Beer Review: Pandemic Pils (Boneshire Brew Works)

This beer review originally appeared on LetUsDrinkBeer’s blog, I contribute and write occasionally for them. I wrote the review for them first, and just copying here to my blog so I have a version of it on my blog. Please check them out and give them a read. Great articles on their blog, I highly recommend their stuff! (LetUsDrinkBeer – Pandemic Pils [Boneshire Brew Works].)

Welcome back, and sorry its been a while since I’ve gotten to post here on LetsDrinkBeer’s blog. This is Ben (or B. Kline) from The Beer Thrillers and I’m glad to be back. This whole coronavirus / COVID-19 thing has definitely been hectic for everyone. Here in Pennsylvania, we’ve had a color coded system. Every county started in red, then could move to yellow, and then finally to green. My county, Dauphin county, home to Harrisburg, Hershey, and subsequently breweries like Boneshire Brew Works, Troegs Brewing, Moo-Duck Brewery, The Millworks, ZeroDay Brewing, and Newfangled Brew Works (as well as the soon to open Rubber Soul Brewery in Hummelstown), hit yellow (and will go green on Friday – June 19th). This meant that breweries could do outdoor seating (limited capacity, and following CDC guidelines). In green phase, if they so wish, they can do indoor seating as well.

So, with the beautiful weather, and missing my favorite breweries, I met my buddy out and finally had myself a socially distanced brewery beer. And what better beer to have than Pandemic Pils by Boneshire Brew Works.

Beer: Pandemic Pils
Brewery: Boneshire Brew Works
Style: Pilsner – German
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: (None)
Untappd Description: Traditional German Pilsner! That’s right a beer that tastes like beer. Crisp and refreshing and just in time for the warm weather. Our first official lager…enjoy!

For those not in the know, Boneshire Brew Works is a great little small brewery pretty much right in my backyard. It sits near the end of the outskirts of Harrisburg, almost going into Hummelstown. They are one of my favorite local breweries and I’ve tried my best to support them throughout this crazy situation going on with the pandemic. As per Untappd they are a microbrewery with 139 unique beers and an overall global average rating of 3.82.

I will admit to not being the hugest Pilsner / lager fan, but I did enjoy this. And on a warm, sunny, day, I can definitely enjoy a “crisp boi” (as all the cool kids nowadays would say). I like to look at and review beers based on their styles, not my personal preferences, and I also love trying a wide variety of styles, even ones I’m not a huge huge fan of – spice is the variety of life… or… ….vice versa? Ah heck, who knows….

Appearance is a beautiful crisp, light yellow, lager style coloring. Its see-through, and fully transparent, with nice bubbles, and a small but carbonated foam head. It has the tell-tale fizziness of a carbonated lager, and it has all the characteristics and appeal of a German pilsner. Beautiful beer. (There is just something to be said for a nice, pretty, clear beer.)

Aroma is spot on for a pilsner as well. Light, airy, nothing extreme, no hop aroma, no fruityness, no weird off notes. You get the pilsner malt and the oats. There’s not a whole lot to hide or take note of here; it smells like a well made pilsner, which means it smells like a much better version of a Lite beer (glares at certain macros…. you know who you are…). Quite a few local breweries in PA (Pennsylvania) have well made lagers and pilsners, and I would hold this right up with the rest of them.

Taste is delicious. Its crisp, its golden, its refreshing, its cool, its a beer that tastes like beer. Its exactly as it says it should be. What do you want from a German Pilsner? Because this is exactly it. Great clean crisp pilsner malt and oats, nice mouthfeel, nothing cloying, no off flavors, no esters mucking about, just a perfectly well made beer in exactly its style and guidelines. You could easily hammer back a six pack or even twelve pack of these bad boys on a day watching the Phillies play or mowing the yard, or betting on your daughter’s softball game…. I mean…. watching your daughter’s softball team play….. (……shifty eyes….). This isn’t a heavy beer, nor is it light and watery, and with its 5.5% ABV it doesn’t hit you at all until you’re on beer #3 or #4 or depending on your size and tolerance #5 (6?). I certainly enjoyed this, and can only highly recommend it if your in the Harrisburg area of Pennsylvania. It is currently on draft at Boneshire Brew Works, as well as currently available to go in 4pks and also growler fills. Boneshire Brew Works also just released a new version of their English Curse – this time jazzed up with coffee, so definitely check that out as well if you are in the area. You won’t be disappointed, I promise you that!

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.92 (as of 6.13.20)

Thank you all for reading, and sorry its been quite so long. Things have certainly been hectic in my neck of the woods, but its looking like we are starting to come back to some semblance of normal (well, a new normal). My job is starting back up on Friday the 19th, but with so many questions yet to be answered. I hope you all had a very safe and productive time if you were in quarantine or locked down. And as always, I certainly hope you’ve been safe and sound from the virus. If you are ever in the Harrisburg area, look me up, would gladly hangout for a beer or two or three; especially once all this silly nonsense comes to an end.

You can check out my beer blog at – The Beer Thrillers; as well as find us on Facebook and Twitter.

I have been very busy over the lockdown, taking a beer science course and covering it on my blog – Beer Education: The Series. As well as doing beer reviews and covering closings.

So please check us out! Thanks!

Cheers!

-B. Kline
The Beer Thrillers