Stoudts Pils

Stoudts Brewery has long been one of my favorite American craft breweries. I met Carol and Ed Stoudt years ago on the beer festival circuit and always enjoyed their German-style beers. Over the years, they've expanded their roster off ales.

Stoudts Pils is a traditional German-style Pils. The beer had a dark golden color, much darker than a typical pilsner, but not yet the copper color of a Sam Adams Lite. Surprisingly, my bottle poured very hazy - I suspect the effect of too much time spent warm on a package store shelf. It poured with a pretty good head, nice lacing on the glass that remained in place throughout the beer.

The Pils had a floral / perfume nose, with hints of pine and spice - the Saaz hops right out front. The aroma wasn't over the top, although my beer was likely a little too cold to really gauge.

The beer started spicy, with a bold hop flavor. I tasted Saaz and Hallertau, with an earthy character. The malt body was nicely balanced, not too malty, but enough to support the strong hop flavors of a well-designed european pilsner. It finishes dry and clean, with some lingering hop bitterness.

Stoudts Pils is great tasting beer, lots of hop flavor is a well-balanced golden lager, deserving of the many awards it has won over the years.