Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils (Cask)

[MeridianFC]

If it's Thursday night, it must be the Reef. Brian brought in the Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils for this weeks edition of Firkin Thursday. They had it on offer over at RFD a few weeks back but I didn't get to sample it (oh, man it's all the way over in Chinatown, I'd have to get on a bus and everything). Once again we run into, what I will now call, the Dominion Bright Conundrum. I'm beginning to think they might not fine the beers at all that they distribute cask. It wouldn't surprise me given they don't do a whole lot in this fashion.

Anyhow, the beer poured a golden yet cloudy yellow, somehow seeming even more pale then the THPP out of the bottle. I'm sure if you stumbled across someone having this tipple you'd be inclined to think they were drinking some stripe of Belgian White. Anyhow, the nose had that signature Tupper's Hop sting. Firm mouth, and smooth, going down. The temprature was just right. The carbonation was just right. Given what a battering one can take with the THP Ale, it's quite nice to have the trademark flavor (hopppppppps and hey there's some hefty malt!) without the head crushing wallop of bitter hop and alcohol (hey I like the stuff, don't get me wrong). This is a most excellent beer and unlike some of the other Dominion products which do not translate as well to the cask format, this one is a champ. A righteous session brew with enough complexity to keep even the most Alpha Amalaysed Michael Jackson acolyte happy.

If this beer was a guitar, it'd be a 1965 Fender Telecaster. A good solid reliable performer without a lot of flash (but oh, those classic lines), full of American can do spirit, cosmopolitan and country at the same time. Those versed in it's use recognize its superiority to many other more lauded or fancier axes. One to reach for when you need something that absolutely works.

Tele players = Joe Strummer (R.I.P.) & the Boss.

I'm sure they'd both get down on a pint of the Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils from the cask with me. I've got a phone call into heaven to see if Joe's busy the next time this comes around.

K.

[chazwicke]

You make me sooo envious. I guess I'll have to get up off of my fat ass and head down to the Reef one of these Thursdays. Problem is, I've got a lot of travel coming up.

[chazwicke]

Oh and thanks for the excellent description. I enjoyed the guitar analogy. Don't forget to include Danny Gatton when you mention tele's and heaven.

[denver brewhoo]

a Danny Gatton reference on a beer board! Danny and the Fat Boys used to play at the bar I worked at in Charlottesville, where they drew an older (than us) Heinekin-drinking crowd, who tipped ninety cents on a buck ten beer. Our regulars were into $.75 Buds, or more likely, $3.75 Bud pitchers. In either event the tip was a quarter, so believe me, even if Danny Gatton sucked we would have still loved that band.

But Danny most definitely did not suck.

I can still hear his take on "Harlem Nocturne", which we also had as a single on the jukebox in that joint.

I know that Roy Buchanan has also left us...is Jimmy Thackery still around? I saw the Nighthawks in a joint called Straight Johnson's on Broadway in Denver in about 1988 or 89 IIRC...looked a little tired of each other that night. But they rocked about twice a month at that same bar in Charlottesville back in the day.

[chazwicke]

Ah yes the Fat Boys, Dave Elliott and Billy Hancock. Saw them many times and the version of Harlem Noctuen from "American Music" their album is MAGNIFICENT! They were a great band I used to see them often and also the Rosslyn Mountain Boys. I know the Night Hawks are still around and another Local Tele player, Tom Principato still plays here too. Those were the days.

[steveh]

Originally posted by MeridianFC
Anyhow, the beer poured a golden yet cloudy yellow, somehow seeming even more pale then the THPP out of the bottle. I'm sure if you stumbled across someone having this tipple you'd be inclined to think they were drinking some stripe of Belgian White. Anyhow, the nose had that signature Tupper's Hop sting. Firm mouth, and smooth, going down. The temprature was just right. The carbonation was just right. Given what a battering one can take with the THP Ale, it's quite nice to have the trademark flavor (hopppppppps and hey there's some hefty malt!) without the head crushing wallop of bitter hop and alcohol (hey I like the stuff, don't get me wrong). This is a most excellent beer and unlike some of the other Dominion products which do not translate as well to the cask format, this one is a champ. A righteous session brew with enough complexity to keep even the most Alpha Amalaysed Michael Jackson acolyte happy.

So let me ask; if you hadn't seen this beer advertised as a Pils, and sampled it blind, would you have been inclined to think it was a Pale Ale? I guess I'm just questioning the practice of cask conditioning and serving ale-style, a beer that is usually cold lagered for settling and mellowing, and wondering if it took on more of an ale than lager character.

S.

[chazwicke]

Excellent question. I am sorry I missed this one.

[MeridianFC]

Originally posted by steveh
So let me ask; if you hadn't seen this beer advertised as a Pils, and sampled it blind, would you have been inclined to think it was a Pale Ale? I guess I'm just questioning the practice of cask conditioning and serving ale-style, a beer that is usually cold lagered for settling and mellowing, and wondering if it took on more of an ale than lager character.

S.

Pale ale no doubt. If you were British you certainly would have called this an IPA. I was discussing this with a friend the other day and we both agreed that the Tupper's Hop Pocket Pils plays pretty fast and loose with the term "Pils". It is a lager and seems especially "lager like" compared to the Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale, but it doesn't really resemble and other Pils/Pilsner I've ever had. It's a great beer, but not completely true to the strict style guidelines IMHO.

Obviously changing the method of conditioning and dispense is going to change the nature of the final product, but in this case the result was overwhelmingly positive. I am very curous as to what would happen if some other lager beers were altered to serve in a cask format.