According to Wikipedia, "Scrimshaw is the name given to handiwork created by whalers made from the byproducts of harvesting marine mammals." The label on North Coast's pilsner sports a pretty fine looking work of art done on a whale's tooth. I love it when breweries come up with really unique names for their beers and then have labels that compliment them. I'd have to say that North Coast does it pretty well compared to some others out there.
Scrimshaw pours a very clean, clear deep golden color. The head is thick and rich and bright white. There is a very steady and strong stream of bubbles rising to the top of the glass, seemingly coming from nowhere. Its quite a nice little sight to behold. I drink a lot of ales so this is something I definitely don't see a lot unless I venture over to the lager/pilsner side of things.
Smells clean, yeasty, grassy, some citrusy hops and definitely the earthy/musty smell that comes with the territory of beers with lager yeasts.
The pour is clean, the smell is clean and the taste follows suit accordingly. Because lager yeasts tend to do a better job eating sugar, their is not a lot of sweetness with this beer. Its slightly dry in the finish and the taste itself is slightly citrusy and that of very light malt. Nothing over the top, just a refreshing beer with that nice carbonation that dances a bit on your tongue.
This is my first pilsner in quite awhile. I think the last one might have been the Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner which its hard to relate anything to. The style itself is not really all that common with American micro-brews. Some other great pilsners that I can think of are Victory's Prima Pils, Troegs Sunshine Pils and Pikeland Pils from Sly Fox. Oddly enough, all three are from Pennsylvania breweries. Well, maybe that isn't that odd since there are tons of people of German ancestry in that state. Give the Scrimshaw a shot on a warm afternoon when you've got the grill fired up!
BEER FACTS
Name: Scrimshaw
Style: Pilsner
Brewery: North Coast Brewing Company
Location: Fort Bragg, California, USA
Container: 12 oz. bottle
Malts: ?
Hops: ?
ABV: 4.4%
IBUs: 22
