Steam Whistle Pilsner (5%)

The folks at Steam Whistle Brewing have brought back their popular Igloo cooler gift pack, and since they were kind enough to send one over, I thought it apt to take a fresh look at this popular Toronto craft lager.

I’ve long thought of Steam Whistle as a notoriously underappreciated beer. I mean, sure, there are many impressive lagers of various substyles on the market today, from Muddy York, Godspeed, and many others. But back in the days when it seemed like all anyone wanted to brew was IPA, Steam Whistle was a refreshing light in a sometimes very dark tunnel. And yes, I’ve also long thought it more helles than pilsner in style, but that did nothing to lessen my enjoyment of it.

(I should also mention that although the brewery sent over this particular six-pack of beer, I am a relatively regular purchaser of Steam Whistle directly from the brewery, which I can practically see from my condo window.)

Pouring a beautiful, bright gold – not even so much as a suggestion of chill haze! – the nose of this beer speaks as much of fresh barley malt as it does of floral, faintly grassy hop. It’s the sort of aroma that puts one in mind of the sweet scent of a brewhouse in full production mode, and equally makes me think of Bavarian biergartens, even though the inspiration for the beer is said to be Czech.

Every once in a while, I think that I catch a light whiff of diacetyl on the nose, that butterscotch character which can arise from a multitude of factors, chiefly fermentation, but never so much as to detract from the lovely balance of floral and grainy notes. And besides, given its purported Czech roots, surely that’s allowable!

On the palate, Steam Whistle is neither too sweet nor overly bitter, with a gentle cereally sweetness up front and a drying, grassy bitterness on the finish. In between is a body that is consummate in its balance, with lightly caramelly malt drying quickly and giving way to faintly floral, fairly mellow hop, all finishing, as noted, dry and mildly bitter.

Overall, this is a beer that I think is in some ways a victim of its own success, as its ubiquity in bars and on store shelves – there are 8 package listings at the LCBO, including the limited time Igloo cooler – cause some Ontarians in general and Torontonians in particular to grow dismissive of it. But particularly in the heat of summer, it is a most enjoyable lager, and deserving of both respect and admiration.

84 ($40/six-pack of 355 ml cans with a cooler; various other price points without it.)