Finback Hoppy Rice Pils Review

By: Jack Horzempa
(Originally posted on Beer Advocate)
Today’s beer is a gift beer: Finback Brewery How Soon is Meow hoppy rice pils.

This is my first beer I ever had from Finback. On the can in very tiny font it lists: “a collaboration brewed with our buddies, Kings County Brewing Collective, pils brewed with flaked rice and dry hopped with blanc.” The font is so small I am uncertain whether they truly want you to read this short description.

I am assuming that the hops used to dry hop this beer is Hallertau Blanc which is a ‘new wave’ German hop.

I would tell you a story about Finback Brewing but frankly all that I know is that is a relatively new brewery (opened 2011) and is located in Queens. My mother in law was born and raised in Queens. The only other person I ‘know’ from Queens is Archie Bunker.

So, how does a “hoppy rice pils” taste?

 Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw colored with a BIG fluffy white head which persists throughout the entire drinking experience.*

Aroma:

The most prominent aroma is sweet malt (Pilsner Malt?) but there is a herbal/citrusy hop aroma as well. I find the aroma to be very pleasant.

Taste:

The flavor very much follows the nose. There is the sweet malt (Pilsner Malt?) flavor accompanied by herbal/citrus hop flavors in the background.

Mouthfeel:

This beer is light/medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

Very tasty!! This is an enjoyable summertime Pilsner beer. The highlight for me was the beer’s aroma.

* When I poured the remainder of the can (16 ounce can) into the glass the appearance was turbid/murky; it had the appearance of a so called ‘NE’ style IPA.

Cheers!


Jack Horzempa is a longtime friend of the store and an extremely knowledgeable home brewer, brewing some of the best beer I have ever tasted. Jack's palate is well seasoned and he has been a valuable source of beer expertise to the store. He has graciously allowed us to re-post his review/posts from Beer Advocate where he has achieved Poo-bah status. Since joining Beer Advocate 12 yrs ago, Jack has posted more than 20,000 times and earned over 25,000 likes.