Penn Gold - Pennsylvania Brewing Company

Cylinsier

Pennsylvania

4.23/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

12 oz.

Pours a light clear lemony gold, white lacing.

Light grassy nose with some hints of citrus and hops.

Flavor is lightly sweet, honey and floral notes, with some subtle hop balance and grassy malts to base it all on.

Light body with a mild sting of carbonation.

An infinitely sessionable and wonderfully nuanced lager, maybe the best offering from Penn in terms of session candidates. Pairs great with a wide range of foods but tastes good enough to drink on its own too. Excellent balance. Definitely a beer I will return to.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2013 22:29:50 | More by Cylinsier

Tucquan

Pennsylvania

3.9/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Had this on 2012-12-25 in Columbia, PA

A - Midly-hazy with a 1.5 finger white head that fades pretty quickly and leaves mild lacing.

S - Bread dough, lemon, flowery hops, light yeast.

T - Pale malt, grass, biscuit, lemon, hop spice, light white pepper, good medium-lived tart citrus and bittering finish.

M - Light-medium body and medium-high carbonation. Crisp, sprightly and refreshing.

O - A very well-done Helles with plenty of quality aromas and taste in a session beer. Well done.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2012 23:58:57 | More by Tucquan

ThePaleRider

California

4.28/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Light yellow, fresh straw color. Bright white head, with a variety of bubble sizes, that disappears quickly leaving no lacing.

S - Light fruits, bitter hops, and pilsner malts. Nice scent for the style. Very earthy, like fress fall leaves.

T - Crisp, almost apple cider taste. Malts come in nicely. Pretty amazing flavor and bitter bite for a lager. Takes notes on this one guys, who knew a lager could have such an array of fruity esters and bitter bite.

M - Clean and crisp. Nice carbonation and light bodied.

O - Great lager, nice to drink a good lager every once in a while and this one is really nice.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2012 02:08:38 | More by ThePaleRider

jifigz

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bottle poured into a pint glass.

The beer pours a...well, what do you know, beautiful gold color with a head that doesn't last all that long. The head didn't leave any real lacing as it disappeared. The beer looks very carbonated by the amount of bubbles rising towards the surface. It looks like a pretty standard Helles. The aroma smells mostly clean and crisp with a little bit of "skunk" thrown in there. It smells a lot like an American macro Pilsner but with less grainy sweetness and a little more hop aroma. The flavor is pretty much what I expect out of a Helles lager. The initial flavor has that distinct Helles flavor that I can't really describe, then it fades to some sweetness, then the sweetness mingles with the hops, and then the sweetness kind of takes back over for the rest of the aftertaste. The MF is very light and just what I expect for the style. It finishes dry.

This is a very solid Helles Lager. The beer is crisp, dry, flavorful, and very easy drinking without being boring. Well done Pennsylvania Brewing Co. and thanks for representing my home state with the name of your wonderful brewery.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2012 15:28:14 | More by jifigz

MirkoCroCough

Croatia (Hrvatska)

4.83/5  rDev +26.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Bottle into pint glass. Freshness date marked on bottle.

Lovely golden color. Left a nice head and lacing.

Fresh delicious clean beer smell.

Wow! Perfect balance of hops, malts, and refreshing drinkability.

Clean and crisp. Excellent refreshing finish.

This is what beer is supposed to be. A straight up no pretense beer. Damn good. Put this up there with Victory Lager in terms of a pure beer. Some of the best beers in the world come out of Pennsylvania.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2012 01:22:13 | More by MirkoCroCough

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -15.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours a clean yellow color with a white head. In the aroma, a sweet malt and fresh lager notes. In the taste, a small sweet lager notes, quite fresh and a bit watery. A very small bite, but mainly smooth, and a light bodied mouthfeel, with a small and dry graininess in the aftertaste. Quite fresh, yet a bit sweet, nice, but just about average.

Serving type: bottle

06-01-2012 19:43:40 | More by OWSLEY069

king75

Michigan

4.28/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A-Light gold color, almost transparent. Descent head retention, descent lacing. Nothing to special, almost looks a little watery.

S- Can pick up hints of grain, light maltiness presence, and fragrance of hops is present.

T-Has a great crispness, has a grain flavor that is equally balanced by the hop flavor present. Very light across the palate but yet extremely flavorful.

Wow! this one way surpassed my expectations. When I first poured it I expected it to have a macro watery taste but I was truly blow away by the flavor of this beer. This beer is able to be extremely light across the palate and yet has a great flavor. Quite possibly the most drinkable beer I have ever had due to being overall light in body, full in flavor and low in alcohol percentage.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2012 19:43:43 | More by king75

NardiByNature

Massachusetts

4.18/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

White head builds and falls quickly but leaves a decent cap for the style: a few small islands and a collar. Remarkably clear and light golden golden. Bright? Yes.

The aroma from this is subtly earthy with some fresh grassiness.

Light toasted malts meld nicely with the mildly peppery-bitter hops.

Finishes clean and clear, the carbonation provides a well-placed crispness to divide subtle bitterness from the malt.

VERY sessionable beer in one of my favorite styles. I’m lucky enough at the moment to live in Pittsburgh where Germanic and East European heritage has rubbed off on local breweries like the Pennsylvania Brewing Company and Church Brew Works: they both make nice German-style lagers. I hope to see more lagers from American craft companies.

Serving type: bottle

03-06-2012 01:24:53 | More by NardiByNature

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Another beer I had on tap at the Restaurant at Penn Brewery.

A - A clear bright golden colored beer with a very sweet half inch of creamy white head. A simple swirl easily brings it back so nicely carbonated.

S - Slight bittering hops, bit of buttered popcorn, and bread with a touch of honey.

T - A very stellar Helles Lager. You get sweet honey like malts, then a surprising bit of bittering hops mild but present, and a finish of buttered bread.

M - It was medium bodied since I was stuffed on the food but it was very drinkable.

Overall one of the best I have ever encountered: good flavor, medium bodied, and sessionable. Would consider trying it again in the bottle to see if it's as good.

Serving type: on-tap

12-29-2011 02:35:01 | More by DrDemento456

mwa423

Ohio

3.23/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

On recommendation from a guy at church brew works, I moseyed on down the street to Penn

A - Pours a vry light straw color with minimal head and no lacing.

S - Aroma is light with a bit of grainy malt but little overall.

T - Taste was typical for a helles lager with light malty notes but very little flavor overall.

M/D - Mouthfeel is very light and smooth but watery. Very drinkable in the same way all very light beers are drinkable. Would be a good substitute for a bmc.

Serving type: on-tap

12-28-2010 01:38:17 | More by mwa423

Kanyon22

Massachusetts

4.13/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Got a sixer of these on my trip, visiting the family back in OH. Poured in to my Murphy's tulip tumbler glass.

A: Pours a dull goldish color with a white very fading head, with tons of little bubbles riding up the glass. Pretty much on point for style just wished head lasted longer then 20 seconds.

S: As a sweet raw dough smell with a hint of spiciness. Has that typical German beer funk smell I always get in these kinda beers. Has a nice clean smell nothing out of the ordinary

T: Starts out sweet and doughy. The middle it has a spicy kick from the hops and ends with a tart sourish finish. That might sound bad but it all combine for a very pleasant helles. This beer is probably what all the German helles taste like, but unfortunately I've probably never had one this fresh before.

M: Its surprisingly on the medium side which is amazing considering it comes in at 4% abv. Carbonation is high and it has a tart bready flavor that coats the throat a bit.

D: Super high at only 4.00% abv. also very cheap got a sixer for $7.99 and thy go down nice and easy and still has enough flavor to keep you satisfied, what more could you want.

Not an absolute behemoth beer and not one to get all excited about by beer geeks, but truly a wonderful take on the helles style lager.

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2010 19:35:09 | More by Kanyon22

mralphabet

Virginia

3.23/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle poured into pint glass

A: Clear and slightly darker than yellow. Good 1 1/2 head that settled to a ring with very little lacing

S: Very mild, mix of sweet malt, citrus hops and a little yeast.

T: Bready, biscuit like, with a sweetness, followed quickly by so tart citrus hops with just a bit of tartness. Finish is clean with no bitterness...

M: Light bodied with good carbonation. Crisp & Clean.

D: Very easy drinking beer, well balanced low ABV, you could drink quite a few of these... but there is just not enough here for me to buy again and again. Good but not fantastic.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2010 03:50:08 | More by mralphabet

krausenman

North Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +11%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A-This beer pours a golden color with a white head the fades leaving a lacy ring around the glass. The beer is very lightly hazy.

S-The beer has a very faint malty sweet smell with a very faint herbal/spicy hop aroma.

T-Initially, you can taste the sweetness of the malt but this is then balanced by the low to moderate hop bitterness.

M-Penn Gold has a lighter body that with a moderate carbonation.

D-The beer is balanced and has a good flavor reminiscent of the established german Munich Helles beers. Its lighter body and good balance of flavor makes is a very good session beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2010 00:41:05 | More by krausenman

KTCamm

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

A kind of run of the mill lager, certainly many notches above anything macro, but hardly memorable.

Hazy brownish yellow with some good foam, active carbonation. Malty/grainy smell, not distinctive.

Taste is a cleanish malty blend with a light hop throughout. Even keeled and consistent. Appropriately carbonated.

Drinkable, and at 4 ABV, easy to pack away a few. A good brew, no complaints.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2010 11:07:41 | More by KTCamm

BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.33/5  rDev -13.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Penn Gold is that beer that most micro breweries feel that they need to produce to make the local American Adjunct Lager drinkers proud. It's fruity notes make the beer seem more like a Blonde Ale or Cream Ale.

A solid golden color shows a lot of carbonation. Froathy white foam rises and falls rather quickly. No lacing.

A malty/grainy aroma swirls in the glass and struggle to hide the scents of corn sulfurs, fruity esters, and grassy hops.

Flavors also show the part-malt, part-grain flavors. A bit too sweet, but the hops have an earthy-grassy flavor and a bit weak in the balance. Light acidity reminds me of green apples and lemon peel (kinda shandy-like). Still the sulfurs leave the lingering taste of corn and matches.

Sweetness clings to the mouth early but the aggressive carbonation scrubs the malts and grains off of the tongue. The acidity helps with the crispness along with the carbonation. But that co2 and sulfur texture scratches a bit in the end.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2010 21:08:12 | More by BEERchitect

dungledauf

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Presentation: Pint glass on draft at the brewery.

Appearance: Bright, golden color. Very clear. Low carbonation with thin lacing.

Smell: Very malty with faint smell of hops. Clean smell.

Taste: Medium bodied, malt flavor lingers with slight aftertaste which balances quickly.

Mouthfeel: Crisp, all-grain malt, smooth.

Drinkability: This is a very good representation of this style. This one is my favorite Penn Brewery beer since the brewery returned. Similar to Weihenstephaner's Original Lager.

Serving type: on-tap

03-29-2010 16:14:18 | More by dungledauf

kegger22

Michigan

3.93/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

Penn Gold was a clear yellow in color with a half inch, white head that remained as a splotchy skin covering.

The aroma was malt and grainy, pleasant and inoffensive.

The taste was sweet and grainy too, although there were some hops present in the after taste.

The mouth feel was light bodied and amply carbonated.

Drinkability was good. Penn Gold has a pleasing flavor and a very low ABV; you could drink these all day.

Serving type: bottle

02-13-2010 05:23:03 | More by kegger22

stakem

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev 0%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a very clear golden color with a thin white head. Slight hop spiced aroma blends with some maltiness and a touch of butter. It is a subtle nose but quite pleasant. Very drinkable beer with a crisp finish. Tastes include grain, malt and slight bitter hops to balance it out. Medium feel and moderate to light carb. It is simple yet good enough to want and sit down and have a few of.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2010 02:20:54 | More by stakem

Minkybut

Virginia

2.98/5  rDev -22.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

I poured this beer into my tumbler at 45 degrees. The beer had a non-existing head and was a nice gold color. The beer had a bit of a fruity smell. The beer I think was old as it was a bit flat tasting. It had a slightly bitter finish. I was not impressed and will not buy again.

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2009 21:38:13 | More by Minkybut

Naugled

New York

3.08/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Served in pilsner glass.
Light copper color and clear with absolutely no head and little carbonation
Sweet appropriate malty aroma,
Good malt flavor and balance for a helles.
Medium mouth feel
Drinkable but lack luster, very average.
Maybe the beer was old or a bad example. I plan to try again to give a fair shake.

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2009 21:29:49 | More by Naugled

Mardukk

Ohio

3.98/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a hazy golden color with excellent head retention and some lacing. Not too much to the smell some faint sweet malt.

It has a tasty grainy sweet malt taste that is well balanced. The hops are very light just enough of a bit on the back end to keep this beer from being too sweet. Quite a few different flavors jump out including bread and citrus in limited amount.

The mouthfeel is light, almost too light for the style.

Drinkability is limitless with it's pleasant lighter taste and very low end ABV.

Overall, as a fan of the style I would prefer a bit more of everything as this seems to almost be a helles lager light.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2009 00:47:11 | More by Mardukk

goblue3509

Pennsylvania

3.03/5  rDev -20.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Pours an orange copper color with a slight head. The smell is a little faint, but has the presence of sweet malt and some sweet breads. The overall taste is a little weak as well. There is a grain and sweet malt backbone with some bread taste and a faint citrus hop. The mouthfeel is of moderate carbonation. Overall this is an average beer, you can drink one or two but no more.

Serving type: on-tap

09-14-2009 22:01:45 | More by goblue3509

AgentZero

Illinois

3.3/5  rDev -13.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Received in a trade from dpodratsky3.

A - Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a mug. Coppery color, clear with thin streams of bubbles rising to the top. Small 1/2 inch head on this one that dissipated quickly with no lacing.

S - Not a whole lot on the nose, smells a little watery. Sweet smell, and a little sour with an absence of hops.

T - Tastes like it smells, needs to have fuller flavor. Some nice grains come through on this after the initial sweetness. No hops whatsoever, but that usually works for me for this type of beer. Ends a little bit sour. Tastes good, but wish it was giving more.

M - Sits fine in the mouth, nice amount of carbination balances out the sweetness.

D - Well, really easy to get down, especially if I'm eating food with it, can drink these all day.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2009 17:30:58 | More by AgentZero

Morey

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a light orange-copper color with a nice white head that has settled to a thin lace after a few minutes or so. Little to almost no stick on the side of the glass.

Smells pretty typical for the style. Wheat, bready and malty.

Ok...as far as the taste goes..it's decent. I've only had a handful of this style to date, so I'm no expert here. To me, there's a slight metallic taste here followed up by some malty sweetness along with some mild hops presence with moderate carbonation.

Mouthfeel- thin with a bitey carbonation.

This is definitely an easy drinking beer.

Morey's Bottom Line: To give this beer a fair shake, I'll likely edit this review down the road after I've had the chance to explore the style a bit more. Good, but to me, it's not living up to it's reputation. I had Stoudt's Helles a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed it a bit more.

Serving type: bottle

08-30-2009 23:49:28 | More by Morey

butti001

Pennsylvania

3.78/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Purchased the Penn Brewery Variety Pack and poured a 12 oz bottle of Penn Gold into a brewer's glass. ABV is labeled at 4.0%

The beer pours a nice light straw color with quickly dissipating 1 inch head.

Okay first off, the taste of the beer. The thing that doesn't impress me about this beer is that nothing jumps out of the glass and grabs your attention. There is undertones of grain and malt that leaves an aftertaste of sweetness. A slight hops flavor but nothing that will grab your attention. The beer is very "middle-of-the-road" between Hops and malt. It would be nice if it had more of an aftertaste to keep you impatiently waiting for the next sip.

The beer has good drinkability and is able to be consumed in large amounts due to it's moderate carbonation and light body.

Bottom line is: Very little to this beer, middle of the road, but it is a quality beer that has a crisp and clean taste. This is a good (not great) beer to pack in the cooler on a hot day because the light body will be sure to quench your thirst.
Very much worth trying but not a "run to the store immediately" beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-20-2009 03:34:20 | More by butti001