Advent Beer #6: Turbo Prop by Propeller Bier

Over the last few days, what I’ve been doing is that I pull the can from its respective day’s spot in the box, and without actually looking at the can, I place it into the fridge, so that it’s nice and cold by the time it’s time to drink it the next day.  I want the whole thing to be a fresh and new experience, encapsulated in a single evening, with no time to anticipate or know what’s coming.  I’m weird like that.

When I pulled what’s called Turbo Prop out of the fridge, and saw that it was a design with a lot of green, I didn’t need to read anything to know that this was going to be some sort of pilsner, and probably contain some bitterness.  I kind of grimaced because I typically tend to shy away from bitter beers, as I think IPAs especially are basically like piss in cans, but I know enough about pilsners to know that they too often times can carry some bitter notes.

Pouring it into a pint, I’m met with a hoppy aroma from the onset, and I’m kind of wincing at the thought of having to drink a bitter beer, especially when all the five before it were mostly lagers or keller or dunkel classifications.  But regardless, the journey must continue and I wasn’t about to be derailed by anything other than simply forgetting to do it.

Taking the first sip, I’m actually pleasantly surprised to find that it’s actually quite good.  Kind of sweet, not nearly as bitter as I thought it would be, and the hops not nearly as intense as I would’ve imagined a can with so much green to be.

And I say this entirely intentioned to be a compliment, but it reminds me a lot of Sam Adams’ Noble Pils, which is one of the few exceptions to hoppy bitter pilsners that I actually like.  I will disclaim that such should also be served from a tap, as the canned equivalents did not bring me the same enjoyment that my first exposure to it was, at an old college pub near my dad’s house.

But overall, Turbo Prop was pretty good and enjoyable, and wasn’t disappointing at all, contrary to the belief that it might be based on the can design alone.  Admittedly the artwork wouldn’t be nearly enough to catch my attention if I were to come across it in a store, but now knowing what it’s actually like, I might actually suggest this as a suitable substitution for a Noble Pils whenever my one friend who also was a huge fan of Noble Pils and I ever have a discussion about how we both miss Noble Pils so much.

A good enough beer to keep me on topic tonight, because I was also watching NXT War Games, and was also considering writing about how belching could be akin to martial arts.  But there are still 18 more days to go, so that latter topic might just come up yet.

Knee-jerk rating so far: #3 out of 6