Ardent Pilsner
Ardent Craft Ales

Ardent PilsnerArdent Pilsner
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From:
Ardent Craft Ales
 
Virginia, United States
Style:
German Pilsner
Ranked #83
ABV:
5%
Score:
89
Ranked #11,559
Avg:
4.01 | pDev: 9.98%
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
27
Status:
Active
Rated:
Jul 08, 2023
Added:
Jun 17, 2018
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  1
Ardent Pilsner is a golden straw, clear pilsner with classic lager aroma that is clean and bready, with light grassiness from 100% Hallertauer mittelfrüh noble hops. Medium body and high carbonation accentuate the soft bitterness, malty sweetness and mild fruitiness. Ardent Pilsner is a crisp, refreshing German-style pils that finishes dry and clean with a creamy, long-lasting head that leaves rich lacing
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Photo of HaydenPlanetierrium
Reviewed by HaydenPlanetierrium from Tennessee

4.5/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This guy noses like a standard macro lager. All I got was the sweet grainy smell of Pabst and ‘Gansett. It surprised me to find it generously hopped. Excellent floral bitterness slightly out-balances the strong malt presence. It’s bubbly and effervescent. And there’s a little tart sourness weaving its way between the primary flavors and filling in the gaps so that nothing overpowers anything else.

I wouldn’t call this a delicate beer but the construction of flavors speaks to careful crafting. Excellent beer.
Jul 08, 2023
 
Rated: 4.34 by alexsergio from New York

Jul 10, 2022
 
Rated: 3.8 by wisrarebeer from Wisconsin

Nov 15, 2021
 
Rated: 5 by Spindletop from Massachusetts

Aug 13, 2021
Photo of VABA
Reviewed by VABA from Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a very nice clear golden color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has pleasant hop and floral hints
The taste follows the nose with very well balanced hop and floral flavors
A light bodied well carbonated crisp beer
A good Pilsner
Jul 03, 2021
Photo of BeerAndGasMasks
Reviewed by BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia

3.88/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From the can, it pours a clear golden yellow color with a nicely sized white head that slowly reduces. A bit of spotty lacing. In the nose, it is grainy and maybe a bit floral. In the mouth, it is pilsner bitter up front with malt behind. Nice!
May 16, 2021
 
Rated: 4.19 by The_Kriek_Freak from Pennsylvania

Feb 19, 2021
 
Rated: 3.65 by acurtis from New Jersey

Dec 31, 2020
Photo of Urtravel
Reviewed by Urtravel from Pennsylvania

3.66/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
L: hazy golden yellow a bit on the stew side
S: light floral upfront with spicy backend
T: follows smell pretty much
F: light bodied and smooth
O: refreshing, balanced and drinakable
Nov 13, 2020
Photo of Michaelcbyrnes
Rated by Michaelcbyrnes from Russian Federation

4.41/5  rDev +10%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This is a solid go to Pilsner. The malt is prominent on the start with the traditional German hops coming through on the finish. Very quaffable.
Apr 07, 2020
 
Rated: 3.25 by bigred89 from Maryland

Feb 29, 2020
Photo of Griffin2
Reviewed by Griffin2 from Virginia

3.73/5  rDev -7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 16 oz can into a Pilsner glass.
L - Pours a light yellow color with a minimal white head.
S - Smells of bready malts.
T - Tastes malty with a slight citrus flavor.
F - Medium body and highly carbonated.
O - Easy drinking Pilsner.
Jan 12, 2020
Photo of bleandamb
Reviewed by bleandamb from Virginia

4.2/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Just had one that I picked up at the brewery. Pours nicely and has a golden hue. Classic Pilsner smell. Soft mouth feel with a smooth taste. Excellent beer for a warm day in RVA.
Aug 15, 2019
Photo of MUTINY
Reviewed by MUTINY from Virginia

3.79/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
16oz can into a nonic.

A: Pours a very appealing light straw with about 1" of loose white head that dissipates quickly. Retention and lacing are not impressive.

S: Bready malt and traces of hop-bitterness. Citrus, some unexpected floral elements as well. Mild, hard to discern much depth.

T: Opens bitter then shifts to some more complex hop expressions of citrus and a sort of grass/floral character that grows across the mid palate. Bitterness increases toward the finish, though it's offset well by an increasingly tightly-defined bread dough malt note. Almost-sweet malt provides welcome counterpoint to what has become a purely bitter hop character on the finish.

M: Crisp, light body and pretty high carb. There's some complexity on the palate that would probably have been lost or altered in bad way if this brew were much denser. As it stands, the nuance of flavors really shine against this type of lightweight body.

O: Solid. Distinctly American in it's approach to the prominence and purpose of the hops, but pretty unmistakably German on a foundational level. More complex and decidedly more bitter than I suppose I had been expecting, I appreciate the effort employed here to craft an evolving journey on the palate without sacrificing drinkability.
Aug 10, 2019
 
Rated: 4.21 by spark3148857 from Ohio

Feb 24, 2019
Photo of avalon07
Reviewed by avalon07 from South Carolina

3.81/5  rDev -5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
L: Had this beer on-tap, poured into a pint glass. Had a golden yellow color and a clear consistency. There was a quarter inch of creamy, fluffy, fairly long-lasting head. Excellent lacing.

S: A decent, but slightly underwhelming aroma of malt, hops, a bready quality, and some citrus fruit.

T: Tasted of a fair amount of malt (present throughout), a hint of citrus fruit (lemon, in particular), a decent bit of hops (a little bite), and a mild bready quality. A light, sweet, generally successful flavor. It's nothing that's particularly groundbreaking or special, but it does its job well. A pretty good flavor.

F: A well-carbonated beer with a sharp finish. Light-bodied.

O: This is a solid, but not spectacular beer. Nonetheless, worth a look.
Feb 09, 2019
Photo of Sheppard
Reviewed by Sheppard from Massachusetts

4.71/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Pours a beautiful transparent golden hue. I could probably get that meringue head if I poured it differently, but the head is pearly white. Pilsner malt and some light grapeyness permeate. It's not quite on Palatine levels, but there is some nice white grape character. Smooth and crisp, dry crackery malt with a beautiful bouquet of noble hop bitterness. This is a terrific pilsner. There's a reason this is one of my only re-buys since I moved to Northern Virginia. It's a mainstay in my fridge.
Dec 23, 2018
Photo of JamFuel
Reviewed by JamFuel from Sweden

4.26/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
On tap at Ardent.

Pours a clear light yellow with fine, soapy head.

Smell is clean and bready with some floral notes, but overall pretty light and fleeting.

Taste nails it, though. Clean, crisp and bready with a perfect amount of floral bitterness and a nice dry finish. I can see why this won gold at GABF 2018. Very well executed.

Mouthfeel is medium and creamy, well carbonated.

Overall, a beer that looks OK, smells good and tastes and feels great. One of the best American pilsners I've tried so far.
Dec 08, 2018
 
Rated: 3.87 by Boone757 from Virginia

Nov 24, 2018
 
Rated: 3.82 by Dave1999 from North Carolina

Oct 21, 2018
Ardent Pilsner from Ardent Craft Ales
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 27 ratings