Pils

From Unsung Brewing in Anaheim, California, this West Coast pilsner—with tropical character driven by Mosaic and Nelson hops—won silver in the Hoppy Lager category at the 2025 World Beer Cup.

Lisa Allen, co-owner and brewer at Heater Allen and Gold Dot Beer in McMinnville, Oregon, shares this recipe for a pils designed to show off a nontraditional German aroma-hop variety.

With a burst of Lórien hops in the whirlpool and more in the dry hop, the team at Sunriver Brewing in Sunriver, Oregon, describes this hop-forward pilsner as “distinctly crisp, with elegant hoppy notes of wildflowers, lemongrass, and black tea.”

As today’s brewers explore the subtleties of hop-forward lagers, they’re finding ways to balance proper fermentation time with the brightest possible hop expression.

The flagship beer from Wiseacre in Memphis, Tennessee, Tiny Bomb is a svelte, session-strength American lager with the full flavor of a German pilsner.

Natalie Rose Baldwin, brewmaster of Wayfinder Beer in Portland, Oregon, shares this recipe for a French-inspired pilsner that features a kiss of spelt and plenty of floral, spicy Alsatian Strisselspalt hops to drive the flavor.

From Corn Coast Brewing in Lincoln, Nebraska, here’s a recipe for the West Coast–style pils that we named one of our Best 20 Beers in 2025.

From Seattle’s Fast Fashion, here’s a recipe for the German-style pilsner that we named one of our Best 20 Beers in 2025.

You don’t want your water to get in the way of hop-saturated flavors. Here, North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair sketches out a few different water profiles that depend on style—and why he might adjust those profiles, depending on choices made elsewhere.

North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair shares his approach and various techniques for achieving fully saturated hop flavor in IPA, West Coast pilsner, or any hop-forward style.

Fork & Brewer’s all-Riwaka take on New Zealand’s signature beer style is clean and crisp, with a lean malt base that allows the pronounced tropical-hop character to truly shine.

From Accra’s Heritage Brewing, Ghana’s first modern brewpub, comes this recipe for their flagship lager—technically an ale, but cleanly fermented—featuring local maize and cassava as the bulk of its fermentables.

Kevin Ely, brewer and cofounder of the Wooly Pig Farm Brewery in Fresno, Ohio, shares this recipe for his unfiltered German-style pilsner—light, fresh, floral, and subtly malty, with a moderate bitterness. Plus: See the notes for why he prefers an unusually thin mash for this beer.

Twice per year, the production teams at Austin’s Hold Out and Live Oak breweries get together to brew what they call “the king of tater beers.”

Evan Price, cofounder and head brewer of Green Cheek in Orange, California, details how pH, water chemistry, hop varieties, and grain choices are all among the knobs you can turn to shape your ideal perception of bitterness in West Coast–style, hop-forward beers.

How did we get here? Green Cheek cofounder and head brewer Evan Price traces the recent history of IPA in the West Coast style, as it’s moved away from caramel and fully embraced pilsner malt.

From Atlas Brew Works in Washington, D.C., here’s a recipe for their popular pilsner, a bronze medal–winner at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival. Easy-drinking yet flavorful, this pils gets subtle extra character from its Cal Common yeast strain.

From a word on water to dry hopping, fining, and carbonating, cofounder and head brewer Evan Price shares an overview of Green Cheek’s process for West Coast–style beers.

Evan Price, cofounder and head brewer of Green Cheek in Orange, California, lays out the thinking and process behind their bright, bitter, and highly drinkable West Coast pils, IPA, and double IPA.

Kevin Templin, cofounder and head brewer at Templin Family in Salt Lake City, shares this recipe for their GABF medal-winner that also became one of our Best 20 Beers in 2023.