photo by Kevin Gibson

The PC era is officially over. Now the beer is simply “Pilsner”.

Grand Rapids-based Founders Brewing Co. scored a hit last year with Solid Gold, a German-style lager that brings a competitive price point to go with a clean taste. It remains a favorite.

But before there was Solid Gold, fittingly a gold-medal winner in this year’s New York International Beer Competition, there was PC Pils, a beer that never garnered as much attention as beers such as, say, All-Day IPA, another of the beer’s sessionable thirst-quenchers. PC Pils, however, has undergone a makeover, with Founders dubbing it, simply, Pilsner.

It’s essentially the same beer, an American take on a classic European pilsner which replaces traditional Noble hops with American favorites like Chinook, Centennial, Cascade and Crystal, (for a peek at the hop farm, please click here). The can also has a new look, with the former industrial-looking font replaced with a softer image. The lettering is a basic script font atop a logo depicting a hop cone as the central focus of an illustration of a setting sun over a body of water. Basic but effective, kind of like the beer inside.

A sample of the brew confirms what we already knew: it’s a quality product, which is a mark of Founders. It has an approachable flavor and body, as any good pilsner should have. While it’s a beer your mom or dad wouldn’t turn down, those hops linger for those with a taste for those unique flavors.

The beer is so clean that the subtle hop accents might even be tough to discern if you’re not paying attention. In the aroma, there’s a nice whiff of the grains, with a hint of tropical fruit that pays off subtly in the flavor. The beer ends with a bit of astringency and next to no bitterness. In short, it’s a beer that will be friendly to most palates and perfect for bringing to the next barbecue or boat outing.

The new branding seems inclined to point the consumer in such a direction. “We’re excited to share this new look for Pilsner,” Dave Engbers, co-founder and president of Founders, said in a news release. “We wanted to update the packaging to better reflect the liquid inside and our vision of the true Pilsner experience. The sunset over the lake evokes a view that generations of Michiganders have shared.

“Our new label celebrates the pure pleasure of summer and the perfect time for a Pilsner made with American hops.”

Pilsner is now a available in 15-pack cans, through September, in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New Jersey for a price point around $18.