Penn Pilsner
Our flagship brand! An amber Vienna-style lager beer that is smooth, mellow and full bodied, with delicate hop aroma. Uses two-row barley malt and caramel-roasted malt. Based on founder Tom Pastorius’ favorite German bier.
2.9
309 reviews
Pittsburgh, United States
Community reviews
gold to light amber color;light malt and floral hop aroma; a crisp, bitter pilsner; medium bodied and slightly sweet malt with a nice blend of floral hops; well balanced
Twelve ounce bottle from Beer Of The (Every Other) Month Club, tasted on February 28, 2014. Moderate aroma of pale lager vs. amber lager, sweet initial mouthfeel followed by bitter astringent finish. Not all that impressed by this one.
Hazy dark copper color, off-white head. Aroma is pilsner-y sweet malt. Malty, caramel, some white-pepper, some hop for balance, not a bad lager, but more like an amber lager than a pilsner... oops- look at that; its called Penn Pilsner but the style is amber lager! A bit misleading name, but tastes good.
Poured 12 oz. from bottle.
Clear, amber-gold with hardly any head and a mere modicum of lacing.
Aroma of caramel, butter, toffee, bread and light fruit.
Taste of grain, caramel, corn, butter, mild floral hops and light fruit.
Medium body low/medium carbonization.
Better than a macro, but still not a below average pilsener. It's not "crisp" and I'm having trouble getting past the buttered corn flavor.
Transfer from BA review on 10-28-13-
Poured from bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a nice golden amber color with a thick one finger white head. Large bubbles within the head pop, causing the head to slowly fade, with the loss of the head leaving a bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is biggest of grainy smells but has other aromas of a grassy nature. Along with these aromas are some notes of a lemon citrus and caramel and a little bit of light fruit.
Taste – The taste begins with a bready and light caramel and fruit flavor. The sweeter flavors fades fast with some light hop of a citrus and grassy nature taking their place, along with just a bit of grainy malt flavor. These flavors largely take the taste to its end, where they are joined by a light yeast and some bitter grapefruit and sweeter citrus, to leave a still quite dry, lightly hopped, and bready flavor to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel –The body of the beer is on the medium to slightly thicker side for a brew of its abv. and style with a carbonation level that is on the slightly lower side. A higher carbonation level and thinner body may have been a bit more appropriate for the style and made it an easier drinking and more refreshing brew.
Overall –The flavors of the brew were rather nice, as the drier yet still somewhat complex flavors of the brew were quite appropriate for the style, making it a rather good choice. If only the body was a bit thinner and carbonation a bit higher than this would have been very enjoyable for the flavors and style. Overall however, the brew is well worth a try.
12 oz bottle pours golden with a white head . Aroma and taste are malts, grass and grain.
Ok it's a little funky, my guess is it's an older bottle. Will have to try it again sometime.
On draft. Almost cooper with almost no head. Sweet malty aroma. The taste is the same. Decent.
Pours a hazy amber color with a thick white head. Some malty flavor with a hoppy, bitter finish. Pretty decent beer.
Reviewed from notes.
This was poured into a pilsener glass.
The appearance was a nice looking hazy amber to orange color with a decent one finger white foamy head that dissipated within about a minute. The lacing graced the glass nicely.
The smell had a nice assortment of Germany pilsner malts and had a nice light bitter crisp hops to complement the aroma.
The taste was mainly sweet and crisp.
The palate sat fairly light and sessionable. There was a good crisp carbonation about it.
Overall, I say this was a pretty good Pilsener.
Draft at Beer and Bacon. Pours clear light copper with a fizzy white head. Tastes like sweet malt, creamy caramel, toffee, buttery. Light body and low carbonation. Smells like musky, buttery grains with malty sweetness.
Sample pour at a festival. Pours clear amber with creamy white head. Aroma is toasted and caramel malts, floral notes, bready notes, and some light fruit. Flavor is grainy, light corn, light caramel, and some light fruit esters; semisweet finish. Light/medium body and low carbonation.
Tap. Pours clear gold with a medium, frothy white head, medium retention with good lacing. Aroma is toast and nutty malt with light earthy hops. Flavor is sweet malt, light hops and bitterness with a sweet finish. Medium body and carbonation.
Bottle. Pours orange gold with white head. Nose/taste of peppercorn, light toast and barley. Watery body. Light.
There were no suprises with this beer. The experience was just as the description said. It was very smooth. No flavors, even the hops stood out, except maybe a nice hint of the carmel that was very pleasurable, without making this beer taste sweet.
Gooo. Golden in color, lots of carbonation, white fluffy head that dissipates quickly. Had this from a 12oz bottle from a variety pack, I’ll have to give it another try another night.
Copper color, average carbonation. Long palate. Not much to say....nondescript unexciting pilsner a step above macro.....maybe
Bottle - Deep yellow with a thick soapy head. Metallic nose and taste with some grains. Has a sweet malty finish.
Draft at penn brewery. Pours a dark golden. Not much aroma. A few grains and slight hops. Taste of grains and some malt. Slight bitter finish. Hay. Light bodied. Pretty smooth.
Clear golden orange with a bright white head and nice lace. Aromas of hay, toast, honey, lemon and peppery crackers. Nice toasted malt and caramel base supporting grassy hops accompanied by graham cracker and black pepper. Medium mouthfeel, lively carbonation, smooth mouthfeel and a crisp finish.
Beer of month club. Pours gold color and some white foam. A shade darker than typical pils. Very faint nose - hardly anything. Tate of malt, a touch of caramel sweetness. Average pils.
Pour is a clear copper with a large white head. Aroma is a decent amount of sweet caramel malt. Flavor is grain and slightly buttery. Maybe some adjuncts are coming thru also but this is way watery w/o much substance. This one went down hill fast after the aroma.
Golden-amber body, thin off-white head, spotty lacing. Sweet grains, light grassy and floral hops. Medium bodied, too sweet, lacking the much needed crisp, refreshing finish.
Spicy hop smell, traditional pilsner flavors with nice lasting sweet malt flavor. Enjoyable.
Pours amber with faint head. Malt and grains, slight skunk. Drinkable, and vastly superior to Iron City.
Light, malty, thin, watery. Better than most American macros, but weak and forgettable nonetheless.
Clear yellow pour with heavy white head. Light aroma of malt, corn, citrus and some hop. Taste is corn and malt backbone. Some hop and lemon presence
Faint hoppy aroma with an amber color and virtually no head. Lightly hoppy flavor with a thinned out finish.
12 oz. bottle.
Pours a hazy amber color;.
With a mildly creamy body;. The nice aroma is of caramel malt, grain/hay, & some citrus. A flavor of slight sweet malt, caramel, light hops, and some fruit; Finish is slightly sour/tangy;. A pleasant beer.
Pours a dark gold in color with a white lacing. Flavors of cereal and toasted malt. Somewhat fruity with a mild bitterness.