König Pilsener - König-Brauerei GmbH

mikesgroove

South Carolina

3.15/5  rDev -15.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

I picked this one up in a mixed sixer the other day as it was hot as hell outside and I was looking for something a little lighter for a change. I had not tried this before but figured it was worth a shot. Twelve ounce bottle poured into a tall pilsner glass straight out of the fridge.

Appearance - Poured a very bright, and very clear golden yellow. Lots of carbonation streaking up towards the surface. A good sized white fluffy and fizzy head then capped off the top, hung around for a few moments and faded off into a broken up crown. No noticeable side glass lacing.

Smell - The aroma was rather bland. Light cereal grains, lots of wheat and malts. Not much in the way of any kind of hop profile. This one was definitely just a straight up pilsner, not bad, just not much exciting here.

Taste - The flavor was pretty much more of the same. Quick, crisp and clean with nothing really shocking coming across here at all. A nice touch of light grain and the slightest hint of a grape like taste in the back, but that was about it. Finish was gone as quick as it came, leaving the mouth with a very clean feeling.

Mouthfeel - A very light bodied ale, lots of carbonation with a clean feel to it. Not overly thin, just about right for the style.

Drinkability - An easy one to put down, as the profile and flavors were effortless. I could see myself throwing down multiples on a hot day for sure.

Overall not a bad pilsner, just a little average and bland for me. Not terrible though by any means and a good representation of the style, just needs a little bit more life to it.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2008 13:45:16 | More by mikesgroove

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.35/5  rDev -10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Pours a clear, golden, bubbly body with a small, white head.

Smell: Pale, cereal-scented maltiness with some spicy, Noble-type hops. Tiny trace of sulfur, too.

Taste: Pale malts with a standard cereal sweetness. Very, very slight breadiness. Spicy, floral hops with a medium bittneress. Grassiness on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Light-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: OK at best, but, let's face it, there are better pilseners to be had!

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2008 01:48:29 | More by ChainGangGuy

brentk56

North Carolina

3.2/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: Pours a clear golden color with an unexceptional head that leaves a nice pattern of lace behind

Smell: Grassy/grainy Euro lager aroma with a tinge of lemon

Taste: Bready, up front, with an underlying malty sweetness; the grassy, grainy character develops from mid-palate and persists into the finish

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderate carbonation

Drinkability: Tastes too much like Euro Lager for my palate to get much enjoyment out of this

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2010 23:43:57 | More by brentk56

UCLABrewN84

California

3.95/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Best by 7/21/12.

Pours a clear golden yellow with a 1/2 inch fizzy off-white head that settles to an oily film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form on the glass on the drink down. Smell is of grain, grass, and some grape-like fruity aromas. Taste is of grain, grape juice, grape jelly, and a grassy and herbal finish. There is a very mild bitterness that sits right on top of the tongue after each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp and clean mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good pilsener that is very easy to drink.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2012 03:42:45 | More by UCLABrewN84

oberon

North Carolina

3.4/5  rDev -9.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

mine was a litle skunked (damn green bottles),want to try it when its not.Heard good things about it,Iam not a real pilsner fan though.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2002 12:01:29 | More by oberon

TMoney2591

Illinois

3.58/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served in a flared pokal at Bauer's Brauhaus.

Watchin' Jeopardy! and drinkin' German brews. Good times. This one pours a clear pale straw topped by a finger of white foam. The nose comprises wheat, light grass, and light flowers. The taste brings in more of the same, though the wheat is definitely the star here, the flowers relegated to the background scenery. The body is fairly light, with a light moderate carbonation and a crisp feel. Overall, a good, solid pils. 'Nuff said.

Serving type: on-tap

12-25-2011 22:48:49 | More by TMoney2591

WesWes

New York

3.7/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

The beer pours a pale gold color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a nice pilsner malt scent along with some light breadlike notes. It's dry with some German hop character. The taste is decent. It has a very dry pilsner malt flavor that goes down quick and easy and finishes clean with some light hop bitterness. It's a basic recipe with little malt complexity, but it works. The mouthfeel is fine. It is a low/medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a solid German pils. It's nothing fancy, yet well brewed; a good drinker.

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2008 01:28:06 | More by WesWes

drabmuh

Maryland

3.55/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bought this because it was in the "clearance" bin at my local bottle shop for a dollar. Hadn't had it and I have been in the mood for some pilsners lately. How bad could it be?

Whoa this beer is practically water colored. Super light yellow. Clear. carbonation is low and head is thin and broken.

Kind of harsh grainy aroma, almost corn like.

Mild flavor, a little bitter at the back. Pilsner malt in the front, its easy drinking and mild. Not much to say. Its worth a dollar, not much else.

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2010 03:14:16 | More by drabmuh

Mora2000

Texas

3.05/5  rDev -18.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Thanks to bu11zeye for sharing this bottle.

The beer pours a clear yellow color with a white head. The aroma is grain, grass, corn and a little bit of citrus.

The flavor is grain, corn and grassy hops. There is a low amount of bitterness.

Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

11-12-2010 05:47:08 | More by Mora2000

metter98

New York

3.75/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: The beer is clear yellow in color with a finger high white head that quickly died down. A light amount of carbonation is visible.
S: The nose has light aromas of bready malts and floral hops.
T: The overall taste is rather malty and has a little bit of initial sweetness; some bitterness becomes evident in the finish.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and very clean on the palate. There is a moderate amount of carbonation and the finish has some dryness.
D: The beer is very light and refreshing; I could easily drink several of these in a single sitting.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2010 02:04:01 | More by metter98

Halcyondays

California

3.8/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

2 11.2 oz. bottles,

A: Pours a clear dark gold with a soapy fizzy white head, some spotty lace.

S: Grainy pils malt aroma, some grassy noble hop.

T: Upfront it's malt driven, a nice flavour but nothing too substantial. Finishes with an outstanding herbal hop note that takes this beer to the next level.

M: Crisp, clean, some good biting carbonation, easy drinking.

O: A solid pilsner that certainly has its sweet spot in the finish. The price is right there with most other German imports, worth a pick up for fans of the style.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2013 00:50:14 | More by Halcyondays

jwc215

New Jersey

3.58/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured into pils glass:

Pours a classic bubbly golden yellow with a thin, lasting white head that leaves lacing.

The smell is grainy, slight husk with a grassy/ mildly lemony backing. A touch metallic.

The taste is of sweet grain with a lemongrass undertone. Some iron and a sharp metallic notes. Finishes dry.

Light-bodied, appropriate carbonation level.

A nice enough "classsic" pils. The slight metallic sharpness was a detractor for me though. Still, a solid pils!

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2008 15:28:32 | More by jwc215

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.43/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

500ml can.

This beer pours a slightly hazy medium straw colour, with two fat fingers of sudsy white head, which settles fairly quickly, leaving a bony ring of creeping lace around the glass. It smells of semi-sweet bready malt, mild bitter, grassy hops, and a bit of vegetal character. The taste is more husky, grainy malt, a bit of stale citrus, and muted grassy, weedy hops. The carbonation is on the low side of average, the body light, but not thin, and kind of airily creamy. It finishes just a tad off-dry, the astringent hops making a late game push.

After enduring a slow start, this pils turns out to be an adequately quaffable example of the style, if a bit staid and underwhelming in the effort.

Serving type: can

05-27-2011 00:24:56 | More by biboergosum

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a clear yellow gold with a thin white head. Nose is a lot of cereal sweetness. Flavor is a mix of sweet tones and grain character. Smooth, but no vast complexities. It's straightforward, and that's it. Feel has a bit of a bite on the carbonation and the liquid is thinner as you'd expect. This is an easy drinking pilsner. Like I said, it's straightforward and that's that.

Serving type: can

12-10-2008 08:02:41 | More by RblWthACoz

smcolw

Massachusetts

4.18/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Near pure-white frothy head. Leaves plenty of stringy lace. The broth is straw colored and crystal clear.

More grainy than malty with very little hop aroma. Still, it's attractive.

Much stronger hop presence. This still starts off with a grainy flavor, but it is very fresh. The swallow is well balanced while the aftertaste is a long lasting floral hop flavor. The body is quite full for the style.

Outside of the smell, this is a world class pils.

Serving type: can

04-14-2012 20:02:58 | More by smcolw

Jason

Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: 12oz euro style green bottle with no freshness date to be found.

Appearance: Pale yellow with the slightest chill haze, tight bubbly white lace leaves a few rings around the glass.

Smell: Faint lemon in the aroma hinting towards floral.

Taste: Medium bodied with a crisp malty palate, slightly restrained bitterness ... more subtle and flavourful than bitter, yet still helps to balance quite well with a spicy bite. The hops become more evident in the finish as they linger with some residual sweet grain.

Notes: Forget Becks or the similar ... a fine pils to be had any time of the year. A treat for either the veteran micro drinker or a macro drinker. Goes down well yet very tasty at the same time.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2002 10:29:34 | More by Jason

Zorro

California

4.22/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Clear yellow colored beer with a proportionally sized white head.

Smell is light and sharp with strong grassy and lemon aromas. Good pilsener malt scent and a bit of biscuit. Little bit yeasty to the nose like bread.

Taste starts out firmly malty with a strongly hopped flavor just on the edge of bitterness. Spicy in the mouth and sternly hopped. Grass and slight lemon on the tongue and a trace of biscuit. A good dryish pilsener.

Mouthfeel is good.

Very tasty and drinkable beer here a very balanced and flavorful German Pilsener. A beer I can recommend.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2008 01:51:18 | More by Zorro

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

3.7/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a clear golden, big frothy white head forms that refuses to go, little bit of lace. Light sweet malt, some citrusy hops are present, honey. Taste is sweet and honeylike, little bit of citrus near the end, nice dry finish, little bitter. Light bodied, medium carbonation, very smooth, pretty tasty for a generic German pilsener

Serving type: can

08-21-2005 01:54:40 | More by Viggo

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

3.9/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

500ml Brown bottle poured into (three times) a König Pilsener stemmed tulip (0.2 litre). The bottle was just over one month over its best by date. This is the first beer I've reviewed three times on Beeradvocate, so it is honoured!

Great head of snowy white bubbley foam sat on top of a clear, bright golden body of beer. Looked good, the glass was one of my Father-in-laws, I was given it when he died, he'll be pleased to know I'm using it for the purpose it was designed for.

A little grainy, grassy, cereal smell comes to greet you as the head dies away, otherwise there is not much to report on the aroma front.

This is above the average in taste and flavours for a German Pilsner, refreshing, crisp and fairly dry. Mid-range in the colour stakes and a pleasant blend of hop and malts, each subtle more than pronounced.

The bottled version is a bit drier than I seem to think the can and tap versions are, but that might be my memory going funny again? They are all 4.9% ABV so most likely are the one and the same before being put into the container.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2010 18:58:26 | More by BlackHaddock

glid02

Georgia

4.08/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Had on-tap at the Brick Store.

Pours a clear gold color with a one-finger white head. The head dissipates into a wispy layer on top leaving light lacing.

Smells of pilsner malts and light amounts of spicy and somewhat floral hops.

Tastes good. Sweet and slightly biscuity pilsner malt flavors up front with a hint of spiciness joining in midway through the sip. These flavors carry through to a solidly bitter ending.

Mouthfeel is good. It has a decent thickness with moderate carbonation.

Drinkability is very good. I finished my glass easily and could certainly have another.

Overall there was nothing here that really blew me away but on the other hand there are really no weaknesses here. Worth a shot.

Serving type: on-tap

10-12-2009 02:34:11 | More by glid02

DoubleJ

California

2.75/5  rDev -26.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

Montréal, December 2006: Me and my German roommates from my hostel hit up a dépanneur, as they were thristy for more beer before we went clubbing that night. Of the limited selection there, this was the beer of choice among my German roommates. I didn't have it that night, and since then I have been wondering what it might have tasted like.

Which brings me to tonight, almost two years later. I found a single 12 ounce bottle at O'Shea's, and now I'm ready to find out. On to the beer:

A one and a half finger's thckness of head tops this golden straw colored beer. The aroma is grassy, hay-like. Pale malt sweetness. And there a bit of wet cardboard smell too.

Oooo, sour grain. The light and brush of crispness leaves this beer with a good feel, but I wish this beer weren't as sour. Here comes the hay flavor and what seems to be hop extract, but that sour grain flavor is starting to annoy me. Let's end this now....

Perhaps I got a less than ideal bottle, so maybe I'll come back to this and experience what this beer really wanted to do to my tastebuds.

Serving type: bottle

11-10-2008 05:07:46 | More by DoubleJ

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.45/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A: Pours a extremely clear golden/yellow color with a bright white thin head that faded quickly. The carbonation was above moderate per style.

S: light, with some clean herbal hopping, straw and light cereal notes.

T: sweet and spicy from the hops with a quick and clean finish. The grain bill was really nice and crisp with a touch of fresh grainy presence in the finish.

M: smooth mouthful. decent carbonation.

D: Overall a very good clean malt bill highlighting a true to style german pilsner with a very good drinkability factor.

Serving type: bottle

06-18-2008 22:19:41 | More by beerthulhu

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.83/5  rDev +29.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

The King! I wonder if mwa423 has had this yet ... I sprechen ein kleiner du Deutch, so I CAN understand some of what is printed on the CAN.

From the CAN: "Das Konig der Biere (the King of Beer); Purum Laudatur (Purest [Highest] Praise); Gebraut nach dem Reinheitzgebot von 1516 (Brewed According to the Reinheitsgebot [Purity Law] of 1516)".

My glugging pour, following a loud Crack!, produced a finger of fluffy, bone-white head floating atop the beer like clouds drifting overhead. Color was a pale lemon-yellow color with NE-plus clarity that would make any BMC drinker weep for this level of clarity. No boostin'! Nose was Saaz hops to the max! GER Pilsener?!? Not by my reckoning! Bohemian/Czech Pils, more like. I could weep for what Prohibition resulted in for us. AALs are the worst! Mouthfeel was silky with a big, soft hops flavor, like spearmint, on the tongue. Shazam, but this was fantastic! I got some maltiness, but hops were king here. Finish was literally breathtaking. If you have ever smoked a menthol cigarette, you will understand. This was clean, minty, slightly malty, but very dry. Wow! Finish lingered with a minty hoppiness. There was no question that this was hop-driven, but I wonder how well they would have held up in a bottle. This is one instance where I CAN encourage CANphobic drinkers to give a King a chance. I am pushing things around in my cooler to make room even as we speak. See you on the beach!

Serving type: can

08-28-2010 22:15:16 | More by woodychandler

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Some pilsners have this wickedly anemic, almost white-tinted kind of phosphorescent tone about them, König is one of them. It is nearly the colour of champagne, albeit spattered in yellow, a likeness furthered by its tiny bubbles (whose poor numbers, snail-like speed and total lack of head formation, however, would indicate a rather inferior brand).

The smell of zestful, aromatic hops in these kinds of conventional yellow lagers is about as familiar to the North American masses as the umlaut over the letter 'O' in the beer's name. Although they've left the spelling the proper German way, the beer's hoppiness has been adapted to (nearly) the low level of the mainstream American lager.

Fortunately, at least, it doesn't smell of cheap, corny industrial adjuncts like most American mass-produced offerings do. The beer's maltiness - feeble though it is - is free of unwanted industrial punctuations or cloying, utterly undesirable aftertastes. The pilsner disappears from the glass without making too much of an impression one way or another.

Brewing a clean beer according to the German Purity Law is easy - brewing a flavourful and gratifying beer without much of any malt or hop presence is nearly impossible. While this makes a perfectly acceptable beer, it would hugely benefit from (maybe) a smidgen more malt and (definitely) a more assertive bitterness. As it stands, it's very humdrum.

Humdrum doesn't imply bad, it implies boring and forgettable. German brewing culture says there's nothing wrong with being ordinary and conventional - if anything it encourages it - but it does insists you do it well. König's made the first right move by sticking to the Reinheitsgebot but now they've got to up the Gerstenmalz and Hopfen a little.

Serving type: can

07-08-2010 20:59:22 | More by biegaman

Brad007

Vermont

4/5  rDev +7%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a straw gold/yellow with a one-finger head into my glass. Some bubbles.

Crisp with grainy buttery malt and a kiss of hops. Just as a pils should be.

Somewhat sweeter than I expected upfront. Finishes clean at the back but has a cider-y finish. There's a good amount of hop bitterness to counter that.

Buttery, crisp malt with that sweet edge, muted by just the right amount of bitterness. Great mouthfeel or what?

Very authentic. Not the greatest but certainly up there!

Serving type: can

04-08-2012 00:50:18 | More by Brad007