Beer of the Week! 03/18/24

Väsen Radapils

Regularly $12.99 / Now on Sale for $11.96
Pilsner Style Lager

You may know Richmond’s Väsen Brewing Company for its hazy IPAs, but they are so much more. For instance, there’s also this beer, one of our favorite Pilsners, though it’s an atypical member of the Pilsner family.

Pilsners are to Lagers what IPAs are to ales. That’s not to say that they’re very bitter. We just mean that, of the Lagers, the Pilsner is the style most distinguished by its hop character. Specifically, the “crispness” you usually talk about with Pilsners is so much about the use of hops. Well, Väsen, daringly, goes in the other direction by focusing the Radapils on its malts.

Fermenting with a Czech Lager yeast, Väsen makes the Radapils with German Pilsner Malt (par for the course) and also German Carafoam malt, which, we are told, can add body to light lagers. Tasting this beer, we can believe that!

The Radapils features a nutty creaminess reminiscent of almond milk. German Hersbrucker and Czech Saaz hops deliver a light bitterness with herbal, spicy aromas. They never quite push the Radapils into “crispness,” but the whole package is so tasty, you don’t miss it.

Named after Radagast — the Slavic god of hospitality, fire, and the evening sky — the Radapils does honor to its patron deity. It’s a comfortable, calming, warm-your-soul, end of the day brew.