Your Favorite Pilsners

Prima Pils
Wright Brothers Pils
North Coast Scrimshaw
SA Noble Pils

 

I don't have too much experience with Pilseners, but the one I do enjoy is Summit Pilsener.

 

Prima Pils

 

Prima Pils
Elm City Pils
Troegs Sunshine
Lagunitas Pils
Scrimshaw Pils
Sierra Nevada Summerfest

 

i just bought a case of Prima Pils. one of my few case buys every year.

the best by far is Tipopils. i've been lucky to have this appear on tap in Norfolk the last two times i've visited my friend down there. missed it the last time it popped up in Philly.

 

It ain't fancy, but I've been enjoying the hell outta Radeberger recently.

 

I sort of find Sunshine bland. After having Prima, Sly Fox and Stoudts, Sunshine to me is blah.

 

I agree with this, especially for a German style as it's much weaker on hops than Prima is.

 

Lost Nation - very refreshing on a hot sunny day.

 

All about the Prima, Pivo and SN Summerfest for easy drinking. One of the best I've had though is DFH My Antonia (imperial Pils) brewed with Italian brewery Birra del Borgo. Not exactly traditional in style but damn is it tasty!

 

Sixpoint's the crisp is excellent, and in the new six packs its one of the best buys out there IMO. Victory Prima pils is a great one as well. Not sure if Weinstephaner is considered craft, but these 3 are my top 3 pilsners/lagers.

 

Schell's Pils...Great beer!!!

 

I agree, it's not bland or boring at all. But it's definitely a beer that can be compared to the imports. Doesn't remind me of Jack's Abby beers at all (by this I assume you mean their IPLs and not Sunny Ridge?)

I would never put Prima and Sunshine Pils in the same category. Prima is one of the hoppiest pilsners you can find, bordering on IPL territory.

See what I wrote above. And here's a good description from a recent thread by @herrburgess. Is Sunshine Pils my absolute favorite pilsner? No, there's many imports I'd put above it. But it's my favorite US attempt, and a solid one at that. If you find it boring, maybe you simply don't like pils malt?

"As with the Troegenator, this is pretty legit. I agree that there is a dryness/thinness that seems slightly out of place, but it's close enough. Troegs seems to be one of the very few that is getting these styles more or less right...and the added freshness makes these a good choice for anyone looking for a pretty close approximation of a German pils. (EDIT: reminds me a lot of a fresh Wernesgruener. Hoppiness is slightly more floral in the Sunshine, whereas the Wernesgruener is more herbal....)."

 

Prima is a German Pilsener, Sunshine is a German Pilsener, it's fair to compare the two and Prima kicks the ass of Sunshine. I'm a pilsener guy so I think I can comment on them. For me, Sunshine just does not cut it. I like Stoudts much more and that one is not super hoppy. A good pilsener is not just about the hops, it's about full flavor and Sunshine comes up short.

 

Olde Mecklenburg Captain James Jack
Wurzburger
Victory Braumeister

 

I don't drink a lot of Pilsners, but the one I can say I really enjoy is DFH Piercing Pilsner, an excellent beer.

 

Prima is not an authentic German pils, it is an outlier. I'm not bashing the beer, it's delicious. But I would not directly compare the two beers simply because they're both labeled, "German pilsners." Read the back and forth below between @herrburgess and @Starkbier (from Victory).

herrburgess: "As Jim Busch (BA Starkbier) said about Prima in another thread, it is far hoppier than any German pilsners he tried while traveling Germany. Except Vogelbrau, apparently. But, yes, Vogelbrau is an anomaly. It seems to be their marketing angle ("Unverwechselbar seit 1985")."

starkbier: "Id say Prima is more hoppy (bitter) than Vogel too. Our Braumeister series is closer to Vogel. Keesman also makes a nice hoppy pils.

Cheers, Jim"

I would agree, Stoudts is not aggressively hopped. I also agree that a great pilsner is not about the hops, unless it's aggressively hopped. For my palate, a solid German pils is about the pils malt, the hops are just there as a complement.

 

I lean in the German direction for pilsners. Of the ones readily available in the US, there's nothing wrong with Jever, Bit, Radeberger, & Koenig. If you like a little more malt character, you can always go with Paulaner, Spaten, and (especially) Mahr's.
If we're talking anything goes, Keesmann Herren Pils, Faessla Gold Pils, and Rothaus (Tannenzaepfle) are my absolute faves.

 

The Reality Czech by Moonlight Brewing is really good

 

Mama's Little Yella Pils for me. After reading this, I've decided I need to explore the pilsner style a little more.