Pils
FrauGruber Brewing

From a tall aluminum can, this beer pours a moderately hazy yellow with a thick, billowing, white head. The aroma is clean, with a grain and fresh grass character. I get fresh tea leaf and herbal hop notes. Medium dry in taste with a raw malt flavor. Fuller in body than expected for the style. Interesting and tasty.

i have not had nearly enough from this operation, but this is another nice one, classic full flavored pils, not overly refined and with a lot of personality of its own despite being recognizable as thoroughly german. sunny but lacking full clarity, fizzy and bubbly in a real beautiful way, airy lasting weightless white head from the can, steady carbonation. quite aromatic, bready grain somewhat more earthy and robust than this pale color generally indicates, crackery and with a sort of wet concrete and petrichor minerality essence, well hoppy too, some apparent bitterness, noble spice character, and doughy old world lager yeast, maybe hoppier than some but it adds a lot of zest to this and i think there is plenty from the other elements for this to retain some conventional balance, intriguing anyway. the flavor doesnt necessarily lead with the hops but it gets there pretty quickly, minerals and even a little oxidation first, but then the wave of hops and lager yeast comes on and while i still find this somewhat mild and approachable overall, there is some real zip to the second half and a quickening bitterness on the swallow thats neat with the apparent long lagering aspect here, some grass and light citrus, a little lighter grain than the aroma maybe show, but obviously quality old world pils malt, lighter medium body, ample carbonation, hoppy recall, again some wet rock vibes, kind of springy, and for how far this has come, its better than many, maybe a bit underrated here on BA for my money. i like the approach and execution, four season pils for sure.

 

 

Poured from 440mL can into a dimpled mug.

Appearance: medium yellow hue with a moderate haze and a thick, thick head of pillowy ivory foam.

Smell: kind of a sweet, raw malt aroma, with something a little funky underneath. By itself it's not bad, but I wouldn't call it a pilsner.

Taste: moderately sweet malt, with still some of that funkiness. A bit of grassy, herbal hop character comes through as well. Like the aroma, I would say it's not bad if you are looking for a saison -- but in a pilsner it's quite out of place.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good carbonation and creaminess.

Overall: it's certainly not the worst beer out there, but it's all wrong for a pilsner. The slight funk and the thick head suggest to me that maybe there was some kind of mild infection? I mean, it's how FrauGruber let it out of the factory, and so it is what it is. As a grassy, light table saison, it's not too bad, though.

Copenhagen 26/2 2022. 44 cl can from Meny, Østerfælled Torv, Kbh. Ø. The can is green at the bottom and light beige at the top with a little drawing of som hop flowers and FrauGrubers characteristic rhombus formed logo in black.

Pours unclear yellow with a big white head. Stable. Settles as thin, flimsy, almost transparent layer of foam just covering the surface of the beer. Substantial lacing.

Aroma is medium intense with a sweet malty odor mingling with a sharp edged hoppy scent. Sweet pale malts and bread. Freshly mown grass, lemon and a whiff of rose garden. Dry vibe.

Light carbonation. Slightly thick, oily, soft, lightly tingling texture.

Flavor is medium intense with a medium strong sweetness followed and balanced by a slightly stronger bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter with a sweet undertone. Lingers for a bit. Semi-dry finish.

Well balanced and fresh take on a Pilsener.

I am a Pilsner snob. To me, Czechs are the masters of their beer style. German Pils are mostly boring and meh. BUT THIS Bavarian Pils by Frau Gruber knocked my socks off.

Look: Pale straw, mildly hazy as I suspect it's coarsely filtered. Somewhat similar to a proper Kölsch or a proper Italian dry-hopped Pilsner.

Smell: Summer, straw/hay, happiness.

Taste: WOW!!! It's very elegant. The hops (HALLERTAUER MITTELFRÜHER, HALLERTAUER SELECT, HALLERTAUER HERSBRUCKER, TETTNANGER) are so different in their profile compared to a typical spicy and acidic German hops. This Pils tastes pleasantly bitter, just as it should. No weird off flavors or taste. Just pure noble hop goodness!

Feel: totally on point. You feel like you are drinking a worthy beer and not some kinda Reinheitsgebutt crap.

WORTHY. Even though it's not inexpensive.

P.S. To address some of the previous reviews.
- This Pils is not brewed with Brett. So that's probably a review for a different brew.
* It's not a funky tasting beer. Again, probably a wrong beer review or something is wrong with that person's taste buds.
* Do not ever try an elegant noble Pilsner or Pilsner after drinking an IPA/IPL or another completely conflicting beer. There is a whole science of pairing beverages with other beverages and food. Tastebuds can be numbed or confused by some other prior flavors and tastes and will not tell the brain how good this beer is.

500ml can at Pour Company. Cloudy golden pour, huge pillowy white head. Malty, fruity aroma. Taste is bready, grainy, biscuity, light fruity notes. Smooth. Tasty.

 

Whoa, is this thing intentionally brewed with Brett or supposed to be funky? My suspicion is that it’s not, and if it’s supposed to be along the lines of a traditional pilsner, this is a complete and utter failure. Luckily for me, I don’t mind a horse blanket/barnyard funky beer once in a while, so not a complete waste of money as I was able to drink it. But someone not used to that or really feeling a pils is not going to like this.


Bad first impressions, I’m absolutely done with this brewery. I’ve had 2 beers, the first (24/7 dry hopped lager) tasted good but overcarbed and gushed when I popped the can. This one I suspect infected (I apologize if it’s supposed to be funky, but they should absolutely give some sort of indication if it is). Obviously some QC issues, too many great breweries more deserving of my money.

I had this on draft 1/22/24 @ the Hopleaf.

See-through dull orange appearance.

Nice bright white head; a thick curtain of tree-rung lacing remained.

Lemon & cereal grain notes in the nose.

Medium mouthfeel, with a sharp bite on the finish.

Lemon & cereal grain flavors up front; a SHARP mineral water bite on the finish.

It's simple & nice enough up front, but the harsh finish mars this. Not one I'll seek out again.

 

 

Very tart, sour, and spoiled unfortunately by the time I got it in Wisconsin. Not only a drain pour, but spit it out.

A: Pours a clear medium pale golden yellow in color with moderate amounts of active visible carbonation rising quickly from the bottom of the glass and moderate bright yellow + straw yellow + pale apricot colored highlights. The beer has a two finger tall dense sudsy foamy bright white head that slowly reduces to a couple of medium sized patches of medium thick film surrounded by a large patch of slightly mottled thin film covering the remainder of the surface of the beer and a thin ring at the edges of the glass. Moderate amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate aromas of doughy + biscuit + bready + pale malts with minimal amounts of grainy sweetness. Light to moderate aromas of lager yeast. Slightly stronger than moderate aromas of lemon/citrus + floral + grassy + spicy hops.

T: Upfront there are moderate flavors of doughy + biscuit + bready + pale malts with minimal amounts of grainy sweetness. That is followed by light to moderate flavors of lager yeast. Finally there are slightly stronger than moderate flavors of lemon/citrus + floral + grassy + spicy hops which impart a moderate amount of aggressive lingering bitterness.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Crisp with a dry finish. relatively clean.

O: Easy to drink with well hidden alcohol and pleasantly crisp + dry + bittern mouthfeel which is relatively clean in the finish. Very interesting hop profile. Could easily have quite a few of these.

14.9oz can. No dating information found.
Slightly cloudy, straw colored body. Three fingers of white head, which stays around. Leaves behind thick rings of lacing.
Aroma is bready malt and floral hops. Aroma is not strong.
Taste is bready malts, lemongrass, and floral hops. Slight bite at the end, with minerality. A bit of sulfur in the aftertaste.
Medium mouth feel. Very crisp finish. Excellent carbonation.
Dry and full of flavor but not much on the nose.

Pours a slightly cloudy, pale golden coloration with a large, fluffy head and visible carbonation. Smells of biscuity, doughy malt and grassy, floral hops, with just a hint of citrus as well. Taste is a great balance of biscuity, doughy malt and grassy, floral, slightly spicy and fruity hops, with slight citrus notes of lemon peel and just a hint of black pepper coming through as well. Finishes with a light/medium bitterness and some doughy malt, grassy hops and hints of citrus and pepper lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body medium/strong carbonation.

I honestly thought this was surprisingly good coming from FrauGruber here, staying close to it's traditional PIlsner roots and just putting some very slight modern touches on the style that doesn't make it drift into IPL territory at all. There's a great balance of malt and hops, traditional and modern elements going on here, making for a very easy drinking and enjoyable brew, although perhaps slightly over-carbonated. Pretty cheap as well, which is a nice bonus, they really should make this part of their regular line-up.

FrauGruber Brewing "Pils"
440 ml can coded "Mindestens Haltbar Bis: BBD 14/04/22 FRESH BEF 14/11/21". Sampled on 4.10.21
€2.19 @ Naïv, Frankfurt, DE

Notes: Hazy straw gold body beneath a full head of pillowy white foam. Hazy Pilsner??? Very good head retention and lacing. Rings of thin lace are left with almost every sip taken. The aroma is clean and fresh. It's floral, spicy, and citrusy with lemon. I don't get Pacific Northwest hops though... ... ... Ah, yes, I looked it up and they're using Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Spalt Select, Tettnanger, and Opal. Opal is the odd guy out here as it's a newer hop from Germany, and it has a citrusy character. I've never found it to specifically put out lemon, and my nose might be off right now, but thats what I'm getting. It's a pleasant twist although I have to wonder how the very set-in-their-ways Germans will take it. But maybe that doesn't matter as the younger generation is far more open to change. Back to the beer itself, the flavor is spicy, herbal, and lightly citrusy with lemon. It's a basic Pils malt with a bold bitterness that equals a dry finish. In the mouth it's medium bodied and crisp, as expected. So, for me at least, FrauGruber has once again pulled off a great beer simply by brewing it properly and adding a small twist to it. I wish American brewers could learn that - you don't have to punch someone in the face with something to make it a great beer; a little addition or twist can go a long way.
Review #7,543