Pilsner
Gunpowder Falls Brewing

PilsnerPilsner
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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:
23
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:
Photo of 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
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, 2013
More User Ratings:
Photo of BeerAndGasMasks
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
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, 2022
Photo of crazyspicychef
Rated 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
A very well made Pilsner.
It hits all the right notes in the proper way.
Great job guys!
Feb 20, 2021
 
Rated: 3.74 by Boone757 from Virginia

Jun 23, 2020
 
Rated: 4.18 by drh88 from Pennsylvania

Aug 18, 2019
 
Rated: 3.5 by bigred89 from Maryland

Jun 24, 2018
Photo of feeshta
Reviewed by feeshta from Maryland

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, 2018
 
Rated: 3 by oline73 from Maryland

Jan 13, 2018
 
Rated: 4.23 by Spade from Pennsylvania

Nov 26, 2017
 
Rated: 3.51 by bubseymour from Maryland

Feb 26, 2017
 
Rated: 3.84 by Josholson666 from Minnesota

Jun 27, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by wrightst from Maryland

Jul 28, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by DrBier from Pennsylvania

Jul 11, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by dbl_delta from Pennsylvania

Jun 21, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by RyanB4 from Pennsylvania

Feb 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by briandaube from Delaware

Feb 25, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by csurowiec from Maryland

Feb 23, 2014
Photo of woodychandler
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
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, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Swift989 from District of Columbia

Dec 03, 2013
 
Rated: 3.75 by BillRoth from Maryland

Oct 26, 2013
Pilsner from Gunpowder Falls Brewing
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 23 ratings