Do you watch Vikings? I sure do. The show is based on legendary characters from old Norse sagas, and Lagertha is prominently featured in them, as she is in the History Channel TV show. Now, though, Lagertha is also a beer, made by the Enegren Brewing Company of Moorpark, California. And of course, don’t you know. Lagertha the beer is, ummm, a lager-tha. Ba dum dum.

The full name of the beer is Enegren Lagertha Hoppy Pilsner, but this is not your average hoppy pilsner. It is a hoppy pilsner, just not in the way I thought it would be hoppy.

Enegren explains why on their website:

Lagertha is our take on a classic Czech-style Pilsner. Brewed with traditional European ingredients plus American Mosaic Hops, this is a hoppy twist on a classic style. The beer is crisp, light and complex with hop-forward citrus and fruity flavors with hints of honey and biscuit.

This clean, crisp and refreshing beer is one of our favorites!

Ingredients, also from the website:

MALT: German Pilsner, Melanoidin Malt

HOPS: Saaz, Mosaic

It’s the addition of Mosaic hops here that makes all the difference. Enegren Lagertha Hoppy Pilsner has an alcohol content of 5% by volume with 45 IBUs. I paid $4.49 for my 12-ounce can at Craftshack.com, and Total Wine sells it for $9.99 a six-pack. Just not in Georgia. The price seems reasonable enough.

Enegren Lagertha Hoppy Pilsner pours to a brilliant straw color with a thick creamy white head and an alluring nose of herbal hops, pineapple and citrus notes. Taking a sip, the beer is crisp malty with toasty honey notes, mango and papaya, lemon zest and earthy herbal notes and at the last a drying bitterness.

Not your average pilsner to be sure, but they freely admit this. To my taste, the Mosaics definitely overpower the Saaz, and the beer ends up more like an India Pale Lager or even an IPA than a pilsner. Still and all, I enjoyed it, and would drink it again.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled, Canned

(D)=Draft