, poured a bright off-yellow color with some copper tones when held to the light. The head retention was a little lacking as was the lace.

The smell was light. Hard to really get much out of it but some stronger more earthy malt smells were there.

The taste was more of an American feel. The malt is very crisp and clear with some lighter more basic malts. A good zing of hops that become more noticeable at the end. A slight zing to it. The beer is balanced well with malt and hops. Both accentuate the other, malt up front and hop in the back.

The body is light which is good per style. There is a good backing but some lighter sense almost gives it a watered down taste. Truthfully I didn’t notice but it was by other in my party. So overall it was a good American pilsner.

Serving type: on-tap

10-21-2005 02:45:13 | More by Oxymoron

oberon

North Carolina

3.88/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a little deeper golden color than alot of pilsners with a fluffy white head that took awhile to come down,aromas of lightly toasted grain and corn husk and very fresh.Nice and well rounded pils here a firm dry malt base holds up very nice to a lip smacking dry herbal hoppy finish very clean in the finish.A nice sturdy pilsner that is very food freindly to boot,I really enjoyed this one.

Serving type: on-tap

06-09-2005 20:52:19 | More by oberon