Though bitter IPAs still have their appeal of a piney and dank craft beer, lagers are regaining their popularity at all breweries again. Perhaps we are all going on a diet. And many of us still enjoy hazy, Juicy New England-style IPAs and syrupy barrel-aged stouts. Even so, there is growing demand for classic pilsners, Czech-style lagers, and other refreshing beers with a clean, crisp taste.
Oskar Blues Mama’s Little Yella Pils
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Whether it’s an opening beer at dinner or beers between volleyball games, the 15-packs are about as affordable as many macros, and it tastes a hell of a lot better.
Tasting Notes:
The nose starts with gentle Noble hop aroma. This leads to a crisp, refreshing palate of biscuit-like malts, cereal grains, and floral, herbal hops at the finish.
Mumford Bier Beer
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Bier Beer. Peter Mumford’s house beer from Mumford Brewing. With a name like that, you should have a pretty good idea about what you’re going to get. It’s just a classic, easy-drinking lager.
Tasting Notes:
Light, clean, doughy but crisp, modern hopping but appropriate on the IBU. Refreshing from every angle.
Hamm’s
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $4.50 for a six-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Don’t laugh: Hamm’s. If it was brewed by a small, lager-focused craft brewery, most people would believe you.
Tasting Notes:
Of the mass-market, always-available lagers, it’s easily the most flavorful, with gentle corn flavors balanced by crackers and a whiff of Noble hops.
Road Map Alright, Alright, Alright Pilsner
ABV: 4.6%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Alright, Alright, Alright Pilsner from Roadmap Brewing in San Antonio is a great after-work beer.
Tasting Notes:
It’s a balanced Pilsner and hits a great balance of flavor, hoppiness, and drinkability. It picked up a Gold at GABF in 2022.
Pfriem Pilsner
ABV: 4.9%
Average Price: $12.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Clean and crisp, it’s a great go-to. This pilsner is brewed with Gambrinus, Weyermann German Pilsner malts as well as Cara Foam and Acidulated malts. It gets its bright, hoppy flavor from the addition of Perle, Saphir, Tettnang, and Spalt Select.
Tasting Notes:
It’s crisp, light, and easy drinking with notes of cereal grains, honey, freshly cut grass, caramel malts, and Noble hops.
Bierstadt Helles
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
You will find Helles from Bierstadt Lagerhaus in many fridges this year. While its counterpart, Slow Pour Pils, gets most of the attention, the Helles beer is gaining on it.
Tasting Notes:
It’s easy drinking and light but has slightly less hop character and slightly more malt character than a pilsner which makes them just a bit easier to drink more than one.
3 Sheeps Pils
ABV: 5.3%
Average Price: $11.99 for a six-pack
The Beer:
This pilsner is like a liquid corn stalk – cob, stalk, and all. There’s a beautiful slickness to the beer.
Tasting Notes:
It balances graininess with corn sweetness. The cascade hops are so simple and dialed back that you get to experience the real flavors of malt in a light lager format.
T.F. Granary Kellerbier
ABV: 5.0%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
The 3-time GABF medal-winning Granary Kellerbier is a classic, drinkable Kellerbier.
Tasting Notes:
A lager that is as smooth and crisp. Utilizing German malt and hops, this beer will transport you to Munich.
Honest Weight Prescott
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $16 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Named after one of the Western Massachusetts towns that was flooded a century ago to create the Quabbin Reservoir, Boston’s primary water source, Prescott is an excellent German-style Pilsner.
Tasting Notes:
A subtle Bavarian water profile, German malt, and noble hops set the stage for an effervescent and crispy craft brew.
Hacker Pschorr Kellerbier
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: $13 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest is a solid and traditional Oktoberfest that many look forward to every year.
Tasting Notes:
An unfiltered beer is known for its crisp, easy-drinking flavor profile that features honey, freshly baked bread, caramel, and floral, earthy hops.