Bottles or cans? Green bottles, clear bottles, or brown bottles? All have an effect on your beers flavor and aroma. There was a time when cans were reserved for the macro swill (AKA Budweiser, Miller, Coors) that so many Americans, up until recently, have only known as what beer is. But all that changed with the craft beer revolution of the 90′s. More and more people are learning that there is a beer out there for everyone. Whether it’s a dark roasty stout, complex and boozy barleywine, a sweet and delicate fruit beer, a crisp and refreshing pilsner (not to be confused with an American standard/lite/classic lager), or a hoppy Pale ale or IPA; there is a beer out there for you. All these top notch craft beers are usually sold in brown or dark amber bottles. The reason is because clear and green bottles, which due to great marketing has lead many to believe that these imports in green and clear bottles is the good stuff, don’t offer any protection against the light that skunks beer. No it’s not warm or old beer that is skunked, it is light struck beer. Brown and amber bottles offer the best protection for bottles which is why they are the choice of microbrews. But new can technology has lead many microbrewers to go back to cans. They offer no light penetration as well as the ability to cool down quickly if you buy a six pack off the shelf. Oskar Blues is one of the craft brewers who is leading the charge in going back to cans. Oskar Blue’s flagship beer “Dales Pale Ale” is one of my personal favorites and Old Chub is also quite nice. But a new one emerged at Superior Discount Liquor that I didn’t see before. It’s a Bohemian Pilsner named Mama’s Little Yella Pils. Quite a clever name I think. So with all that out of the way, don’t fear the can and we’ll just get started.

It pours with a bit of chill haze, which is evident because as the beer warms it becomes quite clear, but off the pour the beer was a bit hazy. The head is outstanding and leaves a full 1/8 inch layer the entire glass, start to finish. The chill haze is caused by proteins suspended in the beer, and head retention is affected by proteins so it was probably a trade off for the brewer. Whatever malt they used to enhance head retention probably affected the clarity.
The aroma is of bready sweet malt and some spicy hop aroma from the use of Saaz hops. Otherwise the aroma is very clean with no fermentation by-products detectable by my nose. The hop aroma is right on for me, some people may prefer a bit more hop presence in their Bo. Pils. though.
The flavor is nice with a soft sweet malty start and finish. The center is dominated by the bitterness before giving way back to the malt. The lingering aftertaste is produced by the hops as well. For me the flavors alternate a bit when you swallow which is interesting. I get a bit of a citrusy flavor as well in the middle which I am not entirely sure is appropriate for the style.
The mouthfeel is medium body with a lot of carbonation. Very nice.
Overall I give this beer a very good B, it could be a B+ or A- with a few minor tweaks, but I like this beer. The head is just outstanding with a layer lasting right until the end of the glass, that is very impressive. The flavor is good for summer and the color is not off-putting to those who believe that dark is a flavor