Know your styles -- Pilsner

It is the most popular style of beer in the world, and I would say the least appreciated by beer geeks.  It is really a shame that more craft beer geeks do not embrace the pilsner style.  It isn't exciting enough for them or it is vilified because the big three call themselves pilsners.  The truth for me is that a well made pilsner is one of  the most delicious beers I've had the pleasure of consuming.  It won't knock you over with fully forward flavor, but will knock you over with a true art form in your glass. I will admit I wasn't always like this and I stayed away from the style after I got into craft beer, but now that I've found out how much I love a good pilsner there is no going back.  The world just flat out needs more big ass glasses of all-malt pilsners.

Background:

The Germans have been brewing lagers since sometime in the 1400's.  They were typically dark, murky, and cloudy brews.  It would be nearly 450 years until a new style of lager came into existence.  In just 160 years the style would become the most consumed style of beer in the world.

This is another bit of folklore that probably has some truth in the story.  The story that I read the most about the  birth of the pilsner style starts with thievery   A monk in Germany stole bottom fermenting yeast from a brewery in Germany and brought it to Plzen in the current day Czech Republic  The town of Plzen was tired of the inconsistency of their beer and built a new brewery for the town. They then hired a brewer from Germany to brew in their new brew house by the name of  Josef Groll.  Groll was Bavarian by birth, and his father owned a brewery in Germany. He was already familiar with the pale malts being used in England after studying brewing there, and Groll was already experimenting with bottom fermenting yeast by the time he arrived in Plzen. Plzen has nearly the same climate as Bavaria and brewers could keep the barrels of beer cool during the warm summer months in massive underground caves.  Mr. Groll brought consistent German brewing techniques with Czech ingredients to create a new style of beer.  At the time the brown Bavarian lager would have been one of the most consumed beers in Europe.

German brewers were still using healthy portions of darker malt in their beers near this time.  Groll used the lightest pale malt he could find and when the first batch was tapped they had the clearest and most golden lagered beer that anyone had ever seen.  The long maturation process produced a wonderfully carbonated beer with a huge head of perfect white froth on top of it. It was crisp and refreshing and got everyone talking about it immediately.  The beer was being poured into actual glassware, and so for one of the first times in history people were drinking with their eyes just as much as with their other senses on a massive scale.  Glassware wasn't just for the rich anymore.  It was 1842 and pilsner style beer from Plzen was starting its rapid ascent as the favorite beer of the world.

How did the pilsner go from an all-malt and wonderfully hoppy creation to the mass produced toilet water that is produced today by the mega-brewers?

Its like Lenin said: "You look for the person that will benefit"....I am the Walrus? Shut the fuck up Donny!

Pilsner really should be recognized like the Champagne region of France or Stilton cheese from England or any other regionally specific product that can carry that name, but because no one got around to trademarking the name until 1859 the damage had already been done and pilsner style beer was everywhere using that name and basic recipe. The name pilsner simply means beer from Plzen and the name Budweiser originally meant beer from Budweis.  This new beer started a firestorm of discussion around Europe and people were there to capitalize on the name. It wasn't until 1898 that the original brewery that Josef Groll brewed the very first pilsner lager changed its name to Pilsner Urquell or "Orignal Pilsner" in Czech.  This also coincided with great industrial change around the world.  Refrigeration was being pioneered, Louis Pasteur finally helped everyone understand just how important yeast was in the process of beer making, railways made it easy for regional breweries to get their beers out to more thirsty patrons.  Because of industrialization and the buzz around the pilsner style this beer became the mark of the times and it never looked back. It was a case of man, moment, and machine that really caused pilsner style beer to take off.  The mega-brands have all been brewing this style of beers for many years and calling it pilsner, but they have taken away just about anything from it that makes it true to its original form.  The quality of barley, lower hopping rates, adjuncts and fillers, and much quicker lagering times have reduced an amazing style of beer to little more than industrial imitation sliced cheese. It is still beer in the academic sense, but is so bastardized from the original it has no business calling itself a pilsner beer or beer for that matter.

This is where advertising has done injustice to the style.  Many beer geeks associate pilsner with this, but my friends, that couldn't be further from the truth.  My first drink of a true pilsner changed the way I thought about beer in general.  It was crisp, clean, refreshing, and amazing conducive to conversation.   Pilsner should be consumed as close to the source as possible. We don't have many people doing pilsners here, but you can certainly find a number of really good ones.

The BJCP splits pilsners into three distinct categories.  Those are Bohemian (Czech) pilsners, German pilsners, and American pilsners.

German pilsners (pils) are distinct because they will be drier and crisper than their Czech counterparts, but the Germans modeled their beer after the Czech's.  It will use only pilsner malt, German noble hops, and German lager yeast.

Bohemian/Czech pilsners will also be crisp, hoppy, spicy, floral, sometimes grassy, and deliciously malty.

American pilsners were copies of the German pilsners that immigrants brought with them to America.  They used what was around and will many times included corn in the process.

Commercial examples:

German pilsners: People's brewing company: People's pilsners, Victory Prima Pils, Lefthand Polestar Pilsners, Brooklyn Pilsner, Rogue's Uber Pils

Czech pilsners: Upland Preservation pilsner, Sam Adam's Noble Pils, Shiner 101 Czech style pilsner, Sierra Nevada Summerfest, Oskar Blue's Mama's Little Yella Pils, Pilsner Urquell, Golden Pheasant from  Pivovar Zlaty Bazant a.s. (available in Indiana) and Budweiser Budvar

I would highly recommend giving a real pilsner another chance when you see one at your favorite local brewery or pub. 

Cheers!

Matt 

Sources:
Oliver, Garrett. The Brewmaster's Table, Discovering The Pleasures Of Real Beer With Real Food. Ecco, 2005. Print.


Papazian, Charlie. The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. 3. New York: Harper Collins, 2003. Print.

KOTBR #84 | A History Lesson

The subject of this roundtable: Pilsners. Our angle: historical. The opening for our reviews: inspired by Jeremy Cowan's trivia-laden labels for his He'Brew brand. Alternative titles considered for this post, which were based upon hip-hop song titles containing the word "check": Cz-Czech It Out, Czech the Rhime, Czech Yo Self.

So, here we go--

Pilsner is a style of pale lager that originated in Pilsen, Bohemia. The Pilsner style was developed in the 1840s to replace the Bohemian beers that were prevalent at the time, which were often of poor quality. Pilsen is now called Plzeň, and Bohemia is now part of the Czech Republic. Plzeň is home to the second largest synagogue in Europe; the Pilsner Urquell brewery; and Petr Čech, who is the goalkeeper for the Czech Republic national soccer team and English Premier League powerhouse Chelsea FC. Plzeň became a town in 1295 when King Wenceslaus II issued a charter to the town. The Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas" is about Saint Wenceslas I, Duke of Bohemia, not about King Wenceslaus II, who was not related to Saint Wenceslas I. Fresh trout and carp are traditionally served on Christmas in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic national soccer team has never won a World Cup. The team won only one game in the 2006 World Cup; it defeated a lethargic United States team 3-0 in the opening game for both teams. Czech hockey star Jaromír Jágr once possessed the mightiest mullet in all of sports.

Radeberger Pilsner - This beer comes from a brewery with a long history. It got its start in 1872 in the city of Radeberg as the first German brewery to brew exclusively in the Pilsner style. By 1879, Radeberger was successfully exporting its beer overseas. The brewery continued to operate with many honors and distinctions and was even named as the preferred beer of the Royal Court of Saxony. This fact is something Radeberger is extremely proud of, and you'll find this distinction printed on the bottle. After World War II, the brewery was taken over by communist East Germany. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification, Radeberger returned to the private sector (and the western part of Germany) and is now owned by Oetker Gruppe. Recently, the brewery has made state-of-the-art updates to its equipment and facilities as well as its website, where you can even design your own bottle.

The Pilsner itself pours crystal clear with few bubbles. The nose is sweet, and the beer has a medium-bodied mouthfeel, but the flavor is flat and reminiscent of grape bubble gum. There isn't that crispness that is typically associated with the Pilsner style, and the carbonation of the beer seems to be lacking. 2.20 Mugs

Radeberger Pilsner
Mike 1.50 Mugs | Gina 2.20 Mugs | Jess 2.25 Mugs | Rod 1.90 Mugs | Chris 2.20 Mugs | Jim 1.90 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 1.99 Mugs



Stiegl Pils -This beer almost didn't make the roundtable. My initial intent was to bring some Czechvar, but I couldn't find any at Parti Pak. After surveying the rest of the beer selection, I spied some Stiegl Pils on the top shelf and decided to bring it along because I liked the graphics on the bottle. See, we use very deliberate and scientific methods to choose the beers we review.

Stiegl Pils is the only Pilsner in the group from Austria (Salzburg, to be precise). Stiegl, which means "steps," is the largest brewery in Austria. Despite its size, Stiegl is still a family-owned business. The brewery was founded in 1492, and, according to Stiegl's website, Mozart was a Stiegl drinker.

As one would expect of a Pilsner, the Stiegl Pils poured with a pale yellow color. The nose was fruity and floral, dominated by grape notes and accented with faint apple notes. The mouthfeel was crisp, and the taste was a pleasing combination of malt and sugar. The finish on this beer was bitingly dry. Of the Pilsners we reviewed, this was one of the better ones. 2.95 Mugs

Stiegl Pils
Mike 2.63 Mugs | Gina 2.50 Mugs | Jess 2.70 Mugs | Rod 2.90 Mugs | Chris 2.70 Mugs | Jim 2.95 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 2.73 Mugs



Pilsner Urquell - Historically, the beers of Bohemia were rather poor. In the 1800s, the citizens of Pilsen decided they could stand no more and founded their own brewery. By bringing in a skilled Bavarian brewer and combining his lagering skills, Czech water, and hops from Saaz, Pilsner was born. This beer would be emulated and copied by many neighboring states and countries due to its amazing success. The beer was subsequently named Pilsner Urquell (effectively "the original pilsner") to denote its place in history.

This beer is characteristically how I feel a Pilsner "should" taste. The nose is very faint with hints of lemon, raw wheat, and yeast. A somewhat nutty malt profile is the dominate flavor in this Pilsner, similar to the flavor of Grape Nuts. A delicate combination of lavender and spruce provide a unique herbal characteristic. A slight grapefruit flavor from the Saaz hops creates a nice dry finish. This is a respectable beer, but certainly not one that's going to impress with its subdued flavor profile. 2.50 Mugs

Pilsner Urquell
Mike 2.42 Mugs | Gina 2.00 Mugs | Jess 1.90 Mugs | Rod 2.50 Mugs | Chris 2.40 Mugs | Jim 2.40 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 2.27 Mugs



Victory Prima Pils - Victory Prima Pils doesn't have the impressive history that many other Pilsners have, but it does have the honor of being one of the highest rated Pilsners on many popular beer rating sites. It also remains true to the history of the Pilsner by using German and Czech malts, yeast, and hops.

This Pilsner has a strong lemon nose with a slightly musty background. When it comes to the flavor profile, this was easily the hoppiest beer of the night. A nice, dry lemon flavor makes this lager very easy to drink. The hops present themselves as a light grapefruit bitterness. This is easily my favorite Pilsner and a great summer beer. 3.52 Mugs

Victory Prima Pils
Mike 2.41 Mugs | Gina 2.10 Mugs | Jess 2.50 Mugs | Rod 3.52 Mugs | Chris 3.00 Mugs | Jim 2.00 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 2.59 Mugs



Ray Hill's American Pilsner - This Pilsner has a unique back story. Ray Hill is a former homebrewer from the St. Louis area who hit it big in getting Anheuser-Busch to contract brew his American Pilsner. He actually cashed out his 401K a few years ago and put it all into working on promoting this one beer. He was in agreement with A-B that he would market the beer while they brewed it using his homebrew recipe that he developed himself. Anheuser-Busch and the Hill Brewing Company parted ways in early 2009, and Ray has continued to work seven days a week to get the brand off the ground. Hill Brewing Company is also trying to open their own independent brewery and restaurant in the St. Louis area. According to STLtoday, Hill will open his brewpub some time early this fall.

This quaffable brew has a sweet grape (almost like a chardonnay) nose with lots of floral notes. It has a great balanced flavor with a hint of dryness on the finish. It tends to have a lingering sweetness on the end. We did hear that it was brewed with corn, which could account for the sweetness in this Pilsner. 2.90 Mugs

Ray Hill's American Pilsner
Mike 2.64 Mugs | Gina 2.50 Mugs | Jess 2.90 Mugs | Rod 2.75 Mugs | Chris 2.50 Mugs | Jim 3.10 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 2.73 Mugs




Left Hand Polestar Pils - Polestar Pils is a beer, unique on this night of sampling only insofar as it is utterly devoid of uniqueness.

Of course, that lack of character only applies to the history of this beer. As a beverage, it was much more interesting. A whole array of "fake fruit" could be found in the nose, like taking a whiff from a handful of Flintstones vitamins. The flavor was very crisp and grapey, with notes similar to white wine. I should note that several around the table found a "vomit smell" in their sample. If I was really smelling for it, I could get just a hint of that, but I certainly wouldn't have noticed it on my own and didn't find it particularly offensive. In any case, I think this is a very nice example of a Pilsner and one I'm curious to try in place of food pairings where I might have gone with a white wine. 3.10 mugs.

Left Hand Polestar Pils
Mike 1.45 Mugs | Gina 1.8 Mugs | Jess 0.90 Mugs | Rod 1.75 Mugs | Chris 3.10 Mugs | Jim 2.40 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 1.90 Mugs



Coney Island Lager - Shmaltz Coney Island lager might not belong in a roundup of Pilsners. Beer Advocate calls the beer an American Amber, and RateBeer claims that the beer is a Vienna lager. In any case, we noticed that the beer was brewed with Czech Pilsner yeast and decided that was good enough to include it in this roundtable.

Coney Island Lager is just one of five beers that Shmaltz put together in tribute to Coney Island, and proceeds from the beer go to help Coney Island USA's efforts to promote arts and culture in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn. The effort is definitely noble, but if you're like me, you're wondering why Shmaltz went with five lagers. While it's certainly a way to differentiate yourself and your beer from everything else, I don't think it's a share of the market that craft beer lovers were desperate to have filled. Perhaps it was just that Shmaltz was already doing such a good job on their He'Brew line of beers that lagers were the only obvious and entirely different choice left.

Despite being a different style from everything else we were drinking, we found that the Coney Island Lager fit in. A cloudy copper color came to play, along with a sweet and slightly flowery front. The mouthfeel for this beer was a bit heavier than the others, a characteristic that may have been a tell-tale sign that we weren't drinking a traditional Pilsner. The beer also had a Dr. Pepper-like finish, which was definitely not something we got out of any of the others. Coney Island Lager was my favorite beer of the night, but considering the competition (most of which we though were fine, but just fine), that's not saying a lot. 2.71 Mugs

Coney Island Lager -
Mike 2.71 Mugs | Gina 2.75 Mugs | Jess 2.90 Mugs | Rod 2.81 Mugs | Chris 2.80 Mugs | Jim 3.00 Mugs
KOTBR Score: 2.83 Mugs