Our third match of the second round pits Sam Adam's Noble Pils against Flying Dog, Garde Dog. The winner here goes on to face Anchor Bock in the semis. The palate cleanser is jasmine rice, by itself, with a little butter or thai oil. Let's get it on. Noble Pils comes out with all hops blazing. There's a lot of hop here, but there's some nice citrus and caramel, that balances it a little. I do like that you can clearly distinguish different hop flavors. Boy that's a bitter finish though. Some excellent rice. Garde Dog has nice hop up front and a bite in the back. There's also a touch of honey sweetness and a funky malty flavor. That slight weird flavor bothers me more somehow this time. Now for the lightning round.
The thai oil is really good on the rice. A hefty draught of Noble Pils goes down nice, boy that's a bit much on the hop, but the complexity of flavor distracts you from the bite. I take a hefty pull on the Garde Dog, thats a smooth beer with some body and nice balance. There is still an odd flavor here witch could be hit or miss with some people. Neither one of these beers overwhelms the other. It's getting late in the game and low in the glass, and there is no clear winner. This will have to go down to the last sip. The great balance of Garde Dog sways me, but Noble Pils has complexity with a purpose. In the end it's which glass I wanted to reach for just a little bit more. Garde Dog WINS. I just wanted to down that last bit, whereas the last dregs of the Pils got left. The cinderella story of the tournament knocks off the #1 seed. Garde Dog goes on to face Anchor bock in the semi-final. That should be a great match-up.
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