Pizza Port!!!

The first few Beers Mike and I tried were from Port Brewing.  These beers are currently Brewed in San Marcos.  Gina and Vince, co-owners of Pizza Port, started Brewing beer in small quantities for their customers until the demand for their beer became too great.  They have since morphed into Port Brewing and have upped their rate of distribution.  They expanded their operation when Stone Brewery......*Yawn....back to the beer.

Alright, the first one we tried was the 'Panzer Imperial Pilsner.'  Why it is called the Panzer(Panzers were the tanks Hitler used in WW2) and why they invoke symbolism from World War 2 is beyond me.  Unless it has something to do with the Czech Republic(home of the first Pilsner) and Hitler's attempted tyranny in that area which...hmm...I guess could be possible...I will ask Mike, History aficionado, about this.

To go any further we must first know what a pilsner is.  The first Pilsner, named after the city in which it was first brewed (Pilsen) was the first of it's kind to use Bavarian style lagering with the new varieties of 'Noble Hops'.  Most Pilsner's are traditionally made in a similar fashion and what is created from this process is usually a Golden Lager that has a light taste and great smell.

I was unaware of what Noble Hops were so my friends over at Wikipedia told me that Noble Hops "traditionally refer to 4 varieties of Hops that are low in bitterness and high in aroma." Thanks Guys, for your continuing support of the Beer Lovers lexicon.

Seeing as I like beers that are not highly bitter but are flavorful with good aromas, I expected great things from the Panzer(as I'm sure Hitler did).  Mike and I were in somewhat of agreement.  Here are the stats:

Alcohol Content: 9.5% (Mike and I Both approve)

Ryan(one in the center) 

Mike(one on the left)

Smell: Ryan 8/10
           Mike 8/10
(It smelled pretty good)

Taste:Ryan 6/10
         Mike 6/10
(Neither of us thought is was something 'Crazy Good')

Finish: Ryan 5/10 Mike 5/10  (Again nothing special)

Mike nicknamed the Beer the "Pretentious Redneck."  I think that is completely accurate and it is a beer to likely go down in history as a bitter disgrace...like Hitler...

Until next time, always remember: Mike and Ryan are awesome and they have incredibly good taste in beer.

Oh, the next Beer we tried was "Midnight Sessions" also by Port Brewing.  It has since been renamed to Midnight Expressions for reasons I will gladly speculate on.

-Ryan, Beer Expert