Timbo Pils by Highland Park Brewery was judged as an International Pale Lager. The beer is called a West Coast-Style Pilsner, so I will treat this like an IPL (India Pale Lager), which is going to have many of the same hopping characteristics you look for in a IPA, but have the malt, clarity and fermentation character you would expect from a lager.

The aroma of this beer is deep into the tropical hop category. I get a lot of mango and pineapple, with a secondary piney note. Overall the hop presence is high. The malt if very light and grainy, with the traditional pilsner malt aroma. The beer is very clean in the aroma and up front about what it’s intended to be, basically an IPL. This beer pours a crystal-clear light yellow color with a pillowy, rocky white head. The clarity is outstanding. In the flavor I’m getting more of the same juicy and tropical hop flavor. The bitterness is medium, and I suspect this is a lot of late-addition hops. The lack of haze would surprise me if they dry hopped, but it certainly tastes and smells like fresh hops. The malt is crisp and light with a cracker-like quality that is pretty typical in a pilsner-style lager. The finish is lightly bitter and dry. Overall, the fermentation quality is very clean. The beer as a whole is quite refreshing and a welcome change to other, sweeter hoppy lagers. The mouthfeel is medium and crisp, and there is not a lot of creaminess to the texture. The beer's solid carbonation helps scrub away any sweetness you may perceive on your tongue, preparing you for the next sip. In the end, this beer is a very welcome change to the typical IPA styles out there right now. It’s light, crisp, refreshing and quite hoppy. Over the course of its 16-ounce pour, this beer won me over!