Reviewed: Urban Roots EZ PZ Dry Hopped Pilsner

Official description: none found

Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse – Urban Roots EZ PZ Dry Hopped Pilsner – 16oz can served in Rastal Harmony glass – 5.0% ABV

Background

You can’t find much about Urban Roots’ EZ PZ pilsner on their website or on the can (I would appreciate a canning date). Moreover, their website has no additional information than what’s already on the can. “Dry Hopped Pilsner” is all you get. I did discover that I would be very interested in visiting Urban Roots in person to try out their BBQ.

I will start off by saying that Urban Roots is a Black-owned brewery. While this shouldn’t matter, it does, especially in our present climate. Why? Because the production and consumption of craft beer skews largely white, and I believe it is important to bring that fact to the attention of our readers before delving into the meat of this review. The ownership of a brewery does not affect my reviews, however, I do believe that we should take note of the lack of diversity in this corner of our universe. Here’s an article I found that mentions some, probably not all, Black-owned craft breweries in the US. I urge our readers to take note of these and try to support them in any way that you can.

Review

I’m sampling EZ PZ from a 16oz can with no detailed beer description nor canning date to be found. Into my glass, EZ PZ is almost perfectly clear straw-colored with brilliant, rocky white foam that sticks around for at least four minutes. The nose rewards you with freshly mowed grass with underlying white peach, wet dough, pineapple upside-down cake, and vanilla. There’s no buttery diacetyl to speak of – a common fault when mostly pilsner malt is used.

Diving in, EZ PZ is incredibly bright and refreshing. It’s ultra-crisp with vibrant herbal bitterness that hits hard for a pilsner, placing it squarely as a more modern American hoppy pilsner. There’s zero caramelization like you would find in most Czech or German pilsners, which keeps the body lean and dry. Likewise, sugar content is very low, which accentuates overall bitterness. Despite this combination of high bitterness and a dry body, EZ PZ is never harsh or astringent. Rather, rustic maltiness and a depth of cracked grain character give the beer an incredible mouthfeel with a snappy, quick finish. It demands to be drunk in big gulps. A single 16oz can is not nearly enough.

Perceived Specs for Urban Roots EZ PZ Dry Hopped Pilsner

Conclusion

EZ PZ dovetails the best of two worlds – the IPA and the Pilsner. You get some of the modern American dry-hopped character that is mostly found in our IPAs and now hazy IPAs. But as for the substance of the beer, this is far cleaner and far more drinkable with an unmistakable lager quality to it. That’s no easy feat since so many American pilsners and so-called IPLs are hardly distinguishable from their IPA counterparts. Urban Roots has succeeded in brewing one of the best hoppy lagers I’ve ever tried. It’s a perfect modern American Pilsner and is on deck for my best of 2020.

Similar Beers

Check out some of my favorite hoppy American pale lagers that I’ve recently reviewed such as pFriem’s Mexican Lager, Colima Cayaco Tropical Lager, Russian River Velvet Glow, Bell’s Lager of the Lakes, and Modern Times Ice.

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