Heater Allen Pils

Brewed by Heater Allen Brewing Co.
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
McMinnville, Oregon USA

Serve in Flute, Footed Pilsner

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This is my favorite lager ever. So good on a hot summer day. Great flavor and so easy to drink.

I tend to be more a dark beer person, but this surprised me. Flavorful, but smooth - without the bitter finish I find in a lot of pilsners.

UPDATED: NOV 3, 2011 draft. faint hazed gold with fluffy white head. minerallic calcite nose with pillowy and fluffy yeast. honey and butter-tinged biscuity pils malt gives it rigid and unwavering support for saaz(?) hops. this rating lacks verbosity but hopefully passion and love make up for that. i really do need to take proper notes on this beer, but for now this rating will have to act as placeholder. this is an astoundingly brilliant and delicious czech pilsner, and available fresh on tap throughout portland? when can I move home?

Bomber poured into my newly purchased Bailey’s Taproom snifter - hazy golden with a soapy lace - lovely nose of honeyed pils malt, moderate mineral notes and grassy, floral noble hops - lively carbonation in the mouth - crisp and dry - crackery malts and fairly strong, herbal, grassy hops - like most of its German brothers, words do not do I justice - it is simple awesome - sweet baby Jesus - probably one of the best pilsners I have ever had - damn.

22oz bottle, no bottled on or best by date. Also, for some reason, I thought this was Heather Allen brewing, not Heater Allen. A mildly hazy straw yellow with a dense off-white head with excellent retention and gorgeous lacing, this is a beautiful pilsner. The nose is stunning. Soft, doughy malts with a suffuse Saaz hop character, this beer has a soft, mineral character. The hop character grows, gaining a mildly herbal note. The malt character is fantastic. Yes, it’s mildly doughy, but it’s got a mildly fruity component, almost like honeydew melons? The palate opens crisply bitter with a beautiful balance between the mineral notes and the crisp Saaz hops with a mild resin character. Along with it is the soft malt character, mildly doughy, and with a mildly biscuity pilsner malt character. Exceptionally clean, this beer reminds me of the New Glarus Unplugged Bohemian Lager. Drying and crisply bitter on the finish, this beer has a mild resiny character on the finish. The mouthfeel is fantastic, it’s got the perfect combination of mellow malt, crisp hops with great balance between flavoring and bittering, and a beautiful fullness to the palate that I expect from the best Czech pilsners. *Just* a touch watery on the finish, I have to ding half a point here ’cos there’s just one part of the back of my palate that isn’t experiencing a post-coital glow. This is about the most graceful beer I’ve had this year. It sashays over your palate, enchanting you with its beauty. Highly recommended, this is the best Czech pils that’s still brewed (I’m looking at you, Dan Carey).

UPDATED: OCT 19, 2008 22 oz bottle graciously provided by DA. This beer was brought to my attention by bvc, who said he thought I would really enjoy it. Pour is cloudy golden yellow orange with great settling and a one inch clean white head that falls fairly quickly. Pretty in the glass, visibly unfiltered. Aroma is earthy, herbal hops, there is a bit of bitter edge of orange citrus. Some floral mixed in to the nose; a fresh and complex nose. Taste is earthy, grassy, herbally, slightly bitter orange citrus and chunky, chewy maltiness - really alive and unfiltered. Nice mineral element throughout. The hops and malt are both present, vibrant and balanced. The flavors are clean, straightforward and simple in their way, but delicious. Wow, really nice one. Perfect mix of being crisply satisfying and drinkable. Thanks to Derek for sending this gem my way, thanks to Brandon for telling me about this beer - you were right!

Bottle @ Brandon’s, courtesy of B. Huge thanks! Clear, golden, orangish appearance with a white head. Very clean, crisp, pale pils malty, grassy hoppy aroma. Big straw, grass, sort of chalky, grainy pils malty, very clean flavor. Wow, what an excellent brew!

Draft (multiple pours at Hair of the Dog and Belmont Station): Shimmering chartreuse. Persistent clingy white foam. Invigorating notes of minerals leap from the glass, along with polished wafts of lemon zest, thyme, buttercup, fennel seed, and spruce tips. Exceptionally clean pils malt aromatics of new-mown hay and and lightly toasted bread. Snug carbonation. Firm bodied. Natural carbonation. Remarkably immaculate snap of minerals and fresh baguette maltiness leads the way, dovetailing with an elegant mixture of herbaceous hops coupled with an appetizing lemon zest bitterness. Nuanced yet sublimely complex hop profile teems with luster and flavor (lilac, honeysuckle) which echoes that of the bitterness with an immensely explosive lemony juiciness, pulp and all. Minerals scour the palate while the hops distribute their flavorsome nectars to counterbalance. Yeast appropriately supplies trace astringency yet never interferes with the array of delicacies. Finishes succulent and juicy with continued hoppy brightness and crackery, gently toasty haylike malt punctuated with a lengthy herbal afterimage of aniseed and lemon verbena. Floral notes exude with each belch. Comes off as more of a German pils than Czech, but a downright masterful rendition, regardless. A "road-trip-worthy" caliber of lager obviously brewed with thorough attention to detail. Absolutely world-class stuff from true artisans of the beer world.

The lady behind Belmont Station’s counter insisted that we try this new brewery, she was quite proud they had gotten their hands on some of their bottles. I sure am glad she insisted. This beautiful golden liquid wears a fine frothy white head of respectable durability. Remarkably malty from the first whiff, this is fresh to the bone, very soft, pale biscuity pils malts touched with honey nuances. A hefty dose of noble hops procure complimentary grassy, flowery notes. In mouth, from one sip to the other, I switch my mind if it’s geared more towards malt or hops. Its malts are gorgeous, perfectly extracted pils malts in their prime glory, rendering a relatively thick, gently oily palate whose softness is humbling. At the same time, you could never call it sweet Besides the first millisecond, it grows into dry territory with a crisp, tight and invigorating bitterness. Agressivity is nowhere to be found. This is just a tool to combine utmost refreshment with flavour. While perfectly clean, it has this farmy feel with its mere basic ingredients feeling all so pure and various hints reminiscent of nature and being outdoor. That’s another thing, you could drink it inside your home and you’d feel like you were on top of a mountain. The slightest vegetal DMS undertones are not a nuisance, more or less contributing a green herbal addition to the already deep hop profile. Possibly my favourite American pilsner. An absolute must.

Hazy bright yellow with a slight orangish tint; medium frothy head settles down without problems. Aroma a little nondescript for a hoppy beer, hard to pin anything specific down, perhaps tree bark. Wonderful hoppy flavor, bready, grassy, a little yeasty, medium bodied. Just incredibly tasty and refreshing, and was this not my only bottle which my awesome friend so thoughtfully brought back for me from Portland Oregon, I would drink this all the time and in large quantities. One of the two best pilsners I’ve had to this point.