The latest installment of Terrapin Brewing Company’s Monster Beer tour is almost history, for those who haven’t yet heard. Available only on draft in limited locations in Georgia, All American Imperial Pilsner was the summer release in the series intended to commemorate Independence Day. I’m a little bit late to the party on this one, but did manage to score some just the other day.

At the current time, Terrapin doesn’t have a brewery, but contract brews at Maryland’s Frederick brewing. The goal is to eventually a brewery in Athens, Georgia, and when that happens the “monster” beers may return, perhaps even in bottles.

The current selection is both All-American in spirit and ingredients. That’s one of the selling points: it’s made with domestic Carapils and two row malt and home-grown Santiam, Liberty, Warrior, Mt. Hood, and Saaz hops.

Pilsner, of course, is far from American in style, though most of the major domestic lagers claim to fit loosely into that style. The Czechs can be credited with bringing us pilsner, and indeed it is named for a Czech town called Pilzen. Likely you have heard of Pilsner Urquell , the original.

That said, Imperial Pilsner is an American style, or at least an American revision on the classic theme. I have mixed feelings on the style. Take a pilsner, as Terrapin has done, and ratchet up the malt, hops, and alcohol and you get something resembles an IPA more than a pilsner, albeit a clean one. Lager fermentation would not throw off the fruity esters an ale would have.

Consider the specs for All American Pilsner:

Original Gravity: 1.074
IBUs: 75
Alcohol 7.7% by volume

That’s roughly 50% more malt and alcohol and twice the bitterness of a true pilsner. All that malt makes the beer bigger in body, and all that bitterness really sets this apart from the pilsner style, again calling to mind the IPA style. Here are my tasting notes:

Terrapin All American Pilsner pours to an orange amber color with a thick creamy head formation and grassy hop nose. A very thick layer of Brussels lace film clings to the side of the glass.

The palate is thick and chewy. Don’t look for any crisp and biscuity malt like you’ll find in a good pilsner. You will find notes of caramel and of course, lots of hops. They’re resiny at first and again in the finish, and grassy. The finish is bitter, long, and very dry. A bitter buzz lingers on the tongue after sipping.

A nice beer, to be sure, but to me not much different than an IPA. So what’s the justification for a new style (or why not just call it a lagered IPA?).