I have known about Smartmouth Brewing Company for a few years now, loving their Alter Ego Saison and enjoying the brewery’s delightful detailed scientific labels that adorn its year-round brews. The first time I had heard of Safety Dance Pilsner, the beer appeared as the Best in Show Winner for the 2017 Virginia Craft Beer Cup. So when I saw these cans in my local bottle shop, I knew I had to pick some up for these muggy, summer days.

Smartmouth hails from Norfolk, one of the many cities that define the Tidewater/Hampton Roads region of Virginia. This historical region has been the home of many excellent breweries, some of which were the earliest distributors of beer in the state. It is easy to forget how big your state’s craft beer scene really is until you look at a list such as the Virginia Craft Brewers Cup. It’s not often a Best in Show winner is a humble Pale European Bitter Lager coming from an unsuspecting six-pack.

 

I can’t get enough of the visual design on Smartmouth’s labels.

Smartmouth reported that the artwork is thanks to Virginia Beach’s The Meridian Group, who translated doodles and drawings from the company’s blackboard onto the cans. The can includes references to the song, but there are plenty of signs explaining the process of how to make a pilsner.

Saccharomyces Pastorianus for example is an industrial-quality bottom-fermenting yeast used for lagers. There’s a playfulness here explaining the importance of how the beer was kept cold from brewing to consumption.

So, here’s the question:

Should you give this beer a chance or will it make you feel like an imbecile?

Safety Dance pours lovely pale gold mirroring the English fields of wheat. The head is wafts with a strong smell of grains, grass, flowers and crusty bread. This beer is served cold but the carbonation is certainly lively  moving pole to pole from bottom to top.

On my first sip, I was surprised that the beer had a noticeable round, sweet, crusty-bread flavor. The pilsen malt leads the way, calmly tapered by the presence of noble hops. Safety Dance has a giddy start, but then a pleasantly dry finish, leading me to try it over and over again. This beer is certainly easy to drink and would be a cool refresher to have in between dance sessions (within safety guidelines!).

Join into the joy that is the Safety Dance!

ABV: 4.8 | IBU: 26

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPau5QYtYs

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