Best shelf Pilsner in Central PA

I’m in NEPA, but I’d bet our shelves look pretty similar. I generally rotate between Troegs Sunshine Pils and Sly Fox Pikeland Pils. I’m not crazy about the new version of Prima, and I don’t see Neshaminy Creek’s pils around anymore, so these 2 have fallen off my radar. Wallenpaupack No Frills Pils is a nice local option for me, but is much pricier than the others.
When all else fails, just grab some Summerfest while it’s relatively fresh!

 

I second the recommendation of Sly Fox Pikeland Pils. If you ever make it to SEPA I suggest you load up on Sterling Pig Shoats Pilsner.

I am also the same as @hillind in that I am not a fan of the update they did to Prima Pils. This beer used to be a beer I enjoyed drinking.

Cheers!

 

Do you get Jack’s Abby in Central PA? Sunny Ridge pils is quite good. It’s their spring seasonal so if you get JA it should be around somewhere

 

New Trail Lazy River Pils is quite good too, I just don’t know how often they brew it.

 

I bought some fresh Trauger pils @ Nashaminy Creek a few months back and unfortunately it wasn’t as good as I remembered it being. Not sure if the recipe changed or whatever but it was much sweeter than I remember but not in a good way not not as much noble hop presence. Hopefully it was just a bad batch but it was disappointing enough experience to force me to look elsewhere.

Churchville lager was nice though.

 

I take it you prefer Sunny Ridge over Post Shift, may I ask why?

Cheers!

 

I haven’t seen either around in a while, and I used to buy Trauger frequently. That’s a bummer if they changed something up.

 

The last time I had Trauger Pils was at a beer festival last fall at the King of Prussia mall. I was chatting with the person from Neshaminy Creek and asked for a pour of the Trauger Pils. Even before I took a sip I knew something was amiss here. I took my first sip and yup something was 'wrong' here. I asked the person who poured me the beer: "Are you sure this is Trauger Pils?" He looked down at the keg and replied: "Yes, I poured you Trauger Pils". I thought about getting into a further discussion but other people behind me wanted beer so I just moved on. Trauger Pils used to have a prominent malt flavor of cracker-like but just as you stated this beer was predominantly just sweet-ish. I am not a fan of the 'new' Trauger Pils. My guess is that they changed the brand of Pilsner Malt they are using to brew this beer. Trauger Pils will not be a repeat purchase for me.

Cheers!

 

I think I prefer Sunny Ridge for a few reasons. It has a slightly richer malt body to it than Post Shift, which is lighter overall. It feels a bit more rustic/traditional than Post Shift. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy Post Shift very much when you can find it fresh but that can be pretty difficult. Since Sunny Ridge is a seasonal it kind of jumps out at you when you see it on shelves because house know it’s reasonably fresh (unless it’s from the year prior )

 

Yes, from a consumer perspective seasonal beers are a benefit since they will be fresh.

In the recent past I would buy the Sierra Nevada Seasonal mix-packs (Spring, Fall) since I was assured those beers are fresh. Much of the Sierra Nevada beers at my local Retail Beer Distributors are too old, unfortunately. I am bummed that Sierra Nevada made a business decision to discontinue their seasonal variety packs.

Cheers!

 

Another vote here for Sly Fox Pikeland Pils.

2SPils is also a good one, although they describe it as a German kellerbier so maybe it's not really a pilsner.

 

They're both fine beers for sure, and I appreciate that JA made them different enough from one another, but my personal preference is for the Post Shift. Oddly enough, however, I'd use similar terminology to describe why . To me it's the more old school of the two, where I get a more 'modern' feel from the Sunny Ridge, an orange marmalade kind of quality.

 

Haven’t had it since last year, I’ll certainly have to revisit it again. For science

 

Von Trapp Bohemian Pilsner.

Difficult to find though. Any distributor that gets it seems to only get a case at a time.

To me it tastes a lot like Rothaus Pils, or an American clone of that beer, but Von Trapp is more balanced and dialed in, and doesn't have quite as much of that mineralization taste that the Rothaus Pils has.

 

Coincidentally this is the first Sunshine Pils I've had in a while. It's still a very good beer!

It's pretty lively, too: those bubbles are streaming upwards, not on the side of the glass.

 

I've seen it sporadically in the Lehigh Valley Allentown vicinity. Not sure who their second tier distribution partner is. I'm guessing maybe 31st & Wharton or maybe Shangy's.