Will somebody please explain to me why pilsners have a bad rap amongst some beer geeks these days? Actually, I already have the answer: they don’t understand beer at all. The trend these days is to go for the sledgehammer beers, the monster double imperial IPAs and stouts, barrel aged if you please. Beer, though, is much more than that, and I enjoy a well-crafted pale ale or pilsner just as much I do a behemoth of a beer.

Then too, they both have their own time and place. I do love a strong barleywine sipped by the fireplace on a cold night, though there are lagers that will do equally well then (Eisbock anyone?). Currently, its spring, and for me that means plenty of crisp hoppy pilsners right on through to fall. A new favorite for me: Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner.

Nooner Pilsner is not the first pilsner style beer from Sierra Nevada; in fact it is the third that I have tasted. A few years ago I rushed to Taco Mac to try their draft-only Foam Pilsner, and Nooner reminds me of that beer. Longtime Sierra Nevada fans will be most familiar with Summerfest, a pilsner perhaps closer to the Czech style than the German. Nooner is most firmly footed in the German camp.

From the label:

German-style pilsners are the original session beers. Nooner is our version of this classic style, loaded with floral and spicy hop flavor and balanced by a crisp and dry finish.

Actually, I take issue with that opening statement. German-style pilsners are most certainly not the original session beers, and you know better than that Sierra Nevada. Session beers (English brown/mild ales) are the original session beers, and classically they top out at 4% alcohol by volume. You could make a case for Berliner Weiss as a German style session beer (2.5% to 3% alcohol by volume). But not pilsner.

Ingredients from the website:

Bittering Hops: German Perle 

Finishing Hops: Saphir, Tettnanger, Strisselspalt 

Malts: Two-row Pale, Pilsner, Munich, Acidulated

Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner has an alcohol content of 5.2% by volume and 38 IBUs.

Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner pours to a pale yellow color with a thick foamy head formation and an inviting biscuit malt and spicy earthy hop nose. Taking a sip, the beer has a delightful fresh malty, crisp bready biscuit character up front followed by a wonderful herbal grassy hop aroma and a long dry bitterness in the finish. Just what I want in a pilsner, Nooner is truly beautiful in its malt and hop simplicity.

Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner will take its rightful place in my Pantheon of Preferred Pilsners, supplementing but not supplanting my beloved Konig Pilsner, Jever Pils, Pilsner Urquell and Victory Prima Pils. It’s that good friends.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft



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