Grand River Hannenberg Pils

Brewed by Grand River Brewing
Style: Pilsener
Cambridge, Canada

Fresh growler from the brewery. With a San Francisco yeast, 4.5% ABV & 13 IBU’s, I was a little skeptical of the Pilsner title, but I think it’s actually closer than the Creemore Lager which weighs in at 22 IBUs (they consider it a Bohemian Pilsner). And I really love the Hallertau Mittelfruh and Hersbruker hops. Personally, I think it boarders on the common/steam style, though it’ll blow away an Anchor Steam any day (and the fruitiness is probably more from the melanoidins in the malt than the esters from the yeast). The brewer has really put the "art" in artisanal, rising above any style guidelines. Bronze with an off-white head, some retention, great lacing. Grassy, spicy, floral hop aroma, slight fruitiness, with hints of metallic minerals, toffee & bready malt. Spicy, grassy, floral hop flavour; fruit bread with a slight graininess; touch of mineral flavour; balanced bitterness with a slight caramel sweetness. Very refined balance. I thought a Pils from this brewer would be A LOT more hop-forward. Moderate body is creamy (very impressive for its weight) with a crisp finish and a light sweetness in the aftertaste. Incredibly drinkable. This could be a serious gateway beer (with similarities to Creemore & Sam Adams). It’ll appeal to the masses, yet the quality and depth of subtle flavours should also appeal to the serious beer geek, making it a great sessional brew.

Growler from the brewery. I wanted to be the first to rate this one, but due to a number of circumstances I was unable to get any until today. Pours a perfect pale gold, very slight haze, with a medium, rocky, white head. Aroma: That quintessential GRB spicy hoppiness, almost giving it some Belgian-like characteristics. Very odd for a Pils/lager in general. Hops accompanied by some promising malts. Flavour: Amazingly smooth malt profile, bready which I love, zingy from the hops which also adds a mild sour aspect on the back of the tongue, and again with that distinctive house character from this brewery. Great mouth-feel, so soft and smooth. Man, this is good stuff. I’m really glad it was lagered for so long, and I can see myself drinking a LOT of this stuff all summer, and hopefully even longer! I’d really call this one more of a Helles as the brewer had originally intended. It’s got too much soft malt character going, and too little bitterness. Whatever you consider it, this stuff is great. EDIT: This new 500mL bottled version is actually significantly BETTER than the growler version I had previous. HUGE and delicious bready cereal malts, very worty, and definitely with a lot more of a hop bite in the finish. Still has the very soft mouth-feel too. DAMN.

Tap at ?C’est What? - a creditiable tribute to the german style of Pilsner (hence ’Pils’) - my notes say "German as f-ck, bready, almost fruity malts, pointy refined hops, lip-smacking texture and flavor." There are beers that take you ’home’ to a faraway place and this is one of them! Thank you GR for another flourish of your effortless brewing panáche. Beer with soul!

On tap at C’est What? Bright golden pour, with a bright white head. Great aroma of grassy hops, and bready malt. The flavor is full of more outstanding bready, chewy malts, and some more of the grassy hops. A medium to low bitter finish. Man this is crisp, and I could drink this until i fell off my bar stool!! outstanding Pils!

Growler- Pours from the giant bottle, a slightly hazed sparkling gold topped with a one finger of white froth. No real lace to speak of. In the nose I get floral notes, and lemon zest with pale malts, and a blast of almost tropical fruits, leading to fresh floral hops and a bit of yeast. Also present is the ever there mineral/tin presence of all grand river products which is a by product of what I think is the water, but which I also find very enjoyable. I can’t describe how good it smells with my words, but I’ll say that it is all subtle,but well balanced and leaves me wanting to take a sip. The taste is bitter, grassy, lemony hops, with subtle sweet malts and grains. This lends a hand to a yeasty, metallic twang with a good astringent finish. Yet again, I am at a loss of words when describing the beer from this brewery. I could drink this all day long. It seems to be a great hybrid between the helles that was originally planned, and the new pilsener designation. My hat goes of to you Rob, Bob, and crew. Please keep on kicking my ass with your amazing beer.

On tap at Volo. Golden yellow, small white head. Pleasant aroma - some nice subtle hops, some sweetness, some fruity notes as well. Taste -is very good - really refreshing light malt with just a perfect bite of hops. Very refreshing, light to medium bodied, perfectly carbonated. I cannot describe the subtle intricacies of this beer or style but I can tell you, as someone who likes his strong hoppy in your face beers, this one blew me away in its simplicity- it is perfectly crafted, very drinkable, very refreshing, and very falvourful. It will please hardcore geeks and casual drinkers alike. In fact, on Volo’s Patio this past weekend, I had a party of 8 drinking several pints of it each based on my recommendation (they came in looking for Blue Light and Stella). Another winner Grand River, easily the best and most exciting brewery in the Province right now.

Draught at Volo. Clear bright gold with a small white head. Aroma is quite fruity at first, but then some fresh grainy malt comes through, with floral hops around the edges. Medium bodied. Flavour is very fresh with a good balance of fruity malt and mellow herbal hops. Very clean and refreshing, and quite quaffable - a perfect summer beer, really.

Sampled at the Brewey: Pours a gold-amber with a good sized rocky cap, great glass lacing. Fresh grainy nose some floral some spicy eartht tones. Sharp mouth feel, slightly dry character, lots of bready malts up front, not cloying, some fruity tones with a herbal spiciness almost like a rich saison, clean crisp finish with a light biscuit aftertaste. A good rendition of a German Pilsner with Grand River’s signature touch.]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]] UPDA June 24/08....newly fomulated this Pils is better than ever...very close to Plsen taste but the hard mineral water gives a wonderful "bite" to the hops, less sweetness and fruitnes ( new yeast?) this is an excellent craft pils.