Big Spill Pils
Wren House Brewing Co.

 

 

2025-08-10
16oz can served in a hotel tumbler. Packaged 05/02/25. Bought at Windsor Costa Mesa earlier today.

Pours crystal clear dark yellow with a small head, pretty strong lacing. Smell is hoppy AF, lots of greenery and pine resin. Have to work for it, but the grain is in there somewhere.

Taste is also very limey. Lime zest, lime rind. Moderate honey and floral sweetness. Dominated by bitter.

Mouthfeel is light, clean, crisp. Overall, good.

 

its cool that these guys are showing up on tap around idaho now, i look forward to continuing to drink through what they send here, and this is fine, but its certainly not one of their best or most inspired beers in the glass, a grainy sort of soapy pils, grain dominated at first, somewhat rich for what it is, without a lot of balance, weird water chemistry, and less refreshing and crisp than i think the style generally wants to be. i think its fine they put nelson in it, this doesnt seem to make any real attempt at being a west coast pils, bitterness is average at most, its not massively dry hopped at the expense of the other elements, and it still seems to have a largely traditional build, even on the hop side, there is some saaz in here too, its almost like there isnt enough nelson in here to define this, which is what i think its maybe trying to do, but just enough to confuse it, especially with the fuller malt profile in here and what feels like a less than fully complete and ideal lagering. yellow and shiny but a little thicker looking than most, some bubbles but not holding a very robust head, and smelling a little detergent-like, not quite perfume but moving there, nelson is not obvious as such, but that this is non traditional is evident. the malt makes it bready in nose and taste, still a pils malt flavor to it, but its a little more intense, biscuity, enriched. minerality is a little strange for the style, some late spiciness, stone fruit, tangerine, and mowed lawn, doughy lager yeast lingering, off dry, less lively than it should feel. still a fine and easy pint, but not exciting enough to be memorable, nor traditional or refined enough to stand out from the crowd, overall a middling attempt at jazzing up a classic lager, not bad but not special either, with some attention to detail or at the very least freshness seeming to be missing, perhaps its the latter, had this as a bar on tap that has been closed for a bit, ill have to try it from the can if i find it and report back, i usually know their beer to be much more tidy and intentional across the board...

edit: had this again at much closer to peak freshness and it presents totally different, this time more of a true hoppy pils, more in that west coast style, with what seems like a lighter and cleaner pils malt base, less fade there than the first time i had it, and the bitterness does start early, still not a nelson bomb or anything, but bold enough to be hoppy even before its a pils, which is also not exactly what i generally want in the style, but perhaps a more distinctive take on it than i gave it credit for the first time around, borderline aggressive proportions but of better objective quality than when i had it before, odd balance, but i will improve the score slightly. still not among their best that ive had, but a very recognizable beer now.

 

 

Received a fairly sizable box of Wren House brews recently...this was as good a pilsner as I've ever had...

Clear and crisp and beautiful and grassy and delicious....

Incredibly brisk and remarkably bright. Just an incredible offering...there's a brewery relatively close to me that makes wonderful lagers and this surpasses their efforts...or maybe not...but right now it does...

It's a crisp spring day here and this is the perfect beer for it...

Jeez....

Just wonderful

 

 

Type: 16-oz. can
Reviewed as: American Pilsner
Glass: North Park 16-oz. Willi Becher glass
Price: $2.99
From: Windmill Farms in Del Cerro (San Diego), Calif.
Purchased: Oct. 13, 2021
Consumed: Oct. 29, 2021
Misc.: Canned on Aug. 4, 2021

Was psyched to see Wren House make it out to San Diego. I had this once before, giving a taster a 3.75 on Aug. 24, 2019 at Modern Times’ 5th Annual Festival of Dankness. Their website called this beer a “2X CBA Gold Medal Winner - Big Spill Pils is a 4.7% German influenced lager highlighting one of our favorite hops in the world, Nelson!! Brewed with 100% Pilsen malt, fermented low and slow with our house German lager yeast, hopped delicately with Saaz and Nelson in the kettle and dry hopped with just the right amount of Nelson during the lagering process.”

Poured a pale yellow color with two fingers of frothy off-white head. Could see bubble streams coming up from the bottom of the glass at different speeds. Outstanding spotty lacing. Outstanding retention. (Sight - 4.25)

Smelled tangerine, orange, Nelson, grass, lemon, pear, apricot, passion fruit, Fruity Pebbles, white bread and cracker. Just as good from the nose with a little bit of dank pine and some earthy pilsner malt. (Smell - 4.25)

Tasted about as good as the nose. Actually reminded me of a combination of Highland Park Timbo Pils and a Mikkeller Run This Town. Tasted lemon, pear, apricot, green apple, tangerine, orange, Nelson, grass, passion fruit, Fruity Pebbles, gooseberry, white grape, Saaz, black pepper, pine and some pilsner malt. (Taste - 4.25)

Light-to-medium body. Oily-to-creamy texture. Lively carbonation. Dry, Clean finish. (Feel - 4.25)

This was much better than the last time I had it, but that might have been 30 tasters deep. Just an excellent pilsner. (Overall - 4.25)

4.25 | 95 | A

 

was really looking forward to this beer after finding it in whole foods in Flagstaff, AZ. Big disappointment. This is nothing more than hop water. Not even a faint malt contribution one would expect from a German style lager. Tastes like a Utah grocery store beer from 10 years ago. I really hope this is not the new norm for Wrenhouse. I stopped in the Phoenix brewery 4 years and every beer I had was delicious.

 

 

Pours a clear pale golden color with plenty of foam in the Bacchus tumbler. Spritzy and frothy on the tongue. Crisp, light bodied, and a delightful mouthfeel. Aroma of clean straw with hints of resin. Taste is bready with a hint of rye crackers. Herbal hops are in the background but emerge for a modest bitter atertaste.

Overall this is one of the better Pilsners I"ve had lately. That touch of malty sweetness with the slushy light mouthfeel is quite delightful. From the 16 oz can dated 10/07/21, so apparently this is the Nelson version which is also on the current tap list. Purchased on the Coast.

 

 

Thanks to the ol birthing person for bringing me a 6 pack of this beer back from the PHX. Go Bucks!

Consumed in May 2020, it pours a light bodied straw yellow with good clarity. Nice fluffy 4/5" white head. Impressive retention. The aroma had me a little confused. At first I was like, this can't be the Nelson version. But it was. I think I was under the impression this was 100% Nelson. It is not. Saaz seems to make up the bulk of the hops. Nelson is just a smidge. Don't go expecting a big dank Nelson hop to overshadow the Saaz or lager yeast. Its nice, just don't go expecting a Nelson bomb.

The taste has all the hallmarks of a traditional made lager in America, just you know, maybe 10% more bitter than those across the pond (yes even Italian Pilsners). The Saaz hops do the nice brisk and lightly peppery thing. The malt body is super light and dry and is where you want it to be. The Nelson hop, boy it is sparingly used here, but still complimentary. Its a very different beer than say, Nelson Fuel from Altamont, that is a just massive Nelson impact on a lager. Here, its like a little Nelson after dinner mint.