Pilsner
Gunpowder Falls Brewing

On draught at the brewery.
A pale straw color pour with a head that fades quickly and leaves very light random lacing.
Light malt flavor that varies from the traditional 2 row Pilsner graininess. Faint caramel notes are pleasant. The hops bitterness is delicate.

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.

A very well made Pilsner.
It hits all the right notes in the proper way.
Great job guys!

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.