Dry-Hopped Pilsners?

Otter Creek Citra Mantra

 

A very hoppy Pilsner (hoppy from a hop flavor/aroma) is Victory Prima Pils.

I recently had a Firestone Walker Pivo Pilsner. That beer is dry hopped with German Saphir hops. The bottled of Pivo Pilsner that I drank did not have a lot of hop aroma but maybe that is because they were not super fresh bottles? They were bottled over three months ago (11/11/13). Maybe they would have more hop flavor/aroma if the beer was fresher?

I just read about Peak Fresh Cut: “Fresh Cut is a dry-hopped pilsner. Chinook, Citra and Centennial hops provide aromas of citrus, grass and spice.” Those C-hops are what are typically used in an American Style IPA. Pilsners typically use German Noble Hops for hop flavor/aroma.

Maybe an IPL (India Pale Lager) is what you are really looking for?

Cheers!

 

OP - Bells make a Special Lager, which is a Pils like beer with American hops that is tasty.
http://www.bellsbeer.com/brands/24-Quinannan Falls Special Lager Beer

Prima Pils has very nice hop aroma and flavor, is a little grainy, but we drank a bunch of it at the FW pub in Paso Robles over the 3 days we were there.

 

Jeff, I am assuming that you meant Pivo Pils vs. Prima Pils.

I read a few reviews of Pivo Pils. Below are some extracts of a few reviews:

“S: A little whiff of lemon zest, some grains and a bit grassy”

“s - Smells of pale malts, pilsner malts, floral hops, earthy notes, bread, and grains. Nice floral notes, not as hoppy as I was expecting.”

“ …the hops don't quite take away the sweetness of the malt. very little bitterness to this, only a mild hop flavor, maybe leaning on the floral side, but this certainly does not redefine the genre as it was supposed to do.”

“S big grainy notes with a bitterness that doesn't translate well into hoppiness... Some minor grassy hops come through.”

I could continue on but the above reviews were consistent with my experience with this beer.

If I ever see Pivo Pils on tap (or super fresh in bottles) I will most certainly give this beer another try.

Troegs Sunshine Pils will soon be out (a spring/summer seasonal) and I just read that Neshaminy Creek Trauger Pils will soon be available in 12 ounce cans (Woo-Hoo!). Lots of great US craft brewed Pilsners to drink!

Cheers!

 

Meant Pivo. brain fart. Those reviews read like older examples to me. Did you notice it reads like there is too much and too little bitterness?

Sunshine Pils was at the BJCP reception at Philly, and I must say that keg was off. Not good. Would try it at the source, though. As they said in the review of the beers tasted, the keg was probably donated and you get what you pay for.

 

“Those reviews read like older examples to me.” I have no way of knowing. Some of the reviews were for draft beer (there is now way of knowing how old draft beer is at bars). The other reviews were from bottles but there is no mention of the bottle dates in the reviews.

I do know the bottle dates of my Pivo Pils beers: 11/11/13. Do you consider these to be ‘old’ beers?

Cheers!

P.S. I am sorry to hear that you had a 'tainted' Sunshine Pils. I have never had an 'off' Sunshine Pils. All of the Sunshine Pils beers I had last year (bottles and draft) were OUTSTANDING.

 

Unfortunately I have no suggestions for you, OP, but on the subject- I've always thought a pilsner dry-hopped with a little Sorachi Ace would be great.

 

The wife and I enjoyed the Pivo Pils, and kept going back to it even after tastes of all of the other award winning ales that are on tap at the brewery. Pivo won a Gold at the GABF, so view that as you may.

The Sunshine Pils tasted stale to me, the others commented it was off.

 

Pivo surprised me good.
I enjoyed the hell out of my six pack. The bergamot added a nice complexity

 

I would honestly check out Hop Ranch from Victory.

Yes it is billed as a Double IPA, but it's brewed using Pilsner malt, so it may be right up your alley... It sure was up mine!

 

I've had Fresh Cut. It's even hoppier than Prima, and is artfully dry-hopped. A fine hoppy beer, not what I'm looking for in a pilsner, but a well-crafted beer. Your suggestion for an IPL is also solid. This sounds more like what the OP wants.

I wouldn't suggest Pivo either, as I had the chance to sample two bottles and a draft this past weekend. It's nothing like Prima or Fresh Cut

 

Odells Double Pilsner would be one

 

Jeff, thanks for your input. I just drank one of my homebrewed CAP beers which has a prominent hop aroma/flavor of Hallertau Mittelfruh hops. I am drinking a Pivo Pils as I type this message. It is an enjoyable beer. I very much smell/taste the Pilsner malt and the hop aspect that I perceive on the nose is some mild lemon.

I can see how Pivo Pils could win a Gold Medal at the 2013 GABF; it is a tasty German style Pilsner! It just doesn’t have a big hop aroma/flavor to my palate and I will caveat one more time that the bottle is over 3 months old.
I think it is worthy of note that Sunshine Pils won the Bronze Medal at the GABF:

Category 29: German-Style Pilsener, 56 Entries
Gold: Pivo, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Pilsner, Marble Brewery, Albuquerque, NM
Bronze: Sunshine Pils, Tröegs Brewing Co., Hershey, PA

Cheers!

 

Did you perceive a lot of hop aroma/flavor in the Pivo Pils beers that you drank? Do you know the bottling date of the bottled beers?

Cheers!

 

Citra Mantra is a pilsner dry hopped with citra (obviously) but its quite good. Very sessionable and tropical.

 

SOS by Abita is a good example. Never had a prima pils but we just started getting victory here in AZ. Sounds like I need to try this one.

 

I love me a good hoppy pilsner, very refreshing. Sam adams noble pils and double agent IPL are very nice hoppy lagers.

 

Firestone Pivo Pils

 

I got more flavor than aroma, in fact, aroma was weak from what I remember. But the flavor was more "bitter" than fruity of floral. And this is not the case with Fresh Cut.

Bottling date was 12/16/13, so about two months old. I'd like to get my hands on a <1 month old bottle next time, see if there's a noticeable difference in the hop aroma/flavor.