Unrepentant beer drinkers, rejoice! Each week, Clean Plate Charlie
will select one craft or import beer and give you the lowdown on it:
How does it taste? What should you drink it with? Where can you find
it? But mostly, it's all about the love of the brew. If you have a beer
you'd like featured in Beer of the Week, let us know via a comment.
You down with OBP? (Sorry, I had to.)
The first time I tried Orange Blossom Pilsner was at this year's Jupiter Brewers Festival at Roger Dean Stadium. The Orlando-based company had a branded hatchback parked in the middle of the festival grounds with a beer tap poking out of the back side. If I remember correctly, they had a coconut porter as well as OBP, a light lager made with orange blossom honey from Florida. The most interesting fact about OBP is that, even though it's marketed as "Florida's Honey Beer," it's actually brewed in South Carolina by Thomas Creek.
OBP only recently found its way to South Florida, showing up at Crown
Wine & Spirits and even World of Beer (where they have it on tap at
the moment). If you've never tried it, now is a good chance to do so.
OBP is a refreshing light beer with a subtle floral
sweetness thanks to the 2.3 teaspoons of honey that goes into each
bottle. You get a fair bit of citrus and orange flavor, which could be
either an inflection of the honey or esters from fermentation (or
both). The beer feels thin and vaguely crisp, with a dry, peppery
finish and lots of carbonation.
Although critics haven't been kind to OBP, I enjoyed a six-pack
purchased at Crown for around $10. As a light beer, it probably won't
excite fans of big German pilsners (it's not bold or hoppy enough to
compare). But as a light summer beer (hey, it's always summer here) or
something cold and refreshing when you're in the mood for that sort of
thing, there are far worse choices than OBP.
