-
Stop lurking! Log in to search, post in our forums, review beers, see fewer ads, and more. — Todd, Founder of BeerAdvocate
Pilsner
Gunpowder Falls Brewing
- From:
- Gunpowder Falls Brewing
- Pennsylvania, United States
- Style:
- German Pilsner
Ranked #272 - ABV:
- 5%
- Score:
- 86
Ranked #18,216 - Avg:
- 3.82 | pDev: 8.38%
- Reviews:
- 6
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- May 04, 2022
- Added:
- May 20, 2013
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 1
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by smakawhat:
Reviewed by Smakawhat from Maryland
3.73/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
3.73/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Poured from the bottle into a pilsner glass.
A real beautiful looking pilsner. Creamy, top, thick and clumpy, with a bleach white head two fingers that has a lot of staying power. Body color is a little cloudy, but with numerous carbonation of thin pin head bubbles. Good lacing and clumping with an aggressive appearance.
Nose is an interesting smell of sweet bubblegum, dense pale/light malt with a bit of bread dough and very faint crispness. Pretty solid pilsner.
Palate is somewhat empty on first sip, with a large hop bitterness that seems slightly non-complimentary for a pilsner. Decent malt backbone with a good coating feel. Muted malt density with a big hint of quick hop astringency that is fleeting. No aftertaste. Improves with a little bit of warmth. Slightly boozy strangely also.
Overall, it seems like we were heading for something great, but we'll settle easily for slightly better than average.
Jun 09, 2013A real beautiful looking pilsner. Creamy, top, thick and clumpy, with a bleach white head two fingers that has a lot of staying power. Body color is a little cloudy, but with numerous carbonation of thin pin head bubbles. Good lacing and clumping with an aggressive appearance.
Nose is an interesting smell of sweet bubblegum, dense pale/light malt with a bit of bread dough and very faint crispness. Pretty solid pilsner.
Palate is somewhat empty on first sip, with a large hop bitterness that seems slightly non-complimentary for a pilsner. Decent malt backbone with a good coating feel. Muted malt density with a big hint of quick hop astringency that is fleeting. No aftertaste. Improves with a little bit of warmth. Slightly boozy strangely also.
Overall, it seems like we were heading for something great, but we'll settle easily for slightly better than average.
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia
3.71/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.71/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
From the bottle, it pours a clear light amber color with a modest white head that soon diminishes to a ring. The nose gets some grain. The mouth gets some malt flavor with some pilsner bitterness.
May 04, 2022Rated by crazyspicychef from Pennsylvania
4.21/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
4.21/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
A very well made Pilsner.
It hits all the right notes in the proper way.
Great job guys!
Feb 20, 2021It hits all the right notes in the proper way.
Great job guys!
Reviewed by feeshta from Maryland
4.58/5 rDev +19.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
4.58/5 rDev +19.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
This is the beer I have been saying American brewers need to learn how to actually brew for years. Never mind all of this stunt beer crap, there is a reason it never took off in multiple millennia of brewing tradition in the old world. Learn to brew the old school stuff properly, and present it to the American public fresh, as it was intended.
Forget what the label says in this case, this is a proper Czech Pilsner, not German. This beer has one clear advantage over actual Czech Pilsners here in the USA though. That advantage is freshness.
Pilsners, and especially Czech style Pilsners in my experience, tend to spoil extremely quickly. They don't go skunky for a good while, but they go past their prime very quickly. For example, if you think you know what Pilsner Urquell is, and have never had it in the Czech Republic, you don't actually know Pilsner Urquell. That's a true shame, because it is the best session beer on earth in my opinion. It has an initial sweetness and complexity that seems to be lost within days of the end of the brewing process, and creates a pleasant, lingering palette feel unlike almost any other beer, except this one.
Gunpowder Falls Pilsner is the closest thing I have ever tasted to fresh Pilsner Urquell. It's BY FAR the best American made Pilsner I have ever tasted, and it's not even remotely close. It's the second best Pilsner I have ever tried, and I lived in Germany for 2 years. New Belgium's Blue Paddle previously held that title of best American Pilsner, but it can't hold a candle to this.
Do yourself a favor. Give this a try. Can't speak for any of their other beers, but I will try them soon. It may be pure luck that they got this one right, but I hope not. Bravo guys!
May 05, 2018Forget what the label says in this case, this is a proper Czech Pilsner, not German. This beer has one clear advantage over actual Czech Pilsners here in the USA though. That advantage is freshness.
Pilsners, and especially Czech style Pilsners in my experience, tend to spoil extremely quickly. They don't go skunky for a good while, but they go past their prime very quickly. For example, if you think you know what Pilsner Urquell is, and have never had it in the Czech Republic, you don't actually know Pilsner Urquell. That's a true shame, because it is the best session beer on earth in my opinion. It has an initial sweetness and complexity that seems to be lost within days of the end of the brewing process, and creates a pleasant, lingering palette feel unlike almost any other beer, except this one.
Gunpowder Falls Pilsner is the closest thing I have ever tasted to fresh Pilsner Urquell. It's BY FAR the best American made Pilsner I have ever tasted, and it's not even remotely close. It's the second best Pilsner I have ever tried, and I lived in Germany for 2 years. New Belgium's Blue Paddle previously held that title of best American Pilsner, but it can't hold a candle to this.
Do yourself a favor. Give this a try. Can't speak for any of their other beers, but I will try them soon. It may be pure luck that they got this one right, but I hope not. Bravo guys!
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania
3.71/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.71/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
I met the brewer at the inaugural Lancaster Craft Beer Fest back in September, but I was unaware that they were bottling until we visited Union Beer House in Lebanon and I scored one there.
From the bottle: "German-style".
Having established that it is a German Pilsner, I popped the cap and began an aggro pour. The pseudo-cascade settled in to a finger of rocky, bone-white head that began to fall rather quickly, leaving nice lacing in its wake. Color was a slightly-hazy golden yellow (SRM = > 5, < 7) and Croesus, Mammon and Midas were already here, finishing off some Liquid Gold from earlier. Nose had a solid Noble hops grassiness, underlain by a biscuit maltiness. Mmmm. Mouthfeel was medium and the taste was pretty hop-forward for the style, closer to a Czech Pils, but if you think that I am complaining about that, you are sadly mistaken! I love hops and prefer Czech Pils, but when it is labeled as "German-style", the malt should be more prevalent. Finish was dry, slightly bitter and definitely welcome.
Feb 18, 2014From the bottle: "German-style".
Having established that it is a German Pilsner, I popped the cap and began an aggro pour. The pseudo-cascade settled in to a finger of rocky, bone-white head that began to fall rather quickly, leaving nice lacing in its wake. Color was a slightly-hazy golden yellow (SRM = > 5, < 7) and Croesus, Mammon and Midas were already here, finishing off some Liquid Gold from earlier. Nose had a solid Noble hops grassiness, underlain by a biscuit maltiness. Mmmm. Mouthfeel was medium and the taste was pretty hop-forward for the style, closer to a Czech Pils, but if you think that I am complaining about that, you are sadly mistaken! I love hops and prefer Czech Pils, but when it is labeled as "German-style", the malt should be more prevalent. Finish was dry, slightly bitter and definitely welcome.
Pilsner from Gunpowder Falls Brewing
Beer rating:
86 out of
100 with
23 ratings
We love reviews (150 characters or more)! Check out: How to Review a Beer. You don't need to get fancy. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. Something that backs up your rating and helps others. Thanks!