Joe's Premium American Pilsner - Avery Brewing Company

drabmuh

Maryland

4.15/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Stone's Bistro garden. This was an odd beer. Beer is served in an oversized flute. Beer is yellow and hazy with a thick head that stays the entire time. Leaves some lacing on the glass.

Aroma is grainy and a mixture of organic acids...I told the waitress pilsner right?

This beer is crisp, light, refreshing, and bretty. Very bretty. The dry finish leaves my palate with a blank feeling of dry funk. Like I had been sucking on a piece of wood. I asked if this was the beer I ordered and she brought be 2 more ounces to be sure. I've read the other reviews of this beer (all in the can) and I can't reconcile their descriptors with mine. But this is the beer I was served and it was fermented, at least partially with Brettanomyces.

Serving type: on-tap

11-02-2010 16:16:19 | More by drabmuh

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.22/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Super pale straw golden color, forms thick white head with fine even bands of lacing. The nose gives off herbal citrus grassy notes, hints of pungent German hops going on. Light malt biscuit cracker barely any sweetness noticed. Super dry finish, upfront barrage of green hops from the can. A nice flow with each gulp a couple of these cans could vanish so easily. Nice cracker light pale malts provide just enough sweetness with a big bitter hop profile with citrus/grassy/herbal accents kicking around on the palate. Hop burps are plentiful carbonation is ample , again great experience drinking out the can. This isn't as good as the authentic German pils from PA, but these would definitely be people interst in living and restoring.

Serving type: can

10-30-2010 13:53:05 | More by WVbeergeek

jampics2

Ohio

4.1/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A 12oz can poured into a souvenir glass. Enjoyed with Adam Avery at his Adam Avery Experience at the Buckeye Beer Engine during Cleveland Beer Week 2010.

Adam Avery introduced this beer to Ohio for the first time. It will be available in cans in 2011 and should be a year-round staple in many of our refrigerators. The beer is named after Adam's grandfather and is meant to serve as a session beer for those of us who can't drink like we're in our 20's any more. But, in true Avery style, this is anything but an over-the-hill offering.

The beer pours a filtered straw color with some gold and yellow notes around the edges. The color is consistent and inviting, and the white head sticks around long enough to be noticed, then dissipates, leaving wonderful lace in its wake. Some active carbonation rounds out a great appearance and a nice start to the drinking experience.

The smell is not just your typical Pilsner. Sure, the requisite grain, floral, and grassy notes are present along with a kiss of sweet malt and even a hint of grape. The malt has just a touch of biscuit that makes it even more complex and inviting. But there's a boat-load of Hersbrucker Hops that leave a pleasant noble aroma and a touch of spice. The lager yeast is clean in the nose and everything comes together in fine form.

The taste is also well-rounded and imminently quaff-able. It's a decently expressive mix of sweet cereal grains that have just a touch of toasted depth and avoid being too gritty or dirty. The hops add a nice bitterness and some great floral tones with just a touch of citrus and spice as well. The overall taste is malt-focused with just enough hops to please an aging hop-head without doing some serious taste bud damage. It's expressive and cohesive, and some mild to medium bitterness pulls everything together.

The mouthfeel is accentuated by bubbly carbonation while the light to medium body and heavy malt makes it feel creamy as well. There is no discernible booze at all, which makes this at the top of the drinkability spectrum. A great new entry to the craft Pilsner market and a beer I plan on enjoying on a regular basis in the near future.

Serving type: can

10-26-2010 20:25:52 | More by jampics2

Halcyondays

California

3.45/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12 oz. can,

A: Pours a pale yellow with a mild white head, solid retention, light lace.

S: Somewhat muted, but a nice grassy spicy hop profile.

T: Interesting grain and barley notes. Hop dominated by the end, grassy and very green, a bit astringent.

M: Light-bodied, not too crisp, fairly smooth, long aftertaste.

D: Not a bad stab at the style, but a bit out of balanced, seems disjointed.

Serving type: can

10-23-2010 01:20:20 | More by Halcyondays

BradLikesBrew

Missouri

4.72/5  rDev +27.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

This black and silver can features a black and white picture of Joe, Adam Avery's grandfather. A great looking can that's part of an excellent new lineup of packages from Avery. One of the many reasons they are primed for big growth the next few years.

Ten minutes after the pour and there's still a one inch white head atop this clear, pale, light yellow body. Leaves a web of lace as I drink. This is how pilsner should look.

The aroma is light grainy malt with sweet grass and peppery spice from the hops.

Light malt comes first, but just as you are beginning to get a handle on the malt flavors, the hop flavors come busting in. The hops have assertive and bitter qualities you typically find in an IPA, but this is certainly not an IPA, this is a Pilsner, Avery style. Classic noble hop flavors of fresh cut grass, hay, and peppery spice. No skunk.

Light and crisp without being overly sharp. More creamy and rounded than most pilsners.

Many beers waste their prime marketing real estate and put a bunch of crap on the label that tells consumers nothing. Not Avery, they hit this one on the head:

"You're holding a contemporary rendition of a classic style. Hopped with purpose, Joe's is beautifully bitter and dry with an abundance of floral, Noble German hops. Uber-sessionable. Utterly American. This is Premium American Pilsner."

Wow. Like that, a game-changing beer is born, demanding to be heard. "This is Premium American Pilsner." I couldn't agree more. Thank you Avery, thank you for making a Pilsner with balls.

Serving type: can

10-19-2010 05:04:42 | More by BradLikesBrew

Beaver13

Colorado

3.48/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz can. Immediately starts overflowing when opened. It pours a clear straw yellow with a huge fluffy white head that retains fairly well and laces the glass.

The aroma is subdued - sweet earthy malts and grassy / floral hops.

The flavor is sweet, slightly vegetal, malts with a little honey and fruit followed by a big grassy / floral bitterness that lingers in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with smooth carbonation.

Overall, not bad for a pils. It's probably the hoppiest pilsener I've had. I like all the hops and the lower alcohol - could make for a nice session beer.

Serving type: can

10-16-2010 00:12:08 | More by Beaver13

Rayek

Colorado

3.55/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served in a shaker pint glass.

A: Bright gold with great clarity and mild carbonation. A small, but dense white head faded quickly to a patchwork film. Left a good amount of lace.

S: Straw and honey like malts get things going. They're backed up by a heavy dose of pepper and a little bit of citrus.

T: Starts with a honey sweetness that's quickly replaced by a spicy pepper and citrus bitterness. The grapefruit citrus flavors seem a little out of place. Finishes with a lingering pepper bitterness.

M: The body is slightly syrupy and light. The carbonation felt about right.

D: This was a nice offering, but the grapefruit citrus flavors felt a bit too far out of style. Overall I'm glad I had it.

Serving type: on-tap

10-01-2010 05:40:58 | More by Rayek

GilGarp

Colorado

4.33/5  rDev +17.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Avery's new canned pilsner is named Joe's with a mobster-looking dude on the front. "This ain't your grandpa's pils" is what it claims.

Served cool into a pint glass, Joe's is a very pale golden yellow color with good clarity and thick white head. It settles slowly leaving some nice lace behind.

Aroma is sweet and spicy with some great fresh hoppiness that is uncommon in a pils. Definately an American interpretation of the style.

The flavor is big and hoppy. This is a pils for the Prima Pils crowd. Big on hops, bitterness, and flavor. It's not out of balance but it definately leans towards the bitter end of the spectrum.

Mouthfeel is light-plus in body, moderate carbonation, and very crisp.

Overall a really enjoyable beer. I wish it wasn't quite so expensive. $9 is a lot for a 6-pack of pils in cans.

Serving type: can

09-04-2010 03:18:25 | More by GilGarp

Domingo

Colorado

3.65/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

After some delays, this is finally on the shelves...and apparently only in cans.
Pours a lighter than expected pale straw color with a pretty large foam head on a non-aggressive pour. I'd say this look is more in-line with a helles or even a macro-lager than a pils.
The nose is *big* on noble hops. A tiny bit of a sulfuric hit creeps up, but that's normal.
Wow...this is probably the driest most hoppy pilsner I've ever had. Initially it seems like a normal aggressively hopped US take on a German pils. However, the bitterness carries from the front of the palate all the way through the finish. Big floral, bitter hops dominate. There's a hint of malty grain flavor trying to escape, but the hops are keeping it under wraps. I get the impression that this is intentional, though. The alphas from the noble hops seem to amplify sulfur flavors from the lager yeast, too. This beer covers your hop fix and does it well. The dryness of the malt showcases noble hops like few other beers ever have...and because it isn't too strong, that comes through even more.
Mouthfeel is light and even though the bitterness is big, it's still easy to drink this in gulps with a sandwich.
While it's not really "to style" for a German or Czech pils, it's not trying to be and I can't fault Avery for what they've created. I think a stronger malt base does wonders for a lager, and this level of hops seems to make the sulfur character come out a bit too much.
Not really my favorite and probably one I won't keep going back to, but I can imagine this being a BA favorite.

Serving type: can

09-03-2010 13:52:30 | More by Domingo

m1ked

California

3.98/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

At the BT Avery event. Never even heard of this one.

A- pours a crystal clear light bright yellow. Starts of with a bright white creamy cap that shrinks down to a thck ring and a medium sized circular cap in the middle, so it looks like an eveball.... What are you looking at!?!?

S- very low and subtle, but I get a cross of floral and grassy. Very subtle though.

T- here I get the grassy, some rose like soapy with a lttle biscuit lurking.

M- Probably one of my favorite parts here. Very light & crisp, but somehow there is a creaminess too. I'm not getting much of a booze hit here either which is nice.

D- I still feel like I'm not "there yet" when it comes to pilsners, but damn I am trying! I really like all the bright flavors, maybe I would turn down the soapy a tad. But probably one of my favorite pilsners so far.

Serving type: on-tap

08-11-2010 22:01:48 | More by m1ked

bunnyman

Colorado

4.6/5  rDev +24.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I'm a regular to the Avery tasting room and a bit of an Avery insider so I was aware of this back with it was in its testing phase, know as the TestaPils. Avery doing a Pils kinda scared me as some other well regarded craft breweries have released less than stellar Pils and I was worried that Adam and crew would fall into the trap of making a "gateway beer" thus taking away from the amazing solidity of their line up.

In essence I should not have worried a bit. Adam wanted a new session beer for the current age and having retired their Redpoint amber, the session beer of the latter age of craft brewing, he wanted something punchier. Joe's is an American Pils but with far more hop character than you expect. They call it a light and refreshing hop delivery vehicle and it is that in spades.

The color is a bright gold that is as clear as you can imagine. The head is amazing - Joe's doesn't produce head it produces a continuous stream of creamy meringue that climbs out of the glass. I've never seen head like this on any beer. The nose is strongly floral from the tons of noble hops. Flavor is very bright with loads of herbal German hops to extent that it makes a good Czech Pils seem not very hoppy in comparison. There is a nice breaddy malt backbone to keep the hops in check and the finish is clean without any off character. Superb.

Serving type: on-tap

08-09-2010 23:35:27 | More by bunnyman

Mebuzzard

Colorado

4.5/5  rDev +22%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Found this one at Falling Rock prior to the Great Divide release party.
I ordered a Blackened Chicken Club sammich, and thought a nice pilsner would do well. Hmm...the Barmen or this one. I chose this one.

An "American Pilsner" I'm listing this as an Am. Imp. Pils. Cuz the label says 'American Pilsner', and this is the closest match. Although the abv is low for this category. I'm all for changing the style. I would say German Pils, but the label says otherwise :)

Pours clear, bright light golden body. The head is outstanding. Looks like vanilla milk-shake if you blow bubbles in it. Tight suds and dense. Great lacing. Top notch here.

Great aroma too. Holy jeepers, this one has promise. Floral, rosy, the citrus is calm yet powerful to break through the sweet malt biscuit backbone. Just needs to be drank.

Almost giving it a '5' here. The taste follows the aroma. Floral, citrus, strong but subtle backbone of malt. A bit of orange comes in, then quickly leaves. Some soft clove and banana on the end.

Feels good. A pinch more carbonation would land a '5' here. So close, perhaps my chicken is too spicy. Still this beer pairs well with it. A crisp, clean finish does so without a sharpness from the hops.
Great beer. Tops in my book.

Serving type: on-tap

08-07-2010 05:25:07 | More by Mebuzzard