Why I tried this: I was feeling in a pilsner mood. The name struck me as interesting, so I thought I'd dive in with this mermaid.Smell: I was hit with a moderately strong smell of bitter hops, which I thought was a bit unusual for a pilsner. It had the profile of a pale ale. There was also an underlying sweetness to the smell. Overall, not bad. Time to dig in.
Taste: Yuck. I really think they tried to do too much with this beer. You get a very strong bitter hops taste of grass and perhaps oak. There was an attempt to balance this out with a hint of caramel malts, but it's too little, too late. The hops just leaves a bad taste on my tongue.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give this beer a 4. Overall, this beer was needlessly complex to the point where it just doesn't make sense. The flavors don't work, and while the scent is fairly enjoyable and the beer makes for a nice looking pour, unfortunately taste is nine tenths of the law. If they simplified between a couple hops and toned down their intensity, perhaps add a bit of citrust, this beer might stand a chance. As is, I don't recommend.
--Jeff
