“The third beer in the William’s range, William’s Pilsener combines all the charm of hand crafted European style brews with a little bit of Australian cheek thrown in for good character. Top Australian Pilsener and wheat malt have been specially selected to provide a solid malt backbone, whilst German Carapills and Acidulated malt have also been used to provide further complexity to the palate”.
As we’re also big fans of fine wine, we take a couple of trips to the Hunter Valley every year, so it came as a surprise when we made the decision to visit De Bortoli and saw a couple of Williams beers for sale. Unfortunately they don’t do take-away’s from the vineyard though so we thought we’d track them down when we got back to Sydney. Here goes. Served in a flute glass. The fully transparent straw-golden pour generates a small white head which doesn’t take long to reduce to a halo and an island of foam in the middle. Laced poorly. Quite a nice, bright aroma with lifted citrus overtones. There’s a certain tangy character happening too, kind of reminds us of an apple cider. Whether that’s a trait of the acidulated malt we’re not sure but it’s a pleasant scent to take in. We also detect a suggestion of cereal/biscuit malts coming through as well. It’s a bit different, we like it. The feel in the mouth has a slightly silky texture to it. The body is held up quite well it’s about medium and the Co2 levels are also moderate. Mild bitterness. The palate offers up a hint of lemon, a hint of honey and touch of bready malt. That tangy character we we got from the aroma is developed through the mid, leading on to a light, clean finish. Look, it’s nothing really exciting although the addition of the acidulated malt does provide a bit of individuality. Other than that it’s just another Pilsner.