CulturAle Press

Pizza Boy Da Fuq’n Pils, @ Al’s of Hampden, Enola, Pa.

Date:  November 17, 2018

The Story— Pilsners are really hard to brew well.   As we mentioned in a previous post, our Hop Pocket Ale, as complex and path breaking as it was at the time, came out almost perfectly on the first try.  Not so the “Hop Pocket Pils” (later renamed Keller Pils).   It was quite good, but only by the 7^th batch did we really fell the brewery had nailed what we were trying to do.   A Gold Medal at the Great American beer Festival confirmed the worth of our ideas and the brilliance of Jerry Bailey’s brewery.  We were at least as proud of the Bronze medal we won two years later in the “unfiltered beer” category – a category that included all sorts of Belgian and unconventional beers.

But we digress – a very good pils is a challenge even in Germany and Czech where they’ve been doing it for close to a couple of hundred years.   We’d guess that if Terry had the luxury of leaving the beer in the tank for two to three months he might turn out a world classic.

This pilsner is so good I’d think about getting a kegerator and having it as our go to beer – at least until we find a brewer to revive our Keller Pils.   It’s 5.15% abv  is a touch high, but who is going to quibble between the usual 4.8% and this.

The Beer—  The beer is chalky and hoppy for the style but it’s a nice tangy lager.  The clean late bitter is echt (authentic).  There may be a bit of modern hop taste to it but it drinks cleanly and well.   We brought it home in a can and it was good evidence that their can line is working quite well.

Value — good.   A single can at the brewery costs more than the going rate for a pint can, but the beer makes it worth the money.  You can get it cheaper by the six-pack.  (or the KEG, yup yup!)

This week we focus on the US to highlight some great American craft beers, some of which we’ve found in researching out first US Beer publication: Brews and Snooze-– Breweries you can visit and walk back to a fine place to spend the night.  Look for it in 2019.

Next week we return to  HIGHLIGHTS OF EUROPE–  Surprisingly good beer in “bad beer cities.”  The best we’ve found in researching our next book – a guide to great beer in European tourist cities. (Planned publication 2019.)   We’ll shift back to great American beer finds next week.

 About these posts:  We taste and evaluate over a thousand beers every year.  The beers posted here rank in the top quarter of those tastings.   Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.