The original Pilsener beers emerged from Bohemia in the mid-1800s. Shortly after their meteoric rise in popularity, German brewmasters also started creating their own pilsner or “pils” recipes. The most distinctive pilsners coming out of Germany were from up north, where adding significantly higher quantities of hops to the kettle became the trend. These beers, while looking quite light and straw-colored like their Bohemian brethren, contained significantly more hop character, bitterness, and a dry finish as sharp as a knife.

It’s these German pilsners that inspired the original recipe for our Pikeland Pils, a staple in our year-round portfolio and one of the first beers that Sly Fox started packaging in cans in 2005. Beloved by brewers and beer drinkers alike, Pikeland Pils etched its place in beer history when it took home the first gold medal for a canned craft beer at the Great American Beer Festival in 2007.