Frankenmuth Brewing Company - Frankenmuth Pilsener

Frankenmuth’s Pilsener is a classic German Pilsener style beer brewed with all 6-row pale malts. Both Cluster and Perle hops are used up front for their bittering contributions and Perle hops are added again near the end of the boil as well to give the beer its hop aromatic characteristics. A German lager yeast strain developed in Munich is used in this filtered, light golden, medium-bodied beer.

Note a nice hop spicy nose (smells German) with some malt character present. Look for good head retention in this pale, clear, medium-to-light-bodied beer. We found this Pilsener to have a pale malty flavor with a dry hop finish. Overall, clean, well-balanced, German style Pilsener.

Frankenmuth, MI, which is known as "Michigan’s Little Bavaria", is located on the Cass River in a wide expanse of fertile rolling farmland called the Saginaw Valley and was founded in 1845 by German immigrants from the Bavarian region of Franconia. The Brewery itself was rebuilt in 1988 after a devastating fire and has been operated by the Heine family since 1991. Frankenmuth uses a 115 barrel gas fired copper kettle which allows for fire brewing their award-winning beers. Their product line has received 20 varied accolades in the last five years alone and our panel considers the brewery to be one of the country’s best lagering breweries which is why we’re featuring the majority of their beers this month.

Brewmaster, Fred Scheer, has worked in the brewing industry for 23 years in German, Dutch, and American breweries, has a master’s degree in Brewing and Malting Science, and is a current active professional American Homebrewing Association judge acting on the Great American Beer Festival’s evaluation panel. The brewery employees 14 full-time employees and offers hourly tours 7 days a week.

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (517) 652-6183 or check out their web site at www.frankenmuthbrewery.com.