Arbeiter Brewing Company opened in December 2020 in the Longfellow neighborhood of South Minneapolis. Known for producing a wide range of approachable beers, their lineup includes a killer Korean Rice Lager and a West Coast-style IPA brewed exclusively with German-grown hops. The beer we’re here to talk about, however, is Haha Pils, a flagship lager brewed with 100% Weyermann® malt.  

Last October, Arbeiter’s Haha Pils won the gold medal for German-Style Pilseners at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival. Here to join us for a pint and parley is Head Brewer Aaron Herman. Kick back and keep scrolling for all the grainy details! 

RahrBSG: Welcome, Aaron! Please tell us about your background in beer. 

Aaron: I started as a homebrewer. I worked at Northern Brewer as well. In the fall of 2011, I walked into Vine Park in St. Paul and asked if they needed a volunteer. Then from 2012-2018 I worked at Town Hall Brewery in Minneapolis. 

I like to say that practically everything I’ve learned about brewing, I learned from Mike Hoops at Town Hall. What to pay attention to, how to troubleshoot, managing yeast, interacting with front of house, how to treat your assistant brewers. I learned so much from him, and I’m applying all of it and doing it my way. 

RahrBSG: They make excellent beer at Town Hall. How did Haha Pils come to be? 

Aaron Herman: The name comes from the street outside, Minnehaha Avenue, and this was one of the very first batches we brewed. Of course, it’s evolved over time. At first, I wasn’t sure what I wanted the beer to be, so it was an amalgamation of several different kinds of Pilsners. I used to sprinkle Weyermann® Melanoidin Malt in there to give it some of that decoction character. Looking back on the early approach, I was experimenting. But over time, it’s become a dry, crisp, and clean Pilsener in the Northern German tradition. [Haha’s profile] is dry but palatable, and it’s easy to drink several. It has a beautiful color, too, at 2 SRM. 

RahrBSG: It really pulls you back in for another sip, and another. Which malts are you brewing with? 

Aaron: I continue to tweak the recipe ever-so-slightly. I’ve brewed Haha Pils with 100% Weyermann® Extra Pale Premium Pilsner Malt in the past. Right now, I’m including regular Weyermann® Pilsner as well in an effort to get it to attenuate a little better. For whatever reason, this beer kind of wants to be right in between 2.8 and 3 Plato, and I would love to see it at like 2.5 or 2.7. 

RahrBSG: Why do you choose to brew with Weyermann®? 

Aaron: I have a comfort level with Weyermann®; I know what to expect. The extract is reliable. Lautering is easy. I keep using it because it’s a quality, predictable malt. If you use quality malt, you get quality beer. 

RahrBSG: Would you walk us through the recipe that won gold for German-Style Pilseners at GABF? 

Aaron: That one was 100% Weyermann® Pils; I wasn’t able to order Extra Pale Premium at the time. More often than not, the grist is 50-50 or close to it; it varies a little bit depending on availability. But these ingredients are similar.  

In terms of hopping, it’s a little bit of Magnum for bittering at the start of boil, and Mittelfrüh during the latter part of the boil. That’s what I’ll say without giving everything away. And then for water, it’s pretty sulfate heavy so we can accentuate that crisp, dry character. 

Finally, I try to filter as fine as possible. I’ve always filtered all my lagers. I think these things should be as clear as water. 

RahrBSG: Are you ever done trying to improve Haha Pils? 

Aaron: The way I like to describe it is I’m splitting hairs, and the hairs keep getting finer and finer. The dryness, the bitterness, and the water profile – these are the hairs I’ve been wanting to split with this beer.  

RahrBSG: How long do you let it lager? 

Aaron: The longer the better. Primary is two weeks essentially, so this is usually a 6–8 week production cycle. Have you heard the German rule of thumb for lagering? One week for every degree Plato, plus a week. I’d love to just spund the batch and let it clarify to brilliance all by itself. Use the old German brewing techniques and stay out of the way. I’d love to get there someday. 

RahrBSG: That’s a sound approach to brewing German-style lagers. 

Aaron: Keeping it simple is my approach to everything, honestly. You do this for a long time, and you get pretty crammed full of knowledge. Keeping it simple when you’re an experienced brewer versus someone who’s new to it – that can mean drastically different things. But that’s my goal, don’t overcomplicate things. Keep it simple. There’s really no need to reinvent the wheel. I strive for balance in all my recipes and all my beers. I like flavor and I’m not afraid to push flavor. But if you push something in one direction, you’ve got to balance it out somewhere else. 

RahrBSG: What would you tell a brewer considering using Weyermann® Malt to brew a Pils? 

Aaron: Do your homework on the style. 

RahrBSG: That means drinking, right? 

Aaron: Yes. Drink is many as you can. Get familiar with the style and lock in that flavor profile. Ask around. Talk to brewers. I’m big on reverse-engineering things. If I see something in my mind’s eye, I start working on how do I get there? What do I want the beer to be like? What color? Every tweak makes a difference. At the same time, try not to get in your own way. For the longest time I refused to make a Czech-style Pils because I knew we didn’t have the right water profile. But finally, I gave in and used the water we have and brewed a decocted Czech Pils. It actually took a gold medal a few years back in a Minnesota competition. 

RahrBSG: Speaking of awards, any special plans for your Weyermann® red overalls? 

Aaron: Next Christmas I want to wear them and recreate the scene from A Christmas Story with the leg lamp. “A little more to the right. It’s a major award, can’t you see, you nincompoop? You wouldn’t know. Mind power.” 

RahrBSG: Please do that. We’ll come for the lighting ceremony. 

Our thanks to Aaron and everyone at Arbeiter for taking the time to share a pint of Haha Pils, their award-winning German-Style Pilsener. When you’re ready to join the winner’s circle, contact RahrBSG for everything Weyermann®.