Hopfenkönig - Brauerei Schloss Eggenberg

PartyBear

United Kingdom (England)

3.73/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

Served from a chilled 330ml bottle into a half pint pilsener glass. Bottle comes with a modern ring pull cap.

Appearance: Golden and clear, with a fast fading head. Worryingly little carbonation.

Aroma: Grassy hops, along with a slight metallic smell. Grainy wheat notes.

Taste: Crisp and dry flavours. The hops are bitter and slightly grassy. The malts are very subtle and bready. There are certain flowery flavours as well.

Mouthfeel: Light and crisp, however it is a bit too flat.

Drinkability: Very drinkable pilsener, perfect served ice cold. Not impressed with the carbonation though, there should be more. The lack of carbonation might have been down to a bad bottle though, so I will be trying this again in the future, and re-reviewing.

Serving type: bottle

09-05-2009 15:55:57 | More by PartyBear

clayrock81

Virginia

3.68/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a straw gold body with a frothy two-finger head that slowly dies on top of a earthy, grassy/mildew hop smell that is not grainy at all. Textbook with a light body that is smooth and has a minor touch of sweetness but is mostly crisp with citrusy/lemony wet hops. Goes down easy and is a nice change of pace on a summer day. Enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2009 00:57:29 | More by clayrock81

ADZA

Australia

3.95/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

This beer pours a pale straw see thru hue with nice carbonation that leads to a one finger head that slowly subsides and leaves alot of lacing down the glass,it has a nice grassy,floral aroma to it which smells like noble hops,it has average mouthfeel and the taste is very crisp and refreshing with a nice floral taste about it and the aftertaste is nice and dry,this is definately a nice session beer that is easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2009 02:14:05 | More by ADZA

ArrogantDeadGuy

Virginia

4.28/5  rDev +22.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Crystal clear yellow with slight carbonation
and a scant head.

S: Banana and sweet malt with grassy graininess

T: Banana/fruit notes with a slight hop finish
but a very oat/barley/grassy themes.

M/D: Smooth/Crisp/clean and even bodied. very
drinkable and a superior alternative to
macro swill for only about a $1 more a
pint at my local watering hole.

Serving type: on-tap

07-17-2009 00:44:48 | More by ArrogantDeadGuy

CrellMoset

Virginia

3.85/5  rDev +10%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On tap at Beer Run, Charlottesville, VA. Served in a 10 oz. nonic.

Appearance: A bright, crisp, clear yellow beer, filled with medium-sized carbonation of average speed, nucleating both on the sides of the glass as well as the bottom. The fizzy snow white head fades relatively quickly but does leave a surprising amount of lace, soapy and sudsy and sticky. Bodes well for the hop content.

Aroma: Crisp, grassy hops, light spicy hop notes, as well. Malts take a back seat here, which is nice.

Taste: Pretty standard, but nice. A sweeter than average (perhaps) backbone, slightly crisp but largely soft, with some slight spicy background notes - clove-esque almost - with a nice, lightly spicy, slightly herbal hop note. Simple and straightforward, though perhaps a little sweet.

Mouthfeel: Soft yet crisp, a good balance. Mild, soft carbonation in a thinner-on-the-whole body.

Drinkability: Low in abv%, balanced (though a little sweet), light, and drinkable - what more do you want outside on a warm June day?

Serving type: on-tap

06-20-2009 19:40:53 | More by CrellMoset

JayQue

Virginia

3.3/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

An average Pilsner. Looks good, pours a clear light gold color with a lot of carbonation and a soft, white head that hangs around a while. Some lacing as well.

Smell is mild bitter hops. Taste is just average. Grassy hops up front and flat, slightly sour malt backing it up.

Mouthfeel starts out crisp, the carbonation is evident. The malts flatten the feel out, kind of like a BMC lager.

Drinkability is ok, nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

04-17-2009 22:47:17 | More by JayQue

Nickls

District of Columbia

3.58/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

(From notes)

A - Clear, golden color; poured with a finger of frothy, pure white head. Pretty decent retention.

S - Fairly muted, grassy hop aroma, with a more general "Euro Pale Lager" aromas. Not much going on here.

T - Taste improves over the aroma with a snappy and crisp hop bitterness that is still a bit conservative for the style. Pleasant malt background that lets the hops do the talking.

M - Thinner MF, tight bubbly carbonation.

D - Certainly drinkable, but lacks some of the complexities of others I've tried in the range. Not a bad brew, and could certainly handle a couple in a row...pretty easy going stuff.

Overall, not a bad example of the style, but would have liked some more complexity and hop presence. Decent brew.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2009 03:34:54 | More by Nickls

wchesak

Virginia

4.33/5  rDev +23.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured into a tall pilsner glass

A- straw gold colored with a few fingers with of off white head

S- bready with a slight lemon smell, hops is slightly noticeable but wish it was more

T- light malt with the hops finishing and lingering at the end

M- great carbonation and finishes smooth

D- just like a good pilsner should be, very drinkable but enough depth to push it passed your normal macro pils

always looking for a good pils , seem to have found a good one

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2009 23:08:44 | More by wchesak

allboutbierge

Austria

4.2/5  rDev +20%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

A solid offering. Fresh can...very comparable to Pilsner Urquell.

A slightly more copper color compared to many US craft offerings. Crisp and herby aroma. Drier hop flavors with sizable malt background to balance. Carbonation tickles tongue and hops tickle the nose.

One of Austria's best all around beers.

Reasonably priced @ 79 cents a can.

Serving type: can

03-04-2009 13:10:57 | More by allboutbierge

argock

Virginia

3.45/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from 12oz green bottle into a clear stange. No freshness date. Single purchased at Wine Warehouse (Charlottesville) for $2.10.

A: Clear honey-gold with frothy 1-finger white head with nice retention and spare lacing.

S: Spicy noble hops with bready base

T: Prototypical German pilsener with bready Munich and pale malt cut with spicy noble hops. Flavor is subdued, and I wish it came on a little bit stronger.

M: A tad light in body with active carbonation and spicy hops aftertaste.

D: A drinkable, good but unspectacular German pils.

Serving type: bottle

01-09-2009 04:25:28 | More by argock

Macca

Australia

3.1/5  rDev -11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

This pours a very light golden colour. A centimetre of head has great retention. Lots of visible carbonation.

Quite a grainy aroma. A little bit of lemon in there as well.

Not a lot of flavour to speak of. The mouthfeel is soapy. Not very pleasant.

Quite disappointed with this one.

Serving type: bottle

12-31-2008 08:03:25 | More by Macca

stone3187

Virginia

3.64/5  rDev +4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75

Pours a light golden color, smells of freshly cleaned floral hops. The taste starts off with strong hops and finishes very clean. This is one of the better pilsners I have had, I would recommend it as an alternative to some of the macro European pilsners.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2008 18:59:21 | More by stone3187

gearkraft

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a wheaty-straw color... really has a nice even character when held up to light. Pretty good head with slight lacing.

S: A bubbly mix of carbonation and grains... sweet with a little hops.

T: Best part of the beer... A rich, and effervescent rush of malted grain, that is quickly followed by hops. A "sugary" and slightly sweet aftertaste lingers.

M: Very refreshing, very uplifting with clean finish.

D: Good drinkability. Great beer on a warm afternoon or on a porch or with your friends. Too bad this is difficult to find. Good stuff for sure.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2008 22:37:54 | More by gearkraft

BeerSox

Virginia

4/5  rDev +14.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap into pilsner glass.

Clear straw hue with a thin white head that settles to almost nothing. Grassy aromas in the nose along with some soft grain. The malt flavors are very light and biscuity with only a modest hop bite, which is perfect. Light bodied with a good amount of carbonation. Not too fizzy. The finish is pretty clean with only a bit of grain linering.

Pretty refreshing, great for the summer. Recommended.

Serving type: on-tap

08-02-2008 02:34:39 | More by BeerSox

Beertracker

Oklahoma

3.8/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Schloss Eggenberg Hopfenkönig pours up rather neatly with a lacy white head that fully encompasses the pilsener glass. The near brilliant clarity makes the light golden body shine brightly in the light. The aromatics are surprisingly malty upfront with a lovely graininess from the continental pils malt. There's a distinctive mild herbal (catty) spiciness from the noble Saaz hops that defines the finish. Very clean, no fruitiness or diacetyl. Maybe just an initial hint of DMS in the background which is OK per style. The classic flavor starts off lightly malty with a mild, balanced bitterness that carries well into the crisp, off-dry, slightly mineral finish. Medium-light bodied with ample carbonation. This is an easy drinking, finely tuned Pilsner from one of the world's great lager breweries. Try pairing some traditional Kasnocken (cheese dumplings) or your favorite freshwater fish (black bass, steelhead trout, sockeye salmon, etc... with some Salzburger Nockerln (a meringue-like dish) for dessert.

PROST! Beertracker

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2008 04:58:32 | More by Beertracker

kimcgolf

Georgia

2.85/5  rDev -18.6%
look: 2 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 3.5

Typical low grade pilsner, though I was actually expecting more form Castle Eggenberg. Poured to a light gold with a little skim of a white head and little lacing. Nose was faint and grainy, mouthfeel flat, and the flavor followed the nose. To top it off was a short stale finish.

Pass on this one.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2007 19:18:11 | More by kimcgolf

dedrinker

Kansas

3.45/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This beer is pours a light straw color, but it is a little hazy for the style. A touch of murkiness is quite unbecoming of a Germanic pilsner, but this is Austria, so whatever. The aroma is of hay and a hint of sulphur. The flavor is light malts, clean, a touch of dry, minty hop, and then more light malt and minty hop on the finish. Quite drinkable, but so is Stella. I would prefer this over that of course, but once again, timtim... my hope, my last heir, my pupil; all over the map with contradictory descriptions and ratings. How can you get your point across when you don't even know what you are trying to say?

Serving type: bottle

12-19-2007 06:20:05 | More by dedrinker

timtim

District of Columbia

4.08/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

top notch as far as what is available in the states. head retention and lace weren't all that, but the nose and taste were great for the style. nice and floral, funky hops as well as a great pils malt thing going on. body was fuller than expected and not too dry, but still light and crisp. easy to drink and food friendly. not my style but really refreshing and enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2007 07:53:31 | More by timtim

doboy

North Carolina

4.4/5  rDev +25.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This was a nice Austrian Pils, a good example of the Pils style.. Nice tase and mouthfeel. Smooth drinkability. Nice straw color with good carbonation, nice lacy head which remained to the last drop. This bottle was out of VA. Hope I can get it in NC.

Thanks for the beer, Matt!

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2007 19:43:16 | More by doboy

mrasskicktastic

New Jersey

2.4/5  rDev -31.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

A - A faint haze on a pale lemon yellow brew. Medium head. Tiny streaks of lacing.

S - A grainy light malt - nothing else really.

T - Bread - whole wheat bread. Aftertaste is a bland bitterness with a lingering weat bread flavor. It is a really cheap wheat bread flavor too.

M - Thin, smooth, a bit refreshing.

D - Okay, but not a lot of flavor overall. Too bready - really it is all a bready flavor. Not worth having.

Serving type: on-tap

09-21-2007 06:37:36 | More by mrasskicktastic

cypressbob

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

3.43/5  rDev -2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

330ml bottle, poured into a pint glass

Pours with a yellowy body, lots of little bubbles. Patchy egg white head with fair retention. Lots of patchy lacing all up and down the glass

Smell, grainy malt, grassy hops, smooth lager yeast character. Little bit musty, skunky to some degree, some citric acid zest

Taste, crisp and crunchy malty body with a fair whack of grassy hops, crisp on the palette. Some lemon zestiness

Solid, but a little bit dull

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2007 11:44:44 | More by cypressbob

blackie

Virginia

4.38/5  rDev +25.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

revisiting an old favorite from my days in Triangle, VA...picked up at The Caboose in Ashland, where the shopkeep informed me it had arrived only a month ago so it's definitely not skunked.

a: Pours a low, perfectly white head that partially recedes. The beer is a bright golden color. Moderate lacing is left behind on the glass.

s: Smells damn good. "Skunky" in a good way, perfectly to style and integrated well with the noble hops and biscuity pilsner malts. Aromas of clean malt sweetness.

m: Carbonation on the low side of the high range, and pretty smooth considering. The body is light without being thin.

t: Certainly a well done pilsner flavor. The stylistically required skunk takes a backseat to grassy noble hops and a clean, crisp malt flavor. Light to moderate sweetness level, perfectly balanced. A very pleasing bitterness level graces the finish.

d: I could certainly drink a gross of these on a hot day. If anything, I've underrated this one as a whole.

Serving type: bottle

07-05-2007 00:23:20 | More by blackie

mdagnew

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

3.63/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

330ml bottle bought from GapWines, Belfast...

Poured a crystal clear light golden colour... white head poured big, thick, foamy and meringue like then faded slowly to light layer.... no real carbonation... some light patchy lacing...

Aroma - Light biscuity malts, peppery hops, spicy fruits (light lemons, apricots, apples), sea saltiness, freshly cut grass notes, some creaminess, light honey sweetness, floral notes...

Taste - Nice light spicy / peppery hops, quite sweet fruits (apricots, faint oranges, lemons), honey, light vanilla notes, quite sweet malts, some bready notes, definite light sea saltiness...

Feel - Pretty smooth and creamy with just a little bite... Light body... Pretty drinkable...

Overall - A pretty good clean crisp Pils... nothing mind blowing but certainly worth a try...

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2007 09:22:33 | More by mdagnew

Atlas1

Texas

3.73/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from the bottle into a Leiman Berg Brau pilsner glass. Sparkles golden with high carbonation and a big two-finger head. Looks like a glass of champagne with all the bubbles. Could THIS be the champagne of beers? Plus, I like the brewery label. Simple. Classy. Smells malty and clean. Very slight fruit scent. Strawberries with a musty date aroma. Taste is clean and tart. Fruity with a nice pang of hops in the finish. Very tangy aftertaste. A very refreshing beer. A mild, thin mouthfeel, but an entirely drinkable beer all around. A great example of a very good German pils.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2007 15:35:18 | More by Atlas1

soulgrowl

United Kingdom (England)

3.28/5  rDev -6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appearance: Gold bullion body with big bubbles and a sturdy but small and fizzy white head. Decent retention.

Smell: When I first cracked the bottle, I immediately caught a whiff of skunk, but fortunately the skunk scent is - surprisingly - much less noticeable in the glass. Not so fortunately, hardly anything is noticeable about this beer - everything is very weak. Light skunk, some soapy-spicy hops, underdeveloped grainy Pilsener malts.

Taste: Light and dry, very well attenuated like a good pils ought to be - but that's basically it. Not much flavor, vaguely sweet malts with a slight spicy-floral hop bite, but not as much as there should be. Tangy hop bitterness lingers in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel: Refreshing and clean but not too abrasively fizzy. Well done, good for the flavor and the style.

Drinkability: For all its faults, this beer goes down easy, but it just needs a little bit more character to rank among the best Pilseners. I mean, Kirin brews Pilseners with more flavor than this (and they're significantly cheaper, at least around here).

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2007 14:14:41 | More by soulgrowl