Samuel Adams Downtime Pilsner
A laidback golden pilsner that’s full of character. The fun of brewing is that it’s always evolving, even in the world’s most popular beer style, the pilsner, there’s still room for creativity. For our German Pilsner we wanted to showcase both new & heritage hops from the original hop gardens of Bavaria. The classic Noble hops offer a floral spiciness while the new varieties create a fruity & citrusy character for an elegant, light bodied yet flavorful brew.
3.2
151 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
From the bottled poured a clear, golden brew with a nice white head. Aromas and flavors of malt and citrus hops. Not bad for an American Pilsner.
12 oz. bottle. Poured slightly hazy golden. White head. Aroma was citrus, hops and pepper. Taste was sweet with peppery finish.
Solid Pilsner. Not on Noble Pils level, but still good. Aroma was sweet grains, lightly hoppy and just a tad perfumey. Pour was a clear light gold with a thin white ring for a head. Taste was just as the aroma suggested. Lightly hoppy with sweet grains and a semi dry wet finish. Minimal hop bitterness and medium carbonation. Good beer for a hot day and for wimpy BMC drinkers
Bottle. Aroma is grainy and lemony with odd pool water scents. Tastes the same. Kinda watery. Perfumy lemon cleaner and pool water throws this off.
When Sam Adams discontinued their Noble Pils for the first time I was furiously disappointed. It was the best beer in their lineup. I was jacked up when they announced it would be coming back full time as a Brewmasters Series beer. The Noble Pils 2.0 beer wasn’t the same though as their original Noble Pils. It had become more of an IPA tasting beer. After Sam Adams discontinued their Noble Pils 2.0 in April ’15 I thought they had lost their marbles.
Enter the Downtime Pilsner I tried it from a sampler pack. This beer is pretty much what the Noble Pils 1.0 was...a classic pilsner with a pleasant hop bite & dry finish. This stuff is awesome, you just have to try it.
I’m going to write a letter to Sam Adams asking them to never discontinue this beer & to sell it in 12 packs. Besides their Boston Lager and the Rebel IPA beers, this is definitely their best. There isn’t a Pilsner beer like it around.
Pours a golden yellow with a thin white head. Aroma is spicy, citrus, and floral notes, and some bread malts. Flavor is spicy and floral notes, some citrus, along with the bread malts. Has a light, crisp mouthfeel. Not too bad.
Samuel Adams Downtime Pilsner has a thick, white head, a bubbly, hazy, golden appearance, and fairly substantial lacing left on the glass. The aroma is of spicy, lemony, grassy, white bread, and the flavor is of all that, with noticeable, yet mellow hop bitterness and even an underlying fruit component. Mouthfeel is medium, and Samuel Adams Downtime Pilsner finishes dry and highly drinkable. RJT
Bottle. Poured into glass. Golden color with an off white head. Hoppy aroma. This an IPA in sheeps clothing. Good beer nonetheless.
Pretty bland, but a clean and crisp hop profile. Medium golden color with modest head.
12 oz bottle from Kroger. Pours a clear golden color with a medium sized off white head. The aroma was fairly mild, but what I got was the same as the flavor. The Flavor had Pilsner malts, corn, herbal hops, light citrus, grains, this is pretty basic and not a style I enjoy, pass the next time.
Clear golden. Nice lacing head. Not much aroma, perhaps just a bit peachy. Drinks really well. Fruity punchy spritz carbonation with a nice fruity finish
bottle. pale golden with one finger head. grassy light body. mild sweetness, a bit floral. reasonably hopped for the style. more hop flavor than bitterness. it’s not going to blow anyone away, but a solid pilsner is something i can almost always enjoy.
Grass and scallion nose, strong. Clear golden, thin head. Grass, cat pee, daffodil, pungent. Medium body, moderate carbonation. Fullish body for the style, which I kind of like. The hopping is intense and loud. A pilsner for contemplation.
fruity hoppy and fresh. caramel bready malt. a bit sticky with fuller body. nice malt and hop fruit aroma. not really that much of a pils but good beer. good burpy carbonation that is smooth and natural.
Bottle, shared by me... in my dining room... just now.
Pours a nice pale yellow, lightly hazy with a big fluffy white head and good lacing on the glass.
The aroma is unfortunately faint, mostly it’s got crisp malt and some light herbal and fruity hop notes, but mostly everything about the bouquet is muted.
The flavor presents a beer that delivers what the label promises, only lightly sweet with a crisp malt character... certainly hop forward with a nicely balanced mix of fruity orange and herbal hop varietals. It’s spicy and has a very pleasant level of bitterness.
I enjoy this.
Bottle to shaker glass, pours clear yellow gold. Two plus finger white frothy head. Nice lacing and great retention. Aroma is floral and grassy. Taste is more sweet than bitter. Light bodied, lively carbonation, soapy mouth feel. Finishes bittersweet. Tasting notes of grass, hay, bread, herbs and flowers. Average.
medium golden color, clear, very thin white head. aroma has nice grassy and spicy qualities, mildly citrusy as well. flavor initially is lemony, followed by a bit of spice and eases into an earthy/grassy finish. The aroma was quite nice, but the taste wasn’t there. not bad though.
Very similar to an IPA in aroma, yet with a milder taste. Not much of an IPA fan I can appreciate the slight sweetness and less bitter finish. Has a cloudy body with a nice gold color and a medium white head with nice lacing. Not bad.
Single bottle from Albertson in Vegas. Pours an almost clean light-golden colour with a soapy white cap, average stay and some nice foam lacing. Noble hop smell with it’s spicy, citrus and grass aromas. The taste has the same hops covering some mild cereal malts. Not a Euro Pils as the hop is a little more dominate like most American ones, but as a brew, very nice. Refreshing and could have a few a these, if wanting a hoppy golden beer (other then an IPA or APA). Simple, but a great hops used.
Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a slightly hazy bright yellow color with a large fluffy yellow-white head that lingered and left decent lacing. The aroma was citric and perfumey hops. The flavor was sweet and fruity with a bit of perfume and cactus. long lemony finish. Medium body. Ok.
bottle @ Jungle Jims / Eastgate OH --- Clear medium-light amber with a good 2" white head, lace cobwebs. Taste is similar to German Pilsners - Grassy malt to open, a burst of carbonation, then solid floral hops. More fizz and maybe a little spice at the end. It’s a pretty solid example of the style.
355ml bottle. Golden pour. Aroma is unusual, spiced/herbs, bleach, shitty. Falvor is floral, herbal, sweetish, just a shitty pils.
Bottle at home on Thanksgiving. Aroma is grassy, clean, lemon. Flavor is mild with Crackery malt, lemon, grass, and a creamy texture. Herbal grassy crisp finish. Pretty good.
Bottle. Clear golden body with white head. Aroma of floral hops, citrus lemon, grass, dough. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly bitter. It finishes lightly to moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Starts crisp and clean, but gums up in the finish with grassy taste, lemon peel and a hint of vitamin B.
12 oz bottle froma 6-pack purchased at Winco huge ass supermarket in south Salem OR,
$7.28
Typical clear golden-yellow beer..but with a bigger,rockier white head.
Nice enough aromas, floral hoppiness balanced by strong caramel malts.
Taste mainlly the same floral and slightly grassy/fruity hops with a nice crackerish malt backing.
Mouth feel is fine for the style medium thin with medium carbonation.
Actually not a bad little beer for drinking not thinking!
Light golden color with a smaller off-white head. Aromas of lightly buttered white toast with a thin layer of orange marmalade. Crisp feel. Grainy/pale malt start. Citric bitterness in the middle. A lager with a pilsner quest. Misses the mark for me. Too citric. Finish has a bit of apricot to further confuse things.
bottled with Rich, clear golden color with mild biscuit aroma, flavor is soft hops, mild biscuit and bread, green finish
12 oz. bottle
stamped Feb 2016
Chalice glass.
A: Crystal clear medium gold color with some a bubbles visible. Little head from the gentle pour but good sheets of lace.
S: Nice light grassy smell of hay and light toast.
T: Good balance of sharp sour bread balanced by mildly bitter herbal hop notes. Crisp and clean even if fairly nondeScript.
M: Light and crisp with a nice bite and a clean, dry bitter finish. Maybe a tad watery though.
O: It’s no Noble Pils and not even a great replacement for it, but it is a serviceable pils, which will be widely available and competitively priced so sure, it’s worth an occasional purchase if you like the style.
Golden yellow, thin head. Smells bready, toasty, and a bit toasty. Seems a bit too viscous on the palate. Taste is a little on the sweet side, with a peppery hop finish.
12 oz bottle, thanks Poisoneddwarf- Pours lightly hazy with little particles and a small soapy white head. Aroma is biscuty, grassy, floral, herbal. The taste is biscuty, dry hops, grassy, spicy, sweet malt. Not a bad pilsner, would like to compare to their noble pils, not sure what the difference is.