Churchkey Pilsner

Well here we go. One of the most talked about beers in the last few months is the Churchkey. If you don’t know by now, it’s a steel can in which you need a churchkey to open. Some like the gimmick, some don’t. Honestly, who cares? It’s just a gimmick. If you don’t like it, then don’t drink it. The brewery is interesting, though. When I say interesting, I mean doesn’t exist. They moved in next door to Two Beers in Seattle with only fermenters and a canning line. Two Beers is contract brewing this in exchange for use of their canning line. Sounds pretty cool to me. I couldn’t find much information on the beer through the website, but I know it has Saaz. Let’s just drink it.

Stats:
Pilsner. 4.9% ABV. Washington.

Pale yellow color with only a little bit of head.

The nose is a bit muted with just a little bit of grass and grain coming through.

Mouthfeel is a medium-light body with a heavy carbonation. Much nicer than I was expecting.

Grassy, with some grain and a hint of clover honey on the palate, with some spicey hops that are not shy. Medium bitterness may throw some people off this beer.

Say what you want about the gimmick, but it’s a pretty solid beer inside. 87 points.

Black Star Double Hopped Golden Lager

Apparently the Great Northern Brewing Co. is the actual brewer of this beer. I believe it’s brewed in Montana and Wisconsin. It’s always nice to come across a nice lager, and I hope this one means business. This beer features 2-row malt and Mittelfruh and Czech Saaz hops.

Stats:
American Pilsner. 4.6% ABV. 15 IBUs. Montana.

Light burnt orange color. No head.

This smells like any other American pils. Not getting any hops, just some grainy-ness with a bit of lemon.

Mouthfeel is light and it’s got a decent amount of carbonation.

Not much going on here. It’s malty, grainy, sweet, with a little bit of lemon.

This has about as much hops as Miller Light. 73 points.

Three Skulls Yellowbeard Pilsner

They say this beer has been lagered for a minimum of 8-12 weeks. I have yet to be impressed by this brewery, but I love a good pils. Let’s see how this is.

Stats:
German Pilsner. Washington.

Very pale yellow color and hazy. Head doesn’t last.

The first thing that jumps out at me on the nose is a heavy sulfur component. I wouldn’t say skunked or anything, but you can definitely smell some sulfur. I’m also not saying it’s terrible either. In addition, you have a heavy grain aroma with a slight amount of citrus.

Mouthfeel is very light bodied with lots of carbonation. This is very, very easy-drinking.

Lots of grainy-ness, with a bunch of lemon, a bit of sweetness and a finish of slight hop bitterness and spice with more cracker, grain flavor.

This actually reminds me of a soda in a lot of ways. It’s very light, with tons of carbonation, and a heavy lemon flavor. The grain flavor doesn’t allow any hops to be tasted other than some bitterness. All in all, it’s not a terrible beer, and can rival any beer for thirst quench abilities. Of course, it lacks complexity, but it doesn’t taste watered down. Grab this one for the Summer after mowing the lawn and you will not regret it. 86 points.

Snoqualmie Summer Beer

Well this is an interesting one. Snoqualmie calls this one a pre-prohibition Pilsner brewed Alt-style. So you can kind of think of this as an ale version of a Pils if that makes sense. It’s also brewed with a little bit of corn and Czech Saaz hops.

Stats:
Czech Pilsner. 5.6% ABV. Washington.

Light orange to yellow with an actually very nice head. The lacing is ridiculous. It’s also pretty full of sediment.

The nose is lighter than many Pils, but this one has a more spicy hop aroma than grain.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, with a frothy carbonation. Not bad.

Snoqualmie didn’t shy away from hops here, and I like that. This is the opposite of a crisp, clean Pils. It’s got a ton of hops that bring a floral and light fruit note with a hint of black pepper. There are some peaches, apricots, and other light fruits. The finish is quite bitter with a hint of cracker malt, but the hops are a bit heavy handed which cover up a lot of the malt.

I’m surprised this Pils is so hoppy. I like it for what it is, but I actually prefer a more crisp Pils. This isn’t bad though, and certainly worth a purchase. I think this is just gonna be way too bitter for a lot of people. 87 points.

Redhook Pilsner

Continuing with the Redhook lineup, we have a Czech style pils. Again, website is still not updated. I love me a good pils in the Summer, and I hope this is one I can recommend.

Stats:
Czech Pilsner. 5.3% ABV. Washington.

Nice golden color. Very clear with a lot of carbonation streams. Head doesn’t last.

Nice grainy nose. Not a whole lot of hops on here, but there is a bit of a hop spice and citrus coming through.

Light to medium body with a nice carbonation crispness.

Lots of grainyness with a little bit of hops to balance, but definitely more on the malt side on this Pils. It’s a fairly typical pils flavor profile, but it’s incredibly crisp and clean.

I’m really enjoying this one. I love just how crisp and easy drinking this is. It also pairs well with food and is going to be a great Summer beer. Give this one a go. 86 points.

Chuckanut Pilsner

Here’s another growler I got from Chuckanut. The Pils should still be on tap. Similar to the Helles lager, but this beer will present more hops. Let’s see how it rates.

Stats:
German Pilsner. 5.0% ABV. Washington.

Golden yellow color, a little bit of head and lacing

A lot of fruit on the nose, with a nice little hint of hops. It’s a fairly typical pils nose, but it does smell great.

Almost perfect mouthfeel. Light to medium bodied, but nice carbonation, and really easy drinking.

Lots of light fruits to begin with, then transitions to some hops. Not a ton of hop flavor, but there are some floral and perfume notes mixed in with some spice and black pepper. The finish brings a nice amount of hop bitterness, but is balanced out with the malty bready-ness.

This beer is awesome, and if you are in Bellingham, go buy a growler of it. 91 points.

St. Arnold Summer Pils

I hope everyone is having a good Easter. Let me know what you all are drinking. I’m not sure what I’m gonna have yet. This is another Texas brewery that I have yet to try. St. Arnold is supposedly Texas’ oldest craft brewery. The Pils, if you couldn’t guess, is their Summer seasonal. It’s German in style with German malts and Czech Saaz and Hallertauer hops.

Stats:
German Pilsener. 4.9% ABV. 41 IBUs. Texas. Summer Seasonal.

Golden color, no head.

Fairly typical pils nose with some grainy malt and some hop presence. Just light fruits come through, nothing out of the ordinary here.

Mouthfeel is great. It’s got good body and easy drinking.

Again, fairly typical of the style. Grain and light fruits on the the palate and has a slight hop presence on the back.

Not a whole lot to say about this one. It has everything you look for in a Pils. It’s a summertime treat. 88 points.

Sam Adams Noble Pils

This is a re-view of the Noble Pils. When I last reviewed this beer, I really didn’t like it much. That’s mostly because of a rubbery flavor profile that I really hated. We discussed the beer on Getting Tanked, and mentioning that it tastes like shit because of the rubber taste, well let’s just say that I’m still living that down. But the main point of this is that people didn’t get that flavor profile and so I want to see if I still got it in the new batch.

Stats:
Czech Pilsner. 4.9% ABV. Massachusetts.

Light Pils yellow. It has a nice head, but it’ll fade fairly quickly.

Light hop aroma with a malty background. Actually I think the malts dominate the nose more than the hops. Lots of fruit, here, and I do get that rubbery component, but it’s fairly subtle.

Decent mouthfeel, no complaints.

Palate is very similar to the nose, lots of fruits, some hop bitterness. Apple comes through heavy on the finish. Again, that rubbery-ness is there, but not like it was the last time I had it.

Well this beer is clearly different from when I last had it. I don’t know if it’s an age thing or not, but this is much better. 87 points.

Abita SOS (Save Our Shore)

For every bottle sold, Abita donates $.75 to the “rescue and restoration of the environment, industry, and individuals fighting to survive” the oil spill in the Gulf. This is an unfiltered “Weizen Pils”, made with barley and wheat malts and hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops.

Stats:
German Pilsner. 7.0% ABV. 35 IBUs. Louisiana.

Yellow in color with a great thick head.

Fairly straight forward pils nose, with quite a bit of fruit on here, especially citrus. The lemon peel is just dominant with a nice orange, pear, and peach aroma. Smells delicious.

Actually fairly full bodied for a pils, but does have quite a lot of carbonation.

Ah, there are those hops. The palate starts out with all of the aforementioned fruit notes, giving it a very lovely front and mid-palate. It then transitions into a floral hop explosion, which is nice, but then there is quite a bit of bitterness on the back.

I think there is just a bit too much hops on the back making the backend a little disjointed, but that is my only complaint with this beer. This is the best Abita that I’ve had. I wasn’t expecting much from this, but I think it rocks. 89 points.

Blind Pilsner Tasting

I’m finally getting around to posting the results of my blind Pils tasting. I gathered up 8 Pilsners, with some classics and some American craft versions to see. I’m partly curious how the Urquell and the Trumer do against the American’s and I’m curious to see which craft brewer makes the best Pils. This is blind, but I have tried all but 2 of them before, so I’m wondering if I can remember their flavor profiles. I’ll write down what beer I think it is.

Beer 1:

Middle range color with head fading slightly.

The nose has a nice malty backbone with a slightly bready aroma.

Good mouthfeel, fairly thick for this category with good carbonation.

The palate is fairly hop aggressive with breadyness from the malts with a nice honey flavor and a fairly bitter backend.

I like this one. Definitely hop aggressive, so I’d guess it’s the Prima. Good flavor, good drinkability. 88 points for beer 1.

Beer 2:

One of the darkest in color, much more orange, and the head is lasting.

The nose is more closed, and definitely not as hoppy, much more malt comes through.

Mouthfeel is also lighter and more carbonated.

Palate is kind of boring with a bready, almost cardboard covered with honey flavor. Very little hop bitterness.

Definitely not as good as beer 1, pretty boring. 83 points.

Beer 3:

Also on the darker side of the colors, but less head retention.

This nose is much different. Some bready malts with a lot of diacetyl. Really not that pleasant of a nose.

The mouthfeel is also on the lighter side with considerable carbonation.

Lots of diacetyl on the palate and very bready malts. Can’t really taste hops here, except for a little backend bitterness.

I’m almost certain this is Urquell, as it has a pretty unique flavor profile, and frankly it tastes mass-produced. I’m not a huge fan. 79 points.

Beer 4:

The color is back to a much more pale yellow, but also keeps a pretty good head.

This nose is a bit skunky, so I’m assuming this came from the green Trumer bottle. Reminds me of the last beer with lots of bready malts and some floral hops.

The mouthfeel is very light, too light.

The worst beer yet. I’ve got some typical bready malts with floral hops, but tastes watered down. It does have some slight hop on the backend, but not redeeming enough.

I’m guessing this is the Trumer, and it’s not very good. The slight skunk is off-putting and the watered-down flavor is unacceptable. 75 points.

Beer 5:

Color is in the middle of the range and also has some decent head and lacing.

Slightly closed nose, but decent. Honey, floral, and slightly bready, and I’m also picking up a faint smokeyness that I really like.

Mouthfeel is pretty light without a ton of carbonation.

Palate is much better than the last beer. Some bread, honey, floral notes with a pretty hop aggressive backbone.

This one I liked quite a bit. I’m going to give this one 88 points. Beer 1 and 5 are now rated the highest.

Beer 6:

Slightly on the darker side, but still mid-range.

This nose has a lot more spicy hops than the other beers, and I get some earthyness from it.

One of the better mouthfeels without too much carbonation.

Wow, this is pretty hoppy. Lovely floral hops and honey with slight malts, and a good level of bitterness.

Actually, I think this is the best one so far. I really dig the hops on this beer, definitely American, and I’m willing to bet that this one is, in fact, the Prima. 89 points.

Beer 7:

On the darker side with a bit of head left.

Different nose here with a lot more fruity-ness than the other beers and quite a bit of citrus. Very pleasant nose and remind me a bit of a girls body spray.

Decent mouthfeel, not bad.

Yep, definitely the most fruity, easy drinking one of the bunch. Low on hops and I would like to see more.

I wish there were more hops here, but I can see this being the crowd favorite. 85 points.

Beer 8:

The last beer is one the pale yellow side but is still holding some head and lacing.

Another fairly closed nose. Fairly typical Pils nose again, but I’m getting a bit of a gasoline component.

Good, medium bodied mouthfeel.

Wow, this one is actually pretty bready. It has a nice honey and berry flavor, but awfully bready.

This beer is okay, but needs much more hops to balance out. 84 points.

So there we have it. There results are as follows, from first to last place: 6, 5-1, 7, 8, 2, 3, 4

1. Victory Prima Pils-89 points
2. Tied: Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils & Sierra Nevada Summerfest-88 points
3. North Coast Scrimshaw-85 points
4. New Belgium Blue Paddle-84 points
5. Full Sail LTD Series #03-83 points
6. Pilsner Urquell-79 points
7. Trumer Pils-75 points

So there are some interesting and not-so-interesting results here. It’s not surprising that the big guys came in last and that the highly rated Prima Pils came in front. I am surprised to see the outcome of everything in between. I’ve actually reviewed 3 of these beers before. I’ve rated the Summerfest an 89 in my original review and gave it 88 here, so I’m pretty happy with that. What really surprises me is that when I reviewed Mamma’s Little Yella Pils, a review I havn’t even posted yet, I gave it an 81. I did not think much of it stand-alone. It is beer 1, but I was trying all of them before I started writing notes, so I’m guessing that the flavors just held up well against the others, very interesting. The other big surprise was the Full Sail, as I gave it an 88 in my original review and have been fond of that beer, but seems to have not held up as well in competition.

So, some interesting results here. Tell me what you think, have you had any of these beers?