Here it comes folks! The Pineapple Express! Terrapin Side Project 21 Pineapple Express Smoked Pineapple Helles, that is. I must confess that I was more than a little skeptical when I heard about this, the latest installment in the series of one-off (mostly) specialty beers from Athens, Georgia’s Terrapin brewery. After all, a Helles lager made with smoked malt and pineapples? Who thinks up these things?

That answer became a bit clearer after reading the label:

Pulling into Terrapin Beer Co’s station is Pineapple Express, the winner of our first annual Employee Homebrew Challenge. Inspired by a late night grilling session with friends, a couple chunks of pineapple got thrown into the mix, and an idea for a new beer style was born. The team brewed up a Helles lager for the base brew and used real pineapple and smoked malt to concoct the winning recipe.

OK, I can see that. I’ve had some weird nights drinking and thought up all kinds of ideas on what might go well in a beer. Anyway, Terrapin Side Project 21 Pineapple was released in January of 2014 and I did something unusual for me: I drank it in March, just a few months later. I have a habit of storing beer for a time before drinking it, but the delicacy of a helles lager would certainly be lost with age, and so I drank this one fresh.

Terrapin Side Project 21 Pineapple has an alcohol content of 5.4% by volume, so I at least could drink the whole bomber without too much effect. The beer has 38 IBUs and I paid $7.99 for the 22 ounce bottle, the normal going price for beers in this series. How to classify it? Terrapin calls it a “Smoked Pineapple Helles” by style (big help there). The pineapple qualifies it as a fruit beer I think, while the base beer would put it as a Helles Lager, but the smoking could peg it as a rauchbier.

I don’t usually pay much attention to beer geek sites like Ratebeer and Beer Advocate, and I could see why when I looked at how they classify it: Ratebeer says it is a fruit beer, while Beer Advocate calls it a Helles lager. I’ll disagree with both and call it a rauchbier, since I think that though all the components are well balanced the smoke does edge out the biscuit malt and fruity pineapple. You could call it any of these things, though, and be equally correct.

Ingredients from the website:

Malts: 2-row, wheat, Caramalt Pilsner, Smoked Malt, Acidulated

Hops: Perle, Hallertau Hersbrucker

Other:  Pineapple Puree

Terrapin Side Project 21 Pineapple Express Smoked Pineapple Helles pours to a pale blonde color with a light head of creamy foam and a lightly smoky nose reminiscent of a distant campfire on a cool spring evening. Taking a sip, the beer has the gentle biscuit maltiness of a helles underneath and then the smoke hits: soft and seductive in its hickory-like aroma, it permeates the beer while remaining subtle all at the same time. It can do this because the base beer is a light helles lager. But wait! There’s more! Search a bit underneath and you’ll also surely find the juicy bright fruit of the pineapple. Study it quickly, because a lightly acrid smokiness in the finish overpowers at the last and the beer finishes slightly bitter.

Wow, I am impressed. I will admit that I was skeptical, but this beer really works, mostly because all of the flavors are definitely there, but none overpowers the others. This just would not have worked with a sledgehammer beer, but it certainly works on a helles. Pineapple Express gets 5 stars from me. It’s just wonderful, and it really works.



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