Boston’s Harpoon Brewery recently released Hometown Hat Trick, a collaboration brew with Massachusetts hockey players and the third (and final) such beer in this particular series. It’s a triple dry-hopped pilsner with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Corey C. Griffin Foundation; I posted details here, and Harpoon also sent me samples to review.

There is something to be said for straightforward, well-brewed beers like this, although I’m not sure I’ve ever had a triple dry-hopped pils; singularly dry-hopped, sure. Even for that, it only has 20 IBUs, so it’s mainly aroma, from the Cascade, Sterling, Citra, and Mandarina Bavaria hops used. For strength it’s 5.22% ABV.

The brewery’s description says:

There’s a magic number in hockey – three periods per game, three rounds of playoffs before the Cup, and three goals per hat trick – so for our third collab with our brewin’ friends, we knew we had to round out our starting line with a third Massachusetts native: Matt Grzelcyk. Wags, Coyle, and Grizzy teamed up to brew this limited Pils with 3x the regular dry hops for a full-on hat trick of flavor. Cheers to the boys in black and gold – we’ll be sure to save some beer for the Cup.

Appearance: Darker gold in color, crisply clear and bright. It has a delicate white head with good lacing.

Smell: Aromatic with earthy tropical fruits and a dried/candied papaya note. Some peach skin, sugared citrus, and light herbal notes. Rich malts behind the hops with some sweet scone character.

Taste: Bright green hop notes with some herbal tea, light leafy earthiness, crisp malt that’s got some toasted wheat bread, and a grassy note. Lightly spicy-herbal bitterness. Super clean fermentation profile.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied, clean, and it finishes nicely dry.

Overall: Light, bright, and tasty with a good herbal hop presence.

Worth getting your hands on some if you’re in an area served by Harpoon.