Beer of the Week! 10/11/22

Väsen Radapils

Regularly $13.99 / Now on Sale for $12.96
Pilsner Style Lager

We often talk about Richmond’s Väsen Brewing Company in terms of its hazy IPAs, but they are so much more. For instance, there’s also this beer, one of our favorite Pilsners, though it’s an atypical sibling in the Pilsner family.

We often say that, “Pilsners are to Lagers what IPAs are to ales.” That’s not to say that they’re very bitter. (Your standard good Pilsner rarely is and needn’t be.) We just mean to say that, of the Lagers, the Pilsner is the style most distinguished by its hop character. Specifically, the “crispness” you usually talk about with Pilsners is so much about the use of hops. Väsen, daringly, goes in the other direction by focusing the Radapils on its malts.

Fermenting with a Czech Lager yeast, Väsen makes the Radapils with German Pilsner Malt (par for the course) and also German Carafoam malt, which, we are told, can add body to light lagers. Something certainly seems to be doing so here! The Radapils features a nutty creaminess reminiscent of almond milk. German Hersbrucker and Czech Saaz hops deliver a light bitterness with herbal, spicy aromas. They never quite push the Radapils into “crispness,” but the whole package is so tasty, you don’t miss it.

Named after Radagast — the Slavic god of hospitality, fire, and the evening sky — the Radapils does honor to its patron deity. It’s a comfortable, calming, warm-your-soul, end of the day brew even as the great Radagast bestows upon us his cooler blessings.

Bonus Beer of Week (‘Cause Momma always told us not to look into the eyes of the Bonus, but Momma … that’s where the fun is!)

Commonwealth Tryna Drip

Regularly $17.99 / Now on Sale for $16.96
Double New England Style IPA

Apparently, “drip” among the hip kids means (despite the word’s LOADS of negative associations) a personal sense of style that is sexy and includes a sense of swagger. Also, “tyrna” is a contraction of “trying to.” Since we’re not Virginia Beach pre-teens more interested in appearance than internal substance, we had to look these things up after Commonwealth Brewing Company released this beer. Are they being ironic? Are they appropriating? Are they misappropriating? Are they aspiring to social relevance among people too young to legally buy their product? Are they running a craft brewery or a Tik Tok account?

Whatever. The beer’s good. That’s all we tryna care about. (See? Makes you cringe a little, doesn’t it?)

You get strawberry and mango notes on both the nose and the palate, but the beer doesn’t let you go too long with the fruit before coming up behind with a sharp, zesty zing on the finish. Although the zest lingers, this brew remains so, so, juicy. We can’t say what drinking it will do for your aspirations towards style, but we promise that if you drink enough of it you’ll start swaggering. ;P

(Seriously, though, don’t drink that much.)

Remember!

You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!