Saranac Golden Pilsener
Crisp, clean taste; look for the trademark hop aroma and finish from "dry-hopping" and wheat malts.
2.7
294 reviews
Utica, United States
Community reviews
12 oz bottle into pit glass. Crystal clear golden with some subtle rising carbonation. Nice white head that actually left some lace and lasted decently well. Refreshing light aroma of pale malt with a hint of resinous hops (very slight... the "dry-hopping" they boast about didn’t do much). Flavor is still lite but offers a bit more in the hop department than the aroma - pale malt with some hop bitterness (not much floral, citrus, or pine hop flavor thought). No alcohol on the flavor, very refreshing and drinkable. Light as a feather on the palate and not overly carbonated like macro lagers. Overall: simple, session able, refreshing. Probably the most impressive of its style that I encountered in the Saranac mixed 12 pack I bought (2 bottles of each of their summer release brews). (I gave it a 14 overall just to boost this to a 3.0... I don’t believe it is a 2 point beer, for its style).
Opaque, light "golden" body--effervescent throughout with a thick, pillowy head in a jever pokal... nice lacing as the glass’s contents drain... soft, smooth pilsner malts... surprised at the labels’ "wheat" beer nomenclature--don’t quite see or smell that--soft pings of hops here and there--somewhat complex... crisp, dry palate, reminiscnet of a white wine in some respects... medium-bodied with some ending effervescence... little at the teeth to denote hops, and yet the slightly acidic burn--again, like a lesser wine--curbs and scrapes the end result... I had higher hopes for this pilsner, which straddles the American and European varieties into a muddled result, a pleasantly clean, tastebud-confusing blend...
12 oz. bottle. Golden color with a medium frothy head and columns of carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass. Aroma is skunky and grassy. Tart taste, almost tasting of a tart candy with apple and grassy notes. Not bitterness. As others have said, this is definitely an odd brew.
Straw colored with a sour hop aroma. Overall its a pleasant beer but as a pilsener I think it has too much malt and not enough hops compared to the better ones out there.
bottle: Overall, I’ve found these Saranac beers to be thin on mouthfeel & lacking flavour. This is an odd one. Typical pils in the sour almost bitter thirst quenching. Alot like PIls Urquell but this bitterness is almost harsh. I taste too much cider to be a pils.
Was not happy with this beer at ALL. This just tasted like it was made bitter just to be bitter. No true taste to it.
The aroma is weak with malt and grassy hops. The appearance is pale gold with a nice head. The flavor is like the aroma. The palate is thin. Overall there isn’t much to it.
In the variety Summer Pack from HyVee CB. Pours a standard gold with a respectably large white head. Mild lemon aroma. This has the hop flavor that reminds me more of a Brittish IPA than a pilsener. Very odd and unexpected. Slightly medicinal and unpleasant palate. I’d say this one was a bomb.
Bottle. Pours golden yellow with a bubbly white head. Sweet aroma with caramel and grass. Body is a bit watery. Flavor has grassy and floral hops with a bit of sweet malt. Pretty good.
Light grainy aroma. Clear golden color with a small white head. Light malt taste, lacking a lot of flavor. Light palate.
Most often I just won’t drink pilsner because so many are done so poorly but I really liked this. A lot of beers ay they are golden but this one holds true, no hazy pale hay color, a real gold glow. Flavor was refeshing and hoppy. After having so many beers that hit me over the head with hops it was good to have a subtle one. great after 3 days of 85+ heat weather and something that could be enjoying by any bud drinker
Just when you think you’ve had them all, there is always another saranac sticking it’s head up to be tried! Brown 12 oz bottle. At the lift of the cap there is this slight farty smell but once you pour this stuff into a mug the olfactory turns to attractive, nearly lemon peel, citrus. Pale yellow ubiquitous american beer appearance. Very nice initially on the tongue. Fun and easy with the manners of a gentleman. Very little pilsner bite and this stuff is really easy to get along with, for a lager lover. Fairly mild and relatively non-offensive session brew. Has just enough bite to let you know this is not typical pale lager. It’s been a while since I had a saranac and this brew does not seem to have any of that saranac background flavor that is so common to many of their other brews. Just a mild bitter pilsner bite on the finish which builds slightly as to provide a short linger. Very good effort saranac!
smooth but with not much flavor. very drinkable, reminded me of beer i would drink in college
A nice pilsener. This is typical Saranac. Not great, not bad just average but very drinkable. Aroma was weak. Light pilsner malt with some grassiness. Pour was a light gold with decent bubbles and a 1.5 finger tan head. Taste was a little wetter than I like the style. Biscuit and light malt in the front, but a generous bitter hoppy bite in the aftertaste.
Summer Mix Pack. Pours a deep golden color with a huge amount of head due to excessive carbonation. Decent easy to drink as are most Matt brews but nothing exceptional. A decent pilsener but I would not buy again
Poured a light yellow/white head. The aroma was wheaty with hints of hops. The flavor isn’t to indepth having hints of dry hopping and wheat. A little watered down. Refreshing and crisp as the CD say’s.
Mild flavorful brew that has a gold color and smells like beer. Doesn’t finish as cleanly as other saranacs.
Pours yellowish with decent head. Aroma is straw, wheat and citrus. Flavor was much the same- unfortunately lacking in flavor and character. Typical pilsener mouthfeel- watery and thin.
It was poured from a 12oz bottle into pilsener glass. It has a bright golden yellow color with great clarity and a thin white head that hangs on and just covers the body. Some lace is left behind on the glass. The aroma is sweet, almost fruity and floral hops are present. The flavor has a light malt presence with a lovely crisp hop flavor that adds nice floral and citrus notes. Bitterness is mild and not overpowering. The body is light with a good active carbonation and a refreshingly quick clean finish. Notes: Kudos to Saranac for going with brown bottles for there pilsener instead of the more common green bottles. I never understood why a beer style that is so sensitive to light and freshness would be put into green bottles that allow more light to filter through it.
Color of honey with nice white dissapearing head. Nose of corn and wheat. Light hop flavor. Medium thin body. Clean and lemony. Not a great Pils, but not horrible..
not enough flavor, the malts and hops are both in the back burner, kinda of bland. not much to look at.
Light gold colored body with thin-to-no head. Smells piney/hoppy, but not very strong. Tastes like lemon and hop mostly, slightly sweet. I’ve had better pilsners, but God knows with all the American macro-swill pilsners kicking around, there are a lot of worse ones. It’s stronger than them. Surprisingly good mouth-feel, though I suspect the carbonation has sometihng to do with that... Light and sweet, rather enjoyable after a hot summer day, but not something I’d run out and buy again.
Bottle: A very light crisp taste. Hoppy aroma. A good pilsener. Light and easy.
Bottle. Pour dark fold and clear. Smells of light hops and fruity. Crisp sweet taste. Not a bad beer. I am kind of liking this box of summer beers.
Smell was hoppy/grassy. Appearance was clear gold, thin head that diminished quick. Flavor tasted like lemongrass. Palate was crisp. This beer was beer, but not something id get again.
Bottle: Golden pour with a fair amount of clarity and a thin white head. Bisquity aroma; grassy as well with a sweet pale malt hint. Very light, fluffy body. Flavor is mild. Subtle pale malt hints, but not much body at all. It has a very mild tart nte (lemon peel) But overall it’s bland and lacking character.
Pours a golden copper color. Not to strong of an aroma. A little hoppy, but thats about it. Flavor is good though. Crisp and very refereshing. Usually not a fan of pilsners or pale lagers, but this is good. Very crisp and drinkable.
Sampled from Saranac’s summer beer mixer pack. Golden color, relatively thick head and nice amount of lacing. Light-bodied and pretty refreshing, just not anything special. There is a slight hop bite but overall it could use a little more flavor. Still, not a bad sun beer.
From a 12 fl. oz. (US) bottle with a lot code of 0648 15067. Pours a golden yellow with limited off-white head. The carbonation is pretty evident. The aroma is a little grassy (probably the wheat) and slightly malted. The flavor is also a tad grassy and rather watered down. But it is dry. This is Saranac doing its best Bud-Miller-Coors immitation though. Not bad but nothing extraordinary.
Had from a summer pack. Pours yellow with a slight hops aroma but nothing crazy. The taste is fresh but undefined.