Krombacher Pils - Krombacher Brauerei

steveh

Illinois

3.65/5  rDev +12%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Continuing my re-acquaintance with light Lagers, particularly Pilsners, one that I can't recall ever sampling in the past. From the central to northwest part of Germany, not my usual Bavarian choice.

Label states No. 1 Premium Pils in Germany. Really? Even above Bitburger? Great thing on the label is a bottling *and* best-by date; the best-by being one year from bottling, or 08-23-12.

A -- Clear, golden color with a creamy, dense, slow-settling white head. About as perfect as you can get for a Pils.

S -- Mild DMS, spicy hops, and crackery/grainy malts. Pretty thin, but far from offensive.

T -- Flavor starts with crackery malts and quickly blends to mellow, spicy hops. Finish is dry and hop bitter with a touch of the same bitterness and citrus character in then aftertaste.

M -- Mouthfeel is crisp to dry with a light body.

O -- This is a well-done, clean and crisp German Pils with nothing outstanding, yet absolutely refreshing and satisfying -- and highly sessionable at 4.8. I may have to get more for the coming summer weekends at $13 a 12 pack.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2012 20:58:45 | More by steveh

tai4ji2x

Massachusetts

3.63/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

bought in beijing

clear golden straw, some head that soon fades to ring and a few wisps. lacing is splotchy but sparse.

aroma has the prerequisite noble hops up front, and is otherwise clean. the malt is toasty, and there is some breadiness, but they're pretty faint and in the background.

flavor is about right for a pils, but seems to cut off and become dull for a moment somewhere in the middle. there's still a decent bitterness to be had into the aftertaste, but something is a bit blunted.

the feel manages to be smooth without being totally watered down, with a carbonation that is sharp at first but backs off quickly.

nothing to write home about, but more than acceptable.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2008 14:32:46 | More by tai4ji2x

CrazyMike

Alberta (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Clear golden appearance with thick white head that slowly settles down, so far so good. Smell is grassy with a hint of malt, grain and hops.

Taste is mainly maltiness and grass. Picked up citrus, bread and hops as well. Smooth and crisp overall. Medium bodied with decent carbonation. Aftertaste is slightly bitter with a lingering maltiness.

This is a simple and clean Pilsner overall which makes very refreshing. No outstanding features, but sometimes simpleness is good; worth a try.

Serving type: can

05-21-2011 00:13:10 | More by CrazyMike

KDawg

Illinois

3.63/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured a nice light straw color with a good head on it. Very fragrant nose with lots of grains, malty tones and some straw tones as well. Medium bodied that is more grainy on the palate than on the nose. Very good feel that is very smooth as well. This is an excellent session pilsner that scratches the itch perfectly

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2011 16:28:48 | More by KDawg

cypressbob

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

3.6/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On tap at a local belfast bar

Pours with a light amber body, thick fluffy head sits atop, great retention

Smell, very clean, some hint of fresh grain

Taste, crisp and clean, dry mouthfeel, very easy to put down and refreshing

This is a much better beer on tap, a good session lager

Serving type: on-tap

02-21-2005 15:59:42 | More by cypressbob

trevorwideman

Manitoba (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

500ML can poured into a pilsner glass. Decent looking pils. Golden straw colour, big fluffy head, lots of carbonation, very refreshing looking indeed.

Smell is very bready and malty, nice hint of aroma hops hidden in there, nothing much complex, slight veggie smell, but not skunky or unpleasant, very much just a refreshing pilsner aroma. Taste is very pleasant, very malty and a slight nuttiness in the back. Low bitterness, but enough to keep it interesting. Mouthfeel isn't as bitey as I'd like, but it's a mild complaint. This is a slightly above average pils, thirstquenching and highly drinkable. Not the best ever, but good.

Serving type: can

02-09-2006 02:26:47 | More by trevorwideman

scott451

Ontario (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A vigorous pour into a pilsner glass produced two fingers of bubbly white head on a well carbonated clear gold. Good lacing. The head diminished to a cap but sticks around.

Grassy grain smells. Lightly flavored sweet malts with a very mild spicy hop finish. Lacks the metallic notes that some pilsners have.

Light body and good carbonation. Very drinkable. Although abit tin in the flavour department it is a worthy pils with no major flaws.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2011 22:14:17 | More by scott451

Luigi

North Carolina

3.6/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear straw yellow with a massive rocky white head. The retention is great, as it stays at least one finger high with plenty of lacing.

The dominate aroma is baked bread with a floral hop.

The taste is about the same as it is very clean and finishes dry. Grassy hops, soft bread grains, with a refreshing dry finish.

This German pilsnener can be compared to many premium lagers out of Germany. To me it was nothing new, but what keeps this lager legitimate, is the authenticity of the style. Very refreshing for the summer months.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2012 23:32:59 | More by Luigi

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

3.6/5  rDev +10.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

500 mL can from the LCBO; best before March 5 2013. I worked my way through the majority of the generic Euro pale lagers available at my local shop last year, but every once in a while they'll add a new one to the lineup - and so here we are. At least this one seems to be an authentic German pilsener, a category I have some genuine appreciation for. Poured into a dimpled mug.

Pours a typical clear, golden-yellow colour, topped with slightly more than one finger of puffy, white, surprisingly long-lasting head. It hangs around for well over five minutes before fizzling away into a more manageable cap, leaving the sides of the glass smeared with lacing. This is actually a really good-looking pilsener. Doesn't smell too bad either - lots of grainy/cracker malts, some bread, with noble hop notes of herbal, grassy hay. Suitable for the style, and fairly enticing.

Reasonably good stuff - certainly a real pilsener, not just an EPL wearing a mask. Strong backbone of grainy pale malts, crackers and bread, supported by a firm noble hop bill that is grassy, herbal, and slightly peppery/spicy - this last bit covers one of my favorite aspects of German pilseners. Light bitterness in the aftertaste that lingers briefly. Light-bodied and kind of watery, with mild carbonation for the style - it starts off crisp but soon loses a lot of its bite. Definitely smooth-drinking, and well suited to tonight's stinking hot weather.

This is pretty tasty stuff - certainly not the best pilsener I've ever had, but a serviceable one that I don't regret trying. If push came to shove I'd probably stick with Bitburger, Radeberger or Stiegl for my German pils fix, but this would make for an acceptable substitute in a pinch. My main complaint relates to the flattish mouthfeel, which (at least in my view) isn't exactly a dealbreaking flaw.

Final Grade: 3.6, a manageable B grade. Unremarkable, yet still highly drinkable, Krombacher Pils is one addition to the LCBO's staggeringly huge lineup of pale lagers that I can appreciate. Now if only they'd get rid of all those lame ones, and use that space for something more interesting. But I digress - this is a respectable, affordable pilsener that is at least worth a try for any fan of German pale lagers.

Serving type: can

07-27-2012 04:13:43 | More by thehyperduck

JBogan

Nevada

3.58/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured a bright golden color with a thick foamy head which turned a few minutes later into a bubbly film. Good lacing along the sides of the glass.

Smelled quite malty and bready, also some floral accents.

Tasted a of breads with a bit of malt. "Bright" tasting, also with no trace of alcohol present.

Mouthfeel was excellent. Perhaps a bit thick for a Pils but the ample carbonation cut through it and gave it a smooth but effervescent edge. Nice.

This was a a nice solid brew. A good representation of a Pils. Are there better? Sure, but you can do a lot worse than this.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2008 13:29:55 | More by JBogan

RedBaron

Illinois

3.58/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance: Pale gold, translucent. Beautiful uneven rocky head at pour; carbo sustained well.
Smell: Fresh mown grass, light floral hop aroma.
Taste: Spritzy, tangy, nice hop bitterness, but lacking perhaps in complexity.
Mouthfeel: Although there's a nice dry finish to this pils, it does have a slight watery feel to it. I don't think it's as balanced as I was hoping it would be. It may be slightly beyond its peak.
Drinkability: I'll bet this beer is pretty damn good "vom Fass" in Deutschland, but this bottled version may have arrived a tad late to our shores for a real good judgement on it. Still, if I were a peasant farmer in rural Germany, this beer is the one I'd ask for on a hot summer day after working in the fields. It does go down rather easy!

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2009 02:29:21 | More by RedBaron

dasenebler

Maine

3.58/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

.5L, Germany

Nice clear gold color, darker than most old yellers. Short-lived foamy head, but surprisingly good lacing.

Aroma is of lightly skunky noble hops. Slightly sulfuric and nothing special.

Flavor is nice, with a solid malt backbone. There's a big bready component here that you don't get with many German pilsners. It's almost like a Czech without the elevated hop flavor. Borders on cereal-grainy, but remains pretty pleasant. Mouthfeel was well-carbonated and smooth.

After revisiting Krombacher, I've come to realize that it competes nicely with my beloved König, with a more satisfying maltiness to boot.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2010 17:24:58 | More by dasenebler

crossovert

Wisconsin

3.58/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

500ml bottle in germany. It pours a clear gold witha large, foamy white head that leaves a lot of lacing. The smell is almost skunky with a must to it, then some grain, fruit, noble hops, and metal. The taste is rather refreshing though, it is malty with a kick of noble hops that tickles the tounge. It is super light and drinkable. For a mass produced beer it isn’t bad.

11.2 oz bottle in the Us: not as good but it is freshly imported and isn't too bad.

Serving type: bottle

08-30-2011 01:40:30 | More by crossovert

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Picked up a single at Euro Market. Tastes like your standard German pils. There's clean bready malts, and as the lager warms, a pleasant herbal lemon hops edge emerges. It's not the most complex pils, but the right flavors are there, it's satisfying, and very drinkable. By memory, it's fairly similar to Bitburger, which is not a bad place to be. I wouldn't go out of my way to pick this up, but it's not a bad option.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2012 00:36:27 | More by tempest

marty21

Manitoba (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: It’s a clear golden with one finger worth of fluffy white head. The head lasts the entire time and left lots of lacing all over the mug.

S: Light bready aroma with some hops and a faint spiciness at times.

T: Bready malt with the hops providing a little crisp pop on the tongue.

M: Medium carbonation with a medium body.

O: I enjoyed this beer at Gathaus Gutenberger with a giant plate of great German food. It wasn’t anything special but it did the job. I would gladly have another glass of this there.

Serving type: on-tap

04-25-2011 19:40:18 | More by marty21

SaunaKing

Ontario (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I picked up a 6 pack of this stuff for the first time because my wife likes pilsners and isn't crazy about Hefe Weisse which i have been drinking almost exclusively latley. Yellow gold with a frothy but small head. Mild hop aroma and the taste is a little too sweet. Like beer mixed with a sweet white wine. This stuff is smooth and drinkable though. I prefer a little drier, crisper pilsner but this is ok in a pinch.

Serving type: bottle

11-23-2004 19:54:35 | More by SaunaKing

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

3.53/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The clear winner in my Lager/Pilsner reviewing afternoon last week.

Brown 0.5 litre bottle, best before 11 Feb 2009. Poured into two tumblers, this beer was richer looking with more colour and body than the other beers (Hasseroder, Wickuler and Mousel). The head was also fuller and held up well throughout the review.

There was an actual smell too, some hops and yeast aromas.

Real pilsner feel to this beer, a good example of the style. I know this beer from old and it has stood the test of time better than some I've revisited lately.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2008 19:25:44 | More by BlackHaddock

DoubleJ

California

3.53/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at Tortula, on to the beer:

Light pale gold color with a big creamy head on top. This beer has a sweet pale malt aroma, and the taste takes the same route as the aroma. It's very sweet with the usual grassy and floral notes trailing behind. Some might find this to be a little sweet, but I can dig it. It worked well washing down my grilled chicken entree.

Serving type: on-tap

01-27-2009 05:52:56 | More by DoubleJ

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

3.53/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

From a 500 ml white can. Pours out a clear pale gold, tall frothy white head with long great retention.

Clean grainy malt on the nose, some light bready sweetness.

Crisp clean grains up front in the flavour, light bready malty, crisp clean finish with almost no sign of hops. Faint spicy hops in the aftertaste.

Medium-low mouthfeel, brisk carbonation, quenching.

A refreshing easy-drinker, I wish all mass produced domestic lagers were at least at this calibre.

Serving type: can

06-09-2010 05:02:54 | More by IronDjinn

jazzyjeff13

United Kingdom (England)

3.53/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A 500ml bottle with a BB of June 2012.

Poured into a Sam Smith's pint glass. A clear light-gold colour with good carbonation and the odd speck of sediment floating around. Produces a large head of brilliant white foam with a fine texture; this lasts for a few minutes before reducing to a surface layer. Aroma of light grainy malt with overtones of noble hops - leafy and bitter. A faint whiff of alcohol in the background.

Tastes of light malt with a crisp bitterness. Notes of grain and leafy noble hops. A background hint of spice, stewed hops and solvent. Mouthfeel is tingly and dry. Aftertaste of faint malt and bitter hops.

A decent pilsner; crisp and refreshing with a hoppy bite. Slides down nicely - I could imagine sinking a few steins of this.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2011 22:08:57 | More by jazzyjeff13

Metalmonk

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

A ubiquitous offering in northern Germany...maybe the entire country, for all I know. Picked up a can and socked it in the suitcase for consumption back home. My kinda souvenir.

An abundant creamy froth retains forever after the pour, leaving plenty of styrofoam-ish lace on the glass. Color is your basic sunny yella pils with good clarity.

Aroma is straw, flower, biscuit and light clove honey.

Sharp snap of hops blends well with a toasted, bready maltiness. A bit dry and consequently lacking some staying power, but it opens up a little as it sits: grassy hops, and more bready malt.

Body is light, thin and crisp, not at all watery but compared to many more substantial pilsners that I had in my recent trip to Germany, it is unremarkable in this department.

A good solid pils, although not the best this country has to offer. And yet another Euro-pils that easily eclipses the crappy and stupidly popular U.S. corporate versions.

Serving type: can

07-27-2009 01:32:45 | More by Metalmonk

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

500ml can poured into pint glass july20 2010

A Clear golden yellow with some tiny suspended particles upon closer inspection, decent carbonation but I'm more impressed by the three finger head that has great retention and leaves plenty of lace

S grassy hops with a little lemon and some sweet malt, about what I expect

T a little more malt and a little sweet bread to go along with all I smell

M a little flat but a pretty crisp beer no problems here but nothing special

D easy enough to drink, would work well for a sunny session

I'd drink this again its a decent beer, I wish our macros had some flavor like the Germans

Serving type: can

07-20-2010 21:17:46 | More by wordemupg

ZenAgnostic

Texas

3.5/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Huge billowing white rocky head with great retention.

Smell - Spicy. Wheaty. Slightly musky.

Taste - Bitter; a bit like cardboard.

Mouthfeel - Nothing noteworthy. Neither watery nor bodied.

Drinkability - Decent for the style. Nothing to write home about.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2011 02:02:37 | More by ZenAgnostic

flyingpig

United Kingdom (Scotland)

3.5/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Straw amber with faint red tinges throughout & topped by a foamy white, two-fingers width head that has nice retention along with leaving some light lacing on the glass.

Not the strongest on the nose but a pleasant pilsener aroma to it none the less. There is a sweet grassy hops and corn aroma along with a little grain and lager like malts.

Sweet tasting beer that the nose hints at, there is some corn and grassy hops in there too. It tastes pretty straight forward but it is nice, crisp and has some good floral notes too.

Pretty smooth with a light to medium body and a nice crisp, refreshing finish which is also mildly bitter feel to it.

It isn't the most complex beer I have ever had but still one that I enjoyed and it is one that I would have again.

1001 Beers Blog:
http://abarwithnoname.wordpress.com

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2011 00:04:34 | More by flyingpig

KTCamm

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a mini can into a small beer glass.

Pours golden, brilliant, thick head of creamy foam that drops down to 1/4inch. Beer smell. Pilsy. Smooth clean crisp taste, light bodied. Very single, not to describe, but a solid easy beer.

Great little german pils alternative.

Serving type: can

08-26-2012 13:22:28 | More by KTCamm