Heater Allen Pils

Tasting Notes

The aroma opens with delicate noble hop florals and a faint grassy spice, backed by clean, lightly sweet malt. On the palate it's lean and grain-forward, with a firm but measured bitterness that runs through the mid-palate without overpowering. The body is light to medium and the carbonation is fine, lending a smooth texture. The finish is dry and moderately bitter, with just enough hop character to keep things interesting.

About the Brewery

Heater Allen is a small lager-focused brewery based in McMinnville, Oregon, founded in 2007 by Rick Allen. They built their reputation almost entirely on traditional German and Czech lager styles at a time when Pacific Northwest craft brewing was dominated by hop-forward ales, which made them something of an outlier and earned them a devoted following. Their lineup is narrow and deliberate — pilsners, märzens, bocks — brewed with an emphasis on lagering time and clean fermentation.

Food Pairings

Roast chicken works well because the beer's dry finish cuts through the fat without fighting the mild seasoning. A soft pretzel with mustard mirrors the malt backbone and plays to the beer's German roots. Mild white fish like cod or halibut lets the subtle hop character come forward rather than getting buried by bold flavors. Fresh goat cheese on bread offers a tangy contrast that the lean malt can balance cleanly.

Style Guide

German Pilsener is a pale, dry, hop-accented lager that originated in northern Germany and diverged from its Bohemian cousin by leaning harder into bitterness and a crisper, more attenuated finish. It typically falls in the 4.4–5.2% ABV range and uses noble hops — Hallertau, Tettnang, Saaz — for floral and herbal character rather than fruit or resin. Compared to Czech Pilsner, it's drier, less round in the malt, and often more assertively bitter. Compared to a Helles, it's less malt-forward and more defined by its hop profile.