Excited State
Able Baker Brewing Co.

I got a tall boy can of this beer from the brewery whilst in Vegas for my long time friend's wedding. It poured a clear golden with no head and no lace. The scent had common grain notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with bright malt base with grain presence. The mouthfeel was lighter in body with good carbonation. Overall it is a great beer.

7/13/25 - (Able Baker Brewery) (Las Vegas, Nevada) Brewery Notes: $7.59 with tax 16oz draft pour, 5.0% ABV. Pilsner.

Appearance: 16 oz clear golden blonde draft served in a Nonic Pilsner Glass. Generous sustained carbonation, bright white bubbly head leaves complete cover over the base. 4.5

Aroma: Strong cracker salt and mineral water, light pepper and lemongrass. 4.25

Taste: Similar characteristics to the aroma, though very faint, like a light Pilsner. Cracker, strong lemongrass, light salt and mineral water and sulfur. 2.5

Mouthfeel: Lightly prickly carbonation, feels very bubbly and I’m getting bloated. Might be because it’s 101 F at 9 pm, and as always the garage doors are open here. Drinks at ABV. Heavy carbonation light cracker finish. 2.5

Overall: This one is not for me. Wish my opener was on tap today. 2.5

 

easy drinking pils here, less outwardly german on the grain and perhaps also the yeast than anticipated, but it still hits as european, just crazy light and with a distinctive albeit also somewhat subtle hop complexion, not the most compelling of the many drafts we cruised through in here, but a refreshing lager with enough character to be attention holding, really high drinkability. its not quite perfectly clear, but its pretty close, a bright yellow color with a lasting inch of really wispy white foam. the aroma and flavor on this are both pretty tight and clean when its first poured and cold, clean and mineral forward with light crackery pils malt and a wet stone note from the yeast. as it warms the hops really come out, rise above the other elements to my senses, and really give this its personality, lime leaf and drying grass clippings, some bitterness but still middle of the road for the style, a tea-like botanical aspect but short of floral, more understated than that, but it makes this seem super fresh overall and doesnt add any heavying oils or anything to the palate. really minimal body, almost too light, but it makes sense in the heat down there, and i found this quite agreeable with salty and fried food from their menu at the taproom. simple stuff with a subtle twist on the hops side, high carbonation, easy down, positively thirst quenching and well made.

 

Totally reasonable Pilsner. Nothing special but hit the spot.

Poured from 16oz can into a clear plastic cup. No date on the can, but I bought it today at the brewery.

Appearance: light golden hue with an almost totally clear body and a finger of frothy eggshell foam atop.

Smell: sweet malt aroma with just a little bit of graininess, and a bit of yeastiness as well. It’s nice enough, although maybe a little astringent, or harsh, or something, for my taste.

Taste: similar to the aroma, with a bit of sweetness and graininess, and also some of that slightly rougher edge that I’m not super fond of. The result is a little bit harsher than I want a pilsner to be.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good carbonation and a rather good creaminess for the style.

Overall: it’s not the worst pilsner out there, but there’s just that bit of harshnes that I don’t love.

This was the second beer I had at their location in the arts district. Was in town for a work conference in October 2022.

Pours the usual lager yellow. Reveals good clarity but poor head formation/retention/lacing. Topped out very quickly at about 1/6". The aroma was not the good kind of lager sulphur. Not sure about these Kazbeck hops, like a blend of Sorachi and Saaz, bit of a lemon lime alka seltzer blast.

The taste continued to skew towards the bitter citrus aspect combined with that offputting sulphur aspect. Normally I like a funky strong sulphur eurolager yeast, heck, I leave my Heineken in the sunlight to pump those numbers up. But it didn't impress me much here as much as it might on paper. For lack of familiarity with Kazbeck hops, I will go ahead and blame them.

The mouth feel has a better crispness that keeps the slightly offputting aspect out of sight out of mind so to speak, but perhaps I should have had this before the session ipa. I liked the tunes that evening, I think then emo festival was in town. Goldfinger baby.

 

 

This was a very good beer, but it's not really a pilsner. Call it a honey blonde and be done with it. It's got a mildly sweet finish and a slightly higher ABV than most pilsners, so I'd be in favor of reclassifying this one and rebranding it at the same time. That said, I hadn't even heard of this brewery before I saw this on a menu at a restaurant, and they did make a good first impression with this one. Had I been in town for more than a long weekend, I'd have tried to get over there to taste some other beers from them.

Look: golden yellow in color with a 1/2" head that falls to a surface covering that lasts.

Smell: mild with some soft citrus and a mild hop aroma.

Taste: pretty clean pilsner malts with a hint of toasted bread, lemon zest, and a mild bitterness.

Feel: light-medium in body. Crisp throughout with a clean aftertaste.

Overall: a super easy to drink pilsner that is satisfying on a warm afternoon.

 

 

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: German Pilsner
Glass: North Park 16-oz. Willi Becher glass
Price: n/a
From: Chad
Purchased: n/a; Received Nov. 20, 2020
Consumed: Nov. 24, 2020
Misc.: Canned on Sept. 15, 2020

Thanks, Chad!

Got a nice haul from Chad on a work trip to Reno. He said this was a pretty good pilsner. For the most part I’ve enjoyed all of the beers I’ve had from Able Baker and was expecting this to fall in line. Back of the can read, “In atomic terminology, when an atom or nucleus possesses more than its normal energy it enters into an "excited state". That's both the name of our German style Pilsner as well as the condition you'll achieve after tasting it. We start with a base of pure Idaho Pilsner Malt and add just a touch of Vienna Malt (for a bit more toasted malt character) then hop this crisp, easy drinking lager with Hallertau Mittelfruh and Kazbec for a distinctive yet smooth flavor and bitterness. When excited state atoms decay the excess energy is released in the form of gamma rays and fluorescence. While we promise that you won't "hulk out" after drinking this brew, you may choose to sip and bask in the "glow" of the excess energy this beer possesses.”

Poured a medium yellow clear color with two fingers of frothy white head. Plenty of good-looking bubble streams coming up from the bottom of the glass. World-class foamy lacing. Very good retention. (Sight - 4.25)

Smelled pretty boozy. Got corn, pilsner malt, caramel, light grapefruit, lemon zest, bug spray, grass, perfume and floral. Never heard of Kazbec hops, but looking up the profile definitely more of that than Hallertau Mittelfruh. Was better out of the can with some earthy pilsner malt coming in. (Smell - 3.75)

Tasted better than the nose. Almost reminded me more of a Vienna Lager or Marzen initially. Got biscuit, brown bread, caramel, pilsner malt, corn, light grapefruit, lemon zest, bug spray, grass, perfume and floral. A little more Kazbec than Hallertau Mittelfruh. (Taste - 4.00)

Medium body. Creamy texture. Lively carbonation. Abrupt, clean, slightly spicy finish. (Feel - 4.25)

Outstanding overall. This really grew on me as it went down. (Overall - 4.00)

3.98 | 89 | B+