Brau Pils
DC Brau Brewing Co.

4.54/5  rDev +20.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Appearance is hazy yellow/orange with and a nice 2 finger. Very IPA like in appearance. Aroma is very bready/buscuity. Taste is the same with a really nice bready beer with light crisp finish from bittering hops but not a very noticable aroma/flavor of hops. Overall this is a spectacular pilsner. Glad it's in my local area, but it has been very elusive to find. Hope distribution improves.

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3.78/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

From a can. Golden color with white head. Grassy smell with some floral hops. Light body. Light malt flavors with grassy hops. Crisp and very drinkable.

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4.02/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I find this a nice example of the style, with a dry biscuit note, standard hops and yeast and a delicate , quaffable texture. For styles like this, I want something less experimental or complex than I would for a belgian or wild ale or even a gose. This is not the plsace for fancy ingredients or gimmicks. DC Brau get that, and that's why this is delicious: drinkable, well made and on style.

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3.77/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

From a can, pours as a very bubbly, hazy, straw with a thin white quickly disbursing head. The aroma reminds me of dried hay that has been slightly moistened by morning dew (don't judge me). Taste is a grassy, bready, hops-forward with a smooth sweet malt chaser. Overall, this is an interestingly complex brew with bread, floral, yeast, and slight citrus flavors. Very drinkable.

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3.98/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 oz can into the test glass
A - Bright lemon color, a touch of haze, other wise nice clarity. A thi white cap quickly dissipates
S - Grassy, little grain reference in the nose.
T - Biscuit, and lemongrass, very nice combination.
M - Dances across the palate, very light in texture, excellent aspect of this offering
O - A very good take on the German Pils, this beer is bright and a delight to experience

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4.44/5  rDev +17.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I had this Pilsner fresh on tap at a restaurant by the wharf waterfront in Southwest D.C.

This beer is emblematic of a true northern German Pilsner—pleasantly bitter at the start (without any hop bouquet) and bread on the backend, and dry, clean and crisp throughout. Although this beer style doesn’t have the layers of complexity that many other beers possess, the best northern German-style Pilsners are what they’re supposed to be—crisp, dry and refreshing with a nice bitter bite at the beginning and a bready finish, and without the hop bouquet found in many American-style craft Pilsners and other lagered beers.

I can’t attest to how this beer is in cans or after it has sat a while, but it’s a very nice Pilsner when fresh and on tap. It’s been at least a couple years since I’ve been to this brewery because of past disappointments. But because of this experience, I now feel that it’s time to go back for another tasting to see if their other beers live up to the quality that this Pilsner bears.

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3.74/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

DC Brau Brewing "Brau Pils"
12 fl. oz. can
$2 @ Wegmans, King of Prussia, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: Nice bright yellow and green label - hard to miss! It's poured a slightly hazy yellow-gold body beneath a short head of bright white foam. I might have a less than "beer clean" glass here but I'm inclined to think that the head retention and lacing should be better. Moving forward, what I'm looking for in a pilsner is Pilsner malt and Saaz hops. I'm getting a decent amount of malt, and it's grainy, but I'm not sure I'd say it comes across as Pilsner malt, and there are some grassy hops but they're not like the spicy and floral Saaz hops that I usually expect. Of course there are no rules and you can make it with whatever malt and hops you want. On to the flavor... hmmm, it pretty much exactly matches the aroma. It's got a solid bitterness to back it, and it finishes dry, earthy, and lightly spicy. It's nicely balanced. In the mouth it's medium-light in body and crisp. I don't really see any flaws to it but it does lack a certain magic.
Review# 6,342

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3.93/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a cear yellow with fine head and lots of visible carbonation.

Smell is bready and clean with nice floral notes and a hint of saltine crackers.

Taste is crisp and clean, with a crackery, bready base and some spiciness along with a nice, balanced, floral bitterness and just a hint of popcorn.

Mouthfeel is medium, and creamy as a pilsner should be, well carbonated.

Overall, a very nice, no frills German pils.

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3.74/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Look: Clear gold with a thin white head of bubbles that quickly dissipates.

Smell: Bright malt, straw, spicy hops.

Taste: Mild malt with a hop bitterness backbone to start, leading into a bready taste as you swallow.

Mouthfeel: Fairly thick and creamy with high carbonation.

Overall: A solid, if unassuming, Bohemian pilsner.

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4.3/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a pale straw transparent golden. Noble hop aroma abounds. Good crackery character, more saltine than biscuit. Lots of finely ground pepper bitterness. It's refreshing and clean. A very nice pilsner from my new home.

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3.5/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz can, served in a shaker pint. Pours a slightly cloudy, unfiltered golden yellow body, one finger white head, short retention, a few rings of lacing on the opposite side. Smell is crisp, freshly baked biscuit, a touch of straw, floral notes, malt sweetness. Flavour follows, grainy sweet malt, bread, a bit of straw, light mineral, floral bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium lighter bodied, appropriately carbonated, clean and mild bitter floral finish. Solid german pils, nothing too extreme but a reasonably drinkable local pilsner.

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3.73/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours clear light yellow, lots of bubbles. Plenty of floral hop smell. Malt/yeast is subdued. Clean but a little too herbal for pils in my opinion. (I think I liked Port City's better.)

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3.75/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pale straw colored. Nose is grainy and lemony. Head drops moderately quickly; medium carbonation. Flavor is grainy malt, just enough hops for crispness; very slight lemon, some grassiness; some not entirely pleasant vegetability there. Mild sweetness in finish. A decent pils overall. —Reviewed 2017/09/04

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4.09/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4

Straw colored, clear beer with thin head. Biscuity, bisquick flavor with a dry snappy finish. Little bit of cereal grain flavor also, a really solid Pilsner.

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3.75/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours out into a Duvel glass a bright clear golden yellow with a 1/2” white head that recedes fairly soon to leave an OK ring of foam, most of which becomes small widely scattered spots of lacing on the sides of the glass. Sipping creates a few spots of lacing. Eventually the foam becomes an irregularly shaped thin layer on the surface of the liquid.

The aromas include some bready malt and some light herbal grassiness that seems to have a hint of lemon in the background.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose, but with the bready malt sweetness pretty much in front while the grassiness in the background along with some hints of lemon and a hint of some herbal character. there is a good bit of sweetness of from the malt that eventually disappears into the grassy dry ending.

The mouthfeel is on the light side of medium bodied with a light prickliness from the moderate carbonation. The finish begins as the bready malt and sweetness start fade leaving the herbal, slightly lemony bitter dryness to close the show.

This was an OK beer that i'd not turn down if offered, but that i'll probably not buy again. While it is something that would go well on a hot summer's day it has a bit too much malty sweetness for my tastes and so when it gets to the highly bitter earthy dry ending the contrast is too large. For me this beer doesn't hold it's ground in comparison which the Troeg's Sunshine Pils or the Stoudts Pils. In addition the contrast between the sweetness and the earthy bitterness that closes the show. So for me, the aromas and flavors of this beer include many of the right things. There’s some bready malt sweetness, some hints of lemon in the earthy herbal bitterness at the end. But I’d say there’s a bit too much sweetness up front that the contrast between the sweetness and the earthy bitter ending just a bit to large. I’ll stick to my local favorites which include the Stoudts Pils, the Sly Fox Pikeland Pils, the Neshaminy Creek Trauger Pils, the Victory Prima Pils, and the Troeg’s Sunshine Pils (which has just gone from a seasonal to a year around offering :-) ).

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3.68/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Can Date: 1/11/17
Palate Contaminants: none

The color is a light gold that's clear, yet not quite. There's a fair amount of head, but it doesn't leave much lacing.

The main scent I get is kumquats. Some wheat grain, too. Nothing really grabs me, but it's okay.

Taste is straight up grain, with a little bit of pilsner funk. There some lemon rind, too. Intensity is moderate-heavy, which not every pils is, so it's got that going for it, which is nice.

Feel is moderate weight with a little prickly carbonation. Aftertaste is unpleasant. Grain husks, mostly.

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4.27/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

I'm a hop head, and this is a nice break for my palate. I'm in my 30s and my days of flip cup and beer pong are mostly behind me, but whenever I play again, this will be my go-to beer. Crushable, crisp, a nice hop undertone beneath the bready pilsner taste you'd expect. Great American pilsner in the style of the German namesake.

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4.18/5  rDev +10.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

After having 2 other beers from this brewery while I was there a few weeks ago, I brought back a 6 pack of this with me from D.C. Poured out of a 12 oz. can into one of my mugs, this beer pours a mainly clear, just slightly cloudy/hazy, light golden/pale straw yellow color. Has a white head that's initially about an inch thick when first poured that settles quickly to a thick white ring lining the inside of the glass. Not much lacing here. Aromas of grassy, herbal, slightly bready, malts and I think a bit of wheat upfront that gives way to some noble hops. The taste is pretty much the same, with an herbal, grassy, slightly bready malt presence with a mild sweetness and just a hint of a peppery spice that gives way to a slightly citrusy (lemon in this case) hop bitterness. Good balance of flavors, and just an all around wonderful flavor profile here for this style. Has a crisp, somewhat prickly, yet also smooth, medium to full bodied mouthfeel with moderate to heavy carbonation. A definite winner here indeed!

Eric

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4.06/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Appearance: Pours clear and golden but the head is listless, despite an increasingly hard pour; the head fades rather quickly and only leaves a few dots and dashes behind

Smell: Bready and herbal with a grassy edge

Taste: Bready, up front, with an herbal, lemony flavor developing; grassy, through the middle, with a clean finish

Mouthfeel: Light body with low to medium carbonation

Overall: Not sure what happened with the can I consumed but the flavor here was very good and, with a better mouthfeel, this would be a top flight American style pils

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3.75/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a can into a pint glass. Pours straw yellow with a fluffy white head. Smells of sweet grain, as much expected for a pilsner, but better than most adjuncts. Tastes of sweet grain, as to be expected. Beer is light bodied and easy drinking, a bit heavy on carbonation. Overall a good beer.

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4.1/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beautiful golden body, yellow and superbly clear. The nose is a clean Pils hit, grain and herbal hop notes. The taste is crisp, a slight sweet open, strong cracker from the malt in the middle, and a nice peppery bitter close. A very approachable, traditional rendition, and a great pair for a meal.

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3.66/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

It's a deep clear gold with a small white cap of head. It holds well and leaves streaks of small sticky lacing. The aroma is mild, with both biscuity malts and earthy hops. The taste is similar but it packs a little less punch. The body is lighter without being thin and has a moderate, steady carbonation throughout.

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3.73/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Look: Bright yellow with a good head.
Quite malty. Some strange woody taste. A good hop taste, but not so much as to fight that woody taste and the malt. It's a little bit imbalanced compared other good pils.
An okay pilsner, at best.

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3.81/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

There is a deep and unabating irony when the owner of The CAN House (Jeff Lebo, in York Haven, PA) drops off CANs for me while picking up spent, rinsed ones to add to his CANlection. It is a CANQuest (tm) thing, so if you don't understand, we understand.

From the CAN: "BrauPils: This is our version of one of the world's most popular beer styles. We brewed this Pilsner to pay homage to one of DC's original German brewers, Christian Heurich. Many consider Heurich to be the patriarch of the modern DC brewing industry."; "Please Recycle - Pack In, Pack Out."; "Serve in your favorite glass or enjoy from the CAN".

I Crack!ed it open, but given that I was still using a Pilsner glass, an inverted Glug was not really on the menu. Even so, I managed to create a finger of fluffy, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with modest retention. Color was an oh-so-slightly-hazy Pale-Straw (SRM = 1 - 2). Nose held a pronounced maltiness that clearly marked it as a German Pilsner. Mouthfeel was medium, about right for a Pils. The taste was initially quite malty, but giving way to a grassy hoppiness.as it warmed. Finish was semi-dry, but still sweet enough to mark it as a German Pilsner. I could drink this all day out of a cooler on a beach on a hot, humid summer's day.

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3.69/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

On tap: Looks like a German pilsner, smells like a German pilsner and tastes like one too with a hops character that is considerably spicy. I enjoyed this with a shrimp po' boy with remoulade cole slaw at the best restaurant in White Stone, VA: Willaby's.

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