During these last hot days of summer, nothing beats the crisp, light flavors of a great pilsner beer. For our August installment of Ale Together Now, Michelle brought in fantastic samples and shared some of the cultural, historical, and brewing context of this beer style. Grab your favorite local brew and join us as we dive into the world of pilsners!
Pilsners are lagers, brewed with the bottom-fermenting yeast species Saccharomyces pastorianus. Lagers are slightly more time-consuming and difficult to brew than ales, requiring cooler temperatures during the fermentation process, as well as extra time for cold conditioning. Pilsners are light in color, clear, and contain flavors of sweet grain, biscuit, and cracker-- but they can also have flavors that are more earthy, bitter, or spicy than other lagers. They are sessionable, at just 4-6% alcohol by volume (ABV). The three main varieties of pilsner are Czech, German, and American pilsners. This style is often served in a tall, skinny, flat-sided glass to enable drinkers to better enjoy the crisp, clear, bubbly appearance of this brew. But if you enjoy a pilsner outside in the summer, be careful to keep it out of the sun! Light beers like pilsners can skunk within five minutes of direct sun exposure.
Pilsners originate from 1840's central Europe, in the area of Germany, Austria, and what is now the Czech Republic. Brewers discovered the process of coke-firing malt, which is a way to dry the malt for brewing without exposing them to smoke. Pilsner beer was first brewed in the 1840's and was an instant hit-- the style migrated to north America, along with German lager styles, and has influenced modern brewing as we know it today.
We sampled Pilsner Urquell, brewed by Plzeňský Prazdroj in Pilsen, Czech Republic. This beer, at 4.4% ABV, is refreshingly crisp with flavors of light caramel and slight hop bitterness.
So what's the difference between a pilsner and a light lager? Both beers are light, crisp, refreshing, and mild in flavor, but they do carry some noticeable differences in culture, brewing ingredients, and flavor. Technically, all pilsners are light lagers, but not all light lagers are pilsners. Pilsners are a little darker in color and have a slightly deeper flavor due to the use of more central European ingredients. Pilsners have more flavors of biscuit, malt, and some hop bitterness along with occasional flavors of citrus, pine, spice and earthiness that is not always detected in a light lager. Light lagers are better known as a generally light, crisp, and slightly sweet beer.
Czech or bohemian pilsners are an adaptation of the original pilsner. They are made with Czech ingredients, such as bohemian pilsner malts and Saaz hops. The ABV in this style can range anywhere from 3.0-5.0% ABV, with a pale straw to deep golden color and a crisp, clean, light body. They have grainy, biscuit aromas with flavors of bready malt, biscuit, cereal grain, and cracker. This style can sometimes be brewed with a little bit of funky flavor, too, if it skunks as a result of light pollution.
We sampled Milford Memories, a Czech pilsner from River's Edge Brewing Co. in Milford. This toasty, clean, refreshing brew has bready, biscuit flavors and sits at 4.9% ABV.
German pilsners are the German adaptation of the pilsner beer style, and are considered a sister to the helles lager. They are lighter in body and flavor than a Czech pilsner, and were popularized by the light lager in Germany because this style is light in body, but packs a little more flavor. This style is brewed with German ingredients, like German pilsner malt and noble hops. Sitting at 3.0-5.0% ABV, German pilsners are pale straw to golden in color and feature a crisp, light body like a Czech pilsner would. They have aromas of light grain and biscuit, with flavors of light malt, biscuit, and cereal grain.
Professional Pils is a German pilsner brewed by Drafting Table Brewing Co. in Wixom. This beer has herbal, floral flavors with a noticeable hop bitterness.
American pilsners are another adaptation of the traditional pilsner, brought to the United States by central Europeans migrating to the area from the 1840's to the 1880's. Brewers of this style worked with American ingredients, such as 2/6-row malt (and sometimes added corn and rice), as well as American hops, which are stronger in alpha acids and provide more flavors citrus, tropical fruit, and pine.
Before prohibition, American pilsners were often brewed with all malt and no other adjuncts, making for a sweeter beer with stronger flavor. Post-prohibition, this style was brewed with adjuncts like rice and corn, providing a very crisp and mild flavor. Nowadays, brewers have been experimenting with adjuncts and American pilsners. Ingredients like fruit and dessert foods are being added to this style to play with flavor, mouthfeel, and the experience of the American pilsner.
Our last sample of the program was a Rice Pilsner brewed as a collaboration project between Untitled Art and Long Beach Beer Lab in California. This beer is brewed with puffed rice and garbanzo beans, making for a mild yet interesting beer.
As we wind our way through the last warm, humid days of summer, be sure to enjoy a local pilsner or two and consider the interesting history and crisp, crushable flavor of this wonderful beer style. And don't forget to visit a new brewery or beer store and try something new this month! There's something fun and educational about tasting a beer you wouldn't normally drink, and you never know-- you might just find your next favorite beer!
Cheers!