Don't call it an import

Well, son, why don't you just sit right back there with an oddly-shaped pilsner glass and let me tell you a tale that begins all the way back in Salzburg, Austria... wiggly fade... Back to a time when the Reinheitsgebot really meant something (or not)...
Truth is, fine continental pilsners are a rarity in the US, with most European imports arriving a little over-the-hill and generally lacking that fresh bite that makes them so special in the first place. (It certainly doesn't help that they persist in using green glass bottles that promote the cardboardy, skunky flavors , but I digress...) Thankfully, the beergods have presented us in the Bay Area another option. Put together the miracles of modern engineering, an eagerly thirsty drinking market, Gambrinus - the same company that owns Corona and Pete's Wicked Ale (who's now known, quite oddly, I might add, as Cocoa Pete) - a pinch of Weihenstephan Germany W-34 lager yeast, and squibbly-flabbily-doo! Behold - Brauerei Trumer goes and opens a second, sister brewery in Berkeley, and our soon-to-be summer thirsts are nearly quenched. The sales rep, pleasantly plying me with complimentary pints (note to brewery-owning readers - I'll gladly pimp your beer if you comp me drinks) over lunch put it quite simply: When it came down to the line, it was just cheaper to open up the second location rather than to ship the product out from the Salzburg's brewery. So, the upside to having to say goodbye to the Golden Pacific Brewery is that we get another yummy local pils that's worthy of the name. Having good water doesn't hurt, either.