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Style explorer: Czech Pilsner
Our inaugural style explorer explores the golden beer that started it all
Joseph Lavoie
October 25, 2022
Good morning!
Today we have the latest installment of our refreshed Tuesday content: a style explorer. We're starting light by exploring a style that you may have noticed is increasingly featured on tap lists across the province: Czech Pilsner.
We hope to explore a different style every month, so hit us up with a reply to let us know what you liked/didn't like in this first edition and what style you'd like us to explore deeper next month.
— Joseph Lavoie
Czech Pilsner (Bohemian Pilsner)
What to expect
A Czech Pilsner, done well, is a beautiful beer. It is rich in light malt and floral hop character, with a long, rounded finish. It is incredibly refreshing while also pleasing the taste buds with a balanced complexity that keeps things interesting. This isn't a lite lager; this is a Pilsner that isn't afraid to show off its malt backbone.
The sensory experience
Appearance: A Czech Pilsner will pour a gold to deep gold colour with brilliant clarity, and a dense, long-lasting head. In fact, don't be shocked if it comes to your table with a really thick head—that's an authentic way to enjoy the beer.
Aroma: You should pick up light malt flavours reminiscent of bread or crackers, combined with spicy or floral hop aromas. The combination might even smell grassy. While not always the case, for the most part, you should expect a balance between the malt and hop aromas. You might even notice the combination evolve with every sniff.
Flavour: What you pick up in the aroma is what you'll find in the flavours: rich, complex, bready maltiness combined with a soft and round bitterness that gets elevated by the floral or spicy hop flavour. Sometimes the malt flavours give off a sweet impression, verging on light caramel. You should expect bitterness, but not in the harsh way you would expect from a style that has been hopped aggressively. This beer is clean and smooth with a restrained fermentation character.
Mouthfeel: The carbonation should be low to moderate, with a medium body.
🇩🇪 How does this compare to a German Pilsner? A Czech Pilsner offers richer malt flavours, a deeper colour, more body with a softer impression than its German counterpart.
💧It's in the water: The original Bohemian Pilsner (more on that below), was brewed in Plzen, which has very soft water, meaning it is low in mineral content. This is a crucial part of what contributes to a classic Czech Pilsner flavour and keeps the hop flavours smooth. To make a truly great version, brewers need to adjust their water profile to ensure it's soft. Thankfully for brewers in the Lower Mainland, that's not too difficult, as water sources here are generally soft to begin with.
🇨🇿 Meet the style's icon
Did you know, in the Czech Republic, only Pilsner Urquell is called Pilsner? The rest are pale lagers.
First brewed in 1842, Bavarian brewer Josef Groll is credited with brewing the first Pilsner Urquell. It is considered the world's first golden pilsner, and as you now know, it kicked off a brewing revolution. According to the brewery, 70% of all beer drunk today is in the pilsner style. It all started with this one.
Personally, I prefer to enjoy the classic when it's available on tap. Here in BC, we're more likely to find it in cans or bottles. I'll take the can over the bottle as my next best choice. The bottle is green and susceptible to skunking if it has not been well tended to. That said, I have seen it in brown bottles before, and that would be much more reliable than a green bottle.
As you can see from the photo, the original pours a clear golden colour and ideally comes to you with a thick head. You may pick up freshly-baked baguette or even some sweet corn on the nose. The taste is clean and crisp with a notable hop spice kick that lends the beer its light bitterness.
Food pairings
One of the things that makes this style incredible is its versatility.
It's a style that lends itself well to backyard BBQ meals and experiences, just as well as it works with that Sunday roast chicken family dinner. 🍖🍗
Vegetarian? Try it with a spicy veggie burger. 🍔🌶️
BC Czech Pilsners worth enjoying
With this style gaining in popularity, it's becoming more common to find at least one or two options in most liquor stores. Of course, your best bet is to keep an eye on new releases from BC's breweries and make a bee-line for the brewery when you see one on tap. Below, we include some recent favourites we've enjoyed:
1. Wildeye Brewing Czech Pilsner
We found this to be an exceptional version of a Czech Pilsner. It pours bright with a clear gold colour. Light malt aromas and beautiful cereal notes pop in the mouth. Unlike many attempts at this style, it is not overly sweet in the aftertaste. Instead it is assertive and appropriately hopped. Balanced and complex.
2. Fuggles Beer Pixel Pils
This version from Fuggles and Warlock pours crystal clear and golden. It is slightly spicy and ready on first contact. You get rich maltiness up front and floral hop notes throughout. The finish is slightly sweet but appropriately so. Refreshing, quenching, and sessionable.
3. Brookswood Brewing Czech Pilsner
Langley's Brookswood only opened its doors a couple months ago, but cans of its Czech Pilsner have been on local store shelves for the last year to generate excitement. I've only had the canned version of this beer but am eager to taste it out of a keg. The can version pours a beautifully thick and long-lasting head, true to style. The bitterness is soft and the beer finishes dry.
Explore this style further
The Beer Judge Certification Program Style Guide for Czech Premium Pale Lager
Advanced Cicerone Em Sauter's guide to Czech Pale and Premium Pale.
Josh Weikert's guide to making your best Bohemian Pilsner.
The Oxford Companion to Beer's Pilsner Urquell profile.
Good Beer Hunting walks us through why the Pilsner Urquell story is still coming to America.
NEW BEERS
It's Wet Hop Season - 16 new beers released last week
Last week breweries released more than 16 different beers. Among them:
Five Road's Belgian table beer.
Parallel 49's single hop lager.
Bomber Brewing's Hedgehog Hazelnut Chocolate Milk Porter
UPCOMING EVENTS
Parkside Brewery is the first featured brewery at Tacofino Ocho's monthly Brewery Dinner Series on October 27.
Ace Brewing is offering 15% off to those who show up in costume at its Halloween Party on October 28.
Shore Line Brewing is hosting a Halloween Party on October 29, featuring a live DJ and a photo booth. Free entry and costume contest.
Studio Brewing is celebrating Halloween with a triple beer release on October 29 and 30.
Farm Country also has a triple small batch beer release and costume contest on October 29.
Moody Ales & Co is putting on a Halloween party with DJ spinning all night long on October 29.
Deep Cove is giving us an excuse to show up to North Shore Craft Beer Week with big shoulder blazers or spandex for this 80s house party on November 12.
Patina Brewing is hosting a mindful beer tasting yoga class monthly on Saturdays. If you can't make it tomorrow, the next sessions are on November 19, December 17, January 28, February 18, and March 11.
BC Beer Awards returns November 5 to celebrate BC's best beers. The event is sold out, but you can join the waitlist here.
BC Beer Con is taking place November 8-9 at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster.