My recent vacation to central Europe involved, among other things, drinking an awful lot of Pilsner Urquell. Unlike what you get here under that brand name, I found this to be a delightful brew–crisp, clean, with just the right amount of bitterness. (As opposed to skunky for bottles or just uninspiring on draught.) This, along with a few other Czech, Austrian, and Hungarian brews I sampled, has changed my outlook on pilsner and even threatened to unseat the IPA as my brew of choice.
The only problem is, now that I’m back in the states, finding a decent pilsner is turning out to be a bit of a challenge. The imports tend to come in green bottles, a sure-fire way to skunk your beer. The microbrews I’ve had have been far too gentle and mild–better than BMC, sure, but still not rising to the level of a Pilsner Urquell or Krusovice, or even a Soproni, honestly.
So, are there any decent pilsners to be had on this side of the Atlantic? Your recommendations are appreciated!
In NYC? Sure there is. Just takes some time to find one. There has to be a few decent German taverns around. Or a few tolerable brewpubs. You just have to search them out, hitting every one and drinking every beer they have, sometimes multiple times, to find the Grail.
Go to beeradvocate.com, make an account, and run a search on German Pilseners. You’ll find tons of them, with reviews and ratings. Then you just need to find the ones available in your area.
I’d link, but you pretty much have to be a member (which is free) to get to most of their pages. It’s a great resource for any sort of beer info.
I agree that Prima Pils is the best American pilsener I’ve tasted. Also, I would recommend Samuel Adams Noble Pils. (In terms of beers that are widely distributed.) Those are both very good beers, indeed, and great examples of their style. Ratebeer.com, for example, rates Prima Pils a 100 for its style, and Noble Pils a 98.
I’m surprised by the OP’s love for Soproni. I lived in Hungary for a number of years and the beers were middling, at best. Especially compared with the beers to our northern border and to the west.
You can find brown-bottle Krusovice here in the States. Also, you’ll probably like the Polish pilseners, too. If you live anywhere with an Eastern European community, you’ll have a goldmine of pilsener-style beers to choose from. Look for beers from Zywiec, Okocim, Tyskie, and Lomza. I live in Chicago, so these are commonly available, but they may be more difficult to find where you’re at.
Look carefully for it in your local cooler. Many stores don’t want to shelve it with the other Boulevard product (maybe because it’s in a holder instead of a closed box). My grocer puts it with the Michelob, for cry-yi.
Pilsners are lagers, not ales. Lagers are pretty hard to homebrew, something that a lot of people never attempt. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but pretty much when most people talk homebrew, they’re talking ales.
Sure, there’s some Pilsner-like ales that you can make easier than a true lager, but given the OP, I’m guessing he wants the real stuff.
The hardest thing in finding a good Bohemian style pilsner in the US is finding one with the right maltiness level; most pilsners in the US are German style, which is considerably less malty than the Bohemian ones.
That being said, I’m kind of partial to the New Belgium Blue Paddle pilsner, and believe it or not, the seasonal Shiner 101 Czech Pilsner from last year wasn’t bad at all. Also, the Abita SOS pilsner was awfully good, even if it had some wheat in it.
Prima Pils is good, but the Sam Adams Noble Pils isn’t really in style for a Bohemian Pilsner; it’s the lager equivalent of an IPA or something; really hoppy, with a LOT of hop aroma.
By definition typical Czech beers, like Pilsner, are not lagers. The word is German for storage and and means that the beer has been stored for some time in a cold temperature. The reason for doing this is to get rid of a substance called diacetyl that gives the beer a kind of fudgey savor. The Czechs, however, like this taste and drink their beer without previous storing.
Pilseners are a type of pale lager. Beers come in two main varieties: ale and lager. Ales are fermented with top fermenting yeasts that do their jobs at higher temps. Lagers are brewed at much colder temps with bottom fermenting yeasts.
You just need a lagering fridge (an extra fridge or freezer with space enough to hold your carboy) and some patience to make it happen. I know homebrewers who do it, but, you’re right, the average home brewer just deals with ales.
