Brevet Pils

The beer

The 88 rewards balance, and Brevet Pils is a study in it. Cracker malt and hop bitterness sit level, which lets the citrus read as lift instead of candy. Lose that balance and a nonalcoholic pils drifts sweet or watery; this one does neither. It stays light without going thin, exactly where most of the style stumbles when the alcohol never forms.

Aroma order is the tell of a well-made pils, and here it is textbook. Fennel and a saline, oyster-cracker note arrive before the fruit, with lemon following. Had the citrus led, this would read as a flavored lager. In the mouth, lemon comes first and tangerine stays half a step behind, so the fruit never crowds the malt. Firm, clean bitterness frames the middle and stops short of sticky, while bright acidity keeps the cracker malt dry rather than dull.

The citrus departs first and a faint cracker salinity holds a beat longer, so the dryness reads as finesse rather than absence. Serve it very cold, in a tall pils glass. Beside the brewery’s Brevet IPA, this is the malt-and-snap can and the IPA the hop-forward one. Here the snap is the point, and it holds to the last sip.