”If you had told me when I first starting drinking craft beer and home brewing 20 years ago that I would ever be seeking out and enjoying pilsners, I think I might have laughed at the assertion. However, with more craft brewers adding the pilsner style to their brand line up, and pushing the flavor boundaries of the style, it isn’t hard to see why many craft beer fans are snatching up and ordering pilsners,” says Michael Kuderka, Managing Partner of MC Bassett, LLC- the company that publishes The Beer Bible (http://www.thebeerbible.com/home.php).
Pilsners present with a floral hoppy aroma and flavor, a mild malt middle, and a signature bitter “bite” at the end. Developed in the Bohemian town of Pizen and introduced in 1842, the classic pilsner style stood out from other popular beer styles of the time due to its golden clarity, its smooth complexity, and its distinctive hop flavor andfragrance.
Pilsners make the perfect, balanced, session beer, with an ABV ranging between 4.5% and 5.5%. The Pilsner’s aroma and flavor profile, and the history behind this style, all work to make the Pilsner, the most popular beer-style in the world. And in fact, many craft brewers are jumping head first into this competitive style category, transitioning their pilsners from being seasonal offerings to being year-round brands.
Kuderka suggests breaking down the pilsners by complexity to get a better understanding of them and to assist in categorizing each.
Here is an easy way to categorize pilsners:
Basic Complexity – these brands generally consist of Lagers and Light Lagers, or other beer styles which offer a balanced, mild, flavor profile. These brands are not overly malty, are slightly floppy, and are often described as clean and crisp.
Transitional Complexity – these brands consist of both Ales and Lagers and offer a step up in flavor from those of Basic Complexity. These beers are less balanced and are perfect for allowing consumers to experience an expanded taste profile as they tend not to overload the palette and generally offer one or Iwo unique flavor components. For example, these brands might have an increased hop bitterness, a bigger malt profile, or a predominate wheat, fruit, or spice flavor. These beers are often described as session beers.
Complete Complexity — these brands offer an increased taste profile with a balanced complexity. Beers with Complete Complexity consist of both Ales and Lagers and offer a wonderful flavor experience for consumers. Greater amounts of hops. malt and other additional ingredients provide a more defined bitterness, sweetness and overall fuller taste profile.
Peak Complexity – these brands are strong, big and unbalanced by design, with flavors that tip the scale toward hops, malt, yeast, or adjuncts depending on the style and brewer. These beers can consist of both Ales and Lagers and are often marketed as being Imperial, Limited Releases, collaboration beers, and seasonal brews.
Beer brand complexity is derived by factoring in the color, bitterness, ABV, fullness and style of each beer brand. You can match your palate to the right beer complexity by finding out the beer experience that you are looking for. You can discover this by asking yourself three basic questions:
.What beer styles have I enjoyed before?
. Did I like them because they were sweet or bitter — full or light?
. Do I want a beer experience that is different or the same?
As a beer retailer, Butter’s Fine Food and Wine constantly tries to find ways to expand your palate’s “complexity” boundries.
Here are some examples of pilsners that would fall into each category:
Basic:
. Pilsner Urquell
. Zatec
. Blue Marble Organic Pilsner
. Paulaner Original Munich Premium Lager
. Bischoff Premium Pilsner
. Zywiec Pilsner
. Penn Kaiser PlIs
Transitional:
. August Schell’s Pilsner
. Boulevard Pilsner
. Gordon Bersch Pilsner
. Millstream Brewing German Pilsner
. Rogue Uberfest Pilsner
. Btburger Premium Plis
. TrurnerPils
. Shiner 101 Bohemian-Style Pilsner
. Redhook Ale Brewery Rope Swing Summer Pilsner
Complete:
. Capital Brewery Special Pilsner
. Butte Creek Organic Pilsner
. Left Hand Brewing Polestar Pilsner
. North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner Style Beer
. Heavy Seas Brewing Small Craft Warning Uber Pils
. Brooklyn Pilsner
. Smuttynose Brewing Portsmouth Lager
. Tröegs Brewing Sunshine Pus
. Victory Prima Pus
. Saint Arnold Brewing Summer Pus
. New Glarus Brewing Edel Pils
. Sly Fox Pikeland Pus
. Odell Brewing Double Pilsner
. Schlafly Pilsner
. Oskar Blues Grill & Brew Mama’s Little Yella Pus
. Samuel Adams Noble Plis
. Avery Brewing Joe’s Premium American Pilsner
. Lagunitas Czech Style Pilsner
Peak:
. Sweetwater Brewing Road Trip
. Harpoon Leviathan – Big Bohemian Pilsner
. Boulevard imperial Pilsner
. Port Brewing Panzer Imperial Plis
. Juxtaposition – BrewDoglCambridge/Stone
. My Antonia – Birra Del Borgo/Dogfish Head
. Rogue Imperial Pilsner
So, Cheers to Pilsners!
-Butter’s Fine Food and Wine Roving Reporter
