Dogfish head ‘my antonia’ pilsner

Rating:

dogFishHead_myAntonia“My Antonia (named after the Willa Cather read), is a continually-hopped imperial pilsner. This lager for ale lovers is citrusy, sweet and refined.My Antonia started out as a collaboration beer when Sam brewed it at Birra del Borgo (hope you can read Italian) outside Rome, Italy, with owner/brewer Leonardo DiVencenzo in October 2008. In 2010, we began brewing My Antonia here in Delaware for U.S. distribution.As an aside, in June 2009, Leonardo came over to Delaware and brewed our original batch of Namaste with us at our Rehoboth Beach brewpub. And Leo is also one of the brewers involved in the Eataly project in New York City. What goes around, comes around.”

Served in a flute glass the cloudy golden pour arouses a mountainous 3 finger crown that maintains well, eventually reducing to a firm covering. Good head retention allows for healthy lacing to be omitted down the glass. Some incredible aromas emanating here, very hop-forward with wafts of sweet fruits, grapefruit, apricot, slight funk, grass, earthy/grainy malts and a faint touch of spice. Significant complexity for a pilsner. In the mouth it’s smooth and well-rounded. Moderate carbonation with a light tickle on the tongue. Medium bodied. A good dose of sweet, bready malts initiates the palate. A firm bitterness develops late on the fore-flavour and leads to fruity, spicy hops through the mid. Some warmth from the ABV (7.5%) opens up and delivers a citrusy finish that lingers well on to the next sip. Alcohol content is well buried. This is dogfish head at their best, taking a simple style and complicating the hell out of it! And doing it well. We love these brewers and we loved this version of a pilsner.