Given the weight of alcohol in this beer I was expecting a monster, and it was a monster I got.
Python Pilsner is a lagered beer with the volume up full.
Pouring a sunshine gold with only a trace of a head, the smell is drunken orchard fruits and a fresh leafy aroma that reminds me a little of wild garlic.
Brewed with champagne yeast, you get a spritzy fizz on your tongue that in the first sip momentarily lulls you into a false sense of security before the mega blast of heather honey heavy biscuit malts that hit you with mace and white pepper and some really chewy toffee.
The hops are full to bursting with green herbal leaves, apricots and pear juice.
The high ABV plays a crucial role here as it powers up all the flavours, warming them, amplifying them, making them intensely focussed, pin sharp but as drunk as lords.
Which is exactly what I was when I’d finished the bottle.