Today I'm trying a beer that's completely new to me called Centenario Pilsner. My friend Drew was kind enough to come with me to a shop called Bevmo! that sells many different kinds of beers, wines and liquors and can be a great place to discover new beers. We found a product called the "World Beer Traveler" that contained ten different beers from all around the world. Could there be a more perfect product for my 365 beers project?! In the words of the sagacious icons of American cinema Bill S. Preston Esquire and "Ted" Theodore Logan, I thought quietly to myself "Most Excellent!"
When I got home I opened up the "World Beer Traveler" pack and carefully loaded the beer drawer in my fridge, making sure to inspect each bottle as I pulled it out, and arranged the drawer in the order of least visually appealing on the bottom to the most visually appealing on the top. Centenario stood out to me right away because it's excellent label presentation, and for the simple fact that it's a pilsner from El Salvador. The label is made to look like a playing card and the cap has a heart on top; both very cool touches in Ian's book. However, presentation is probably the smallest factor of what goes into making a great beer in my opinion, so I was really hoping that I wouldn't be disappointed by the Centenario.
When I poured the Centenario into a glass, the first thing that I noticed was how incredibly pale this beer was. Pilsners are known for their distinctive color that can range anywhere from a pale champagne color to a golden straw, but the Centenario looked pallid even for a pilsner. I held my glass up to the light and I could clearly see my brother smirking at me from across the table, through the pale pint of Centenario. Generally speaking, if a beer doesn't pass my visual test of non-transparency, then it usually means that I'm not going to like that beer. However, there's always an exception to every rule, and I was pleasantly surprised by this little El Salvadoran pilsner. Centenario lacks the bitter, maltiness that many of it's German counterparts have. It felt really light on my tongue and it had the perfect amount of crisp, refreshing bite to it. I don't know if I would go out of my way to buy Centenario Pilsner again, but for tonight it was a nice little surprise.
http://www.laconstancia.com/cvz_nacionales.asp
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