Black Hog Brewing Company - Cold Pizza Pilsner

Black Hog’s pilsner presents a bright and radiant golden color with excellent clarity beneath a big rocky head of persistent just-off-white foam. The beer is brewed in the style of “Italian Pilsner”, which is a relatively new style that’s fairly light like a German pils – but dry-hopped to bring out a bolder and fresher hop character. On the nose, we get lots of the classic European noble hop tones, bringing lots of herbal spiciness plus touches of freshly sawn wood, hay, and hints of citrus zest and mint. Look for the malts to form a clean base on the palate with crackery and papery tones while those expressive noble hops offer their spicy verve, with moderate bitterness drying the beer nicely as it finishes with classic lager crispness and a lingering herbal zestiness. For pairing options, your options are pretty vast as pilsners are quite food friendly brews. Pizza is certainly an obvious choice here, as are breaded and fried dishes like fried chicken, fish & chips, tempura, and the like. Grilled meats pair nicely, too, with the spicy hoppiness able to cut through fats and complement smokier notes. Cheers!

Black Hog Brewing Company was founded in the summer of 2014 by brothers Jason & Tom Sobocinski and family friend Tyler Jones. The Sobocinski brothers had made their mark in the New Haven, CT area, first with Jason’s cheese shop and restaurant known as Caseus Fromagerie Bistro, and then their joint food truck called The Cheese Truck (now Crispy Melty), and their bar called Ordinary which focuses on fine wine, beer, and cocktails. Jones had earned a degree in chemical engineering and got into homebrewing before attending the highly respected brewing school at UC Davis. After this, he spent several years brewing at Mercury Brewing Co. in Massachusetts, and Smuttynose Brewing Co. and Portsmouth Brewery in New Hampshire – becoming head brewer at the latter. After moving to New Haven to be closer to his wife’s family, he and the Sobocinskis joined forces and founded Black Hog in the former location of Cavalry Brewing.

Roasting a Berkshire pig has been a family tradition – from Jason’s wedding to kids’ birthdays – so the name Black Hog was chosen in homage of coming together in a communal, celebratory way… something good beer most certainly does as well. The brewery currently produces an array of year-round and seasonal brews covering a wide spectrum from pilsner to IPA to stout to wild ales. Their tap room in Oxford boasts a dozen taps along with plenty of additional bottles and cans, along with bar snacks and a rotating supply of food trucks to meet guests’ gastronomic needs. For more info, visit them at blackhogbrewing.com.