Sprig & Fern Pilsner

This beer didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Take a nitoriously hoppy beer style from a brewery in a nitoriously hoppy beer town (Nelson, where the best hops in the southern hemisphere, if not the world, come from) and you might expect some kind of epic New Zealand hopfest of deliciousness with a big bitterness, maybe some old world Czech hop or even German hop flavours blended in with some big NZ amazingness... But then the label mentions a subdued hop character to make it more drinkable.... Huh? 

It has a distinctive Czech hop feel to it with the earthy hop character that makes it distinctively a Pilsner, but a very subtle bitterness that didn't quite balance the malt sweetness... and that's about it. 

I feel like it's just half a Pilsner, with the real hop grunt missing, but enough of that distinctive Czech hoppiness that it's not a simple pale lager; I would think it's too much for someone who wants an easy drinking lager and not enough for someone who wants a Pilsner; and definitely not enough for someone who wants to taste Nelson! I don't often write negative reviews but this guy just left me a bit sad. (Apparently it's won awards though, so don't take my word for it...)

sprigandfern.co.nz

ABV: 5.0%

Brewery: Sprig & Fern

Region: Nelson

Style: Pilsner

Wife check: "It's a bit flavourless for a Pilsner, tastes a pub tap beer."