Pilsnerbock redux and the joys of cellared pilsner

We are nearing the end of pilsner month and we have covered a lot of ground. The original plan for this week was to look at a few pilsners outside of the traditional strongholds and compare them but I must admit I wasn't prepared for that. But I feel I have come up with a suitable alternative; we are going to take a look at a perfect example of pilsnerbock and then look at a cool niche of the pilsner style. All okay with that? Good,  then read on!

Our first candidate tonight is Heavy Seas Small CraftWarning Über Pils which comes out of Baltimore, Maryland. We have looked at a Heavy Seas beer before here and it was a winner in my book. The Small Craft Warning pours with a fluffy white head and has a nice floral nose. Right away you can tell it is different from a traditional pilsner as it fills the glass with a rich, clear, darker golden liquid.

On the taste it has a nice crispness to it but mixed with a maltier bock-like sweetness.  That is well balanced by a hops and the high carbonation. It has the bitter aftertaste of traditional pilsner but it moves off the palette quickly leaving only a mild sweetness in the back of the mouth. It is a refreshing lager which is rather surprising considering it comes in at 7.0% ABV.

This is the standard for what a pilsnerbock should be. You could drink a good pilsner then follow up with this and understand how it sits in the pilsner spectrum. One informs the other and you can chart the influence of the original style. Simply put, this is how “imperialization” should work, as a modification of an original style to amplify distinguishing characteristics. (Otherwise you are in business of creating something new.)

The script on the bottle seems to back this up:

Unofficially the original American Über Pils, Small Craft Warning is a rich, golden bock lager with big malt flavor and a crisp hop finish.

Our other candidate tonight, Tuppers' Keller Pils, takes a slight deviation with the pilsner style; instead of the normal process it remains unfiltered. We haven’t really dived into keller (cellar) beer yet on this blog, but in a nutshell they are left to age out a bit in wooden casks with active yeasts. (Follow this link for more info) This particular model takes a slight twist on that and goes the bottle conditioned route instead.

What we have is a beer that pours a hazy, golden straw color, with a white fluffy head, and an elegant floral nose. On the drink you get a lot of hop right up front, a crisp bite that isn’t overpowering. It yields to a fine bubbly smoothness that ends with a flat, mildly bitter aftertaste that lingers on top of the mouth for a bit before finishing dry.  It is a solid 5% ABV.

With the amount of carbonation in this it is more reminiscent of a Zwickel beer than a true keller beer. The Tuppers’ Keller Pils hedges its bet a bit by combining the two styles by increasing the alcohol and taking the bottle-conditioned option allowing it to maintain the high carbonation. Overall this is an excellent beer and the perfect high note to end our pilsner reviews on.

If you have had either of these let us know in the comments!

Imperial Pilsners: A Beer Paradox

This week in Pilsner month we tackle Imperial Pilsners. You have to hand it to American craft brewers for their tendency to take a style and then bulk it up. Bigger, stronger, hoppier, etc., imperializing or "doubling" a style has come to mean taking a style of beer and "roiding" it up. Starting with IPAs it has progressed into other styles. It only gets weird when it encounters a style where imperializing obfuscates the original intent. Don't read this as a screed against imperial styles, far from it, I appreciate the effort and willingness of craft brewers to push the boundaries and to create challenging new brews. I enjoy drinking them even more, but we do have to recognize the problems that arise when we mislabel or confuse. Today we are looking at two different imperial pilsners with a closer view of what they are trying to do and whether they promote or defeat the pilsner style. 

Our candidates:
Dogfish Head My Antonia

The first noticeable thing is that this beer is more creamy and smoother than a standard pilsner. There is a bite but not as crisp or sharp. Since this is a Dogfish Head beer there are hops, noticeable in the floral nose, and in the earthy taste, but it is not as pronounced. There is more body to the beer, it's heavier on the tongue and it is not as effervescent on the palette even though it is highly carbonated. While the aftertaste isn’t as bitter it does stick around forever, it was still present a good fifteen minutes after my final drink. Describing the traits of this beer is difficult compared to the other pilsners we have encountered. Mature is an apt word to describe this. My Antonia has taken all the characteristics of a pilsner and refined them, forced then to grow up. You could say this is subdued, but that misses the point, it is an easy drinking beer with more refinement and complexity in the glass. Take the basics and square them but mute them also. If that makes any sense to you then you have cracked the code on this brew. It has a bigger 7.5% ABV. The final verdict is this is a richer, more full bodied pilsner beer but still recognizable as a member that style. 

Uinta Crooked Line Tilted Smile Imperial Pilsner

Immediately you are confronted with the fact that none of the pilsner characteristics are present. Even the golden color is darker that you would find normally. It does not have a clear, but hazy appearance, the only shred of pilsner identity overtly present is the fluffy white head but even that disappears rapidly. This reminds me of a baryled version of a chardonney. It has that same butteriness that your would find in that particular style of wine only blended with a hoppy character. It has a good carbonation but not the bite you would expect, the aftertaste on this is rather grassy and barnyard-like, and it clears off the palette very quickly. We have some cool things going on in the glass and interestingly enough they become more and more apparent as this beer warms up/ once again opposite what you would want out of a traditional pilsner. A more floral taste becomes evident as the temp rises. This is different and I'll admit a slightly confusing beer to me, it's not what I would expect out of an imperial pilsner so once I threw out all my pilsner-centric expectations I started to enjoy this beer a whole lot more. It is a big puncher at 9% ABV. I enjoyed the whole bottle, and Uinta Brewing has brewed a fine beer that is worth seeking out.

Out of both of these the Dogfish Head My Antonia is the better representation of a pumped up pilsner but neither of these beers are ones that you are going to session with or have on a hot summer afternoon as refreshment. In the end while I appreciate what the brewers are doing and the willingness to stretch the boundaries they are a representation of the problem. Imperial Pilsners are a conundrum, and I think it is twofold. One part comes from actually comes from using Imperial in the name. Doing that means it gets associated with the likes of Imperial IPAs and Stouts, both styles that have characteristics that can easily amplified and are now well established in the craft beer world. Pilsners rely on subtly and nuance which makes "imperializing" a much more challenging prospect. In other words it is an unfavorable comparison. The description ends up confusing beer drinkers and could lead to some disappointment with what they are actually drinking thereby defeating the purpose of what the brewer is trying to accomplish here.

The second problem with imperial pilsners is pilsner itself. Pilsner beers have distinct characteristics and their primary purpose is to be refreshing. Imperial pilsners have not become more refreshing, quite the contrary, the are creeping towards heaviness. The fact is both of these beers are stepping beyond the bounds of pilsner's definition. They are using standard pilsner ingredients but we aren't getting the expected result. Are we accurately calling them what they really are? I would argue the answer is no, instead I propose a different name, both of the beers we looked at today I would hold up and say, "Welcome to pilsnerbock!" Appending bock to the end provides a better expectation of the brewer's intent and what the beer drinker is about to enjoy. Looking at the Tilted Smile from this perspective definitely increases my appreciation for it. The end result is here beers,even with all the confusion they cause, are to applauded are providing another path of appreciation for a style of beer that has been dragged down in mediocrity. The bonus is both of them are worth tracking down and enjoying.

The Power of Pilsner: Chapter 1, the Problem of Pilsner

Over the course of this month we are focusing on Pilsner beer. Why pilsners? There are several compelling reasons; the first and most important whether it is realized or not is pilsner beer changed everything. If there ever was a beer at the right time, right place then pilsner is on the short list. Second, it deserves a redemptive reading (or drinking.) One of the biggest issues facing pilsners today is getting over the stereotype of what a majority of beer drinkers think it is. Finally summer is literally right around the corner which means hot days and here true pilsner reveals itself and revels in the fact that it is one of most refreshing beers in the world.

Want another reason for pilsners?
Cool glassware.
(Original here)

Pilsner’s good name has been thoroughly dragged through the mud and many have forgotten what makes a true pilsner beer special. This isn’t the fault of the beer drinker; they have been led down a path of mistrust and apprehension where pilsner style means uneventful, uninspired, tasteless swill. The biggest threat to pilsner beer has been through American macrobreweries. The villains in this story are the Millers, Budweisers, and Coors of the world and if we really want to get down to brass tacks the fault lies with a lot of the breweries that prospered and boomed after prohibition. 

In the beginning these breweries, rich in German heritage brewed true pilsner beers in America. Much like other places in the world the beer caught on and became incredibly popular. One can imagine that these beers were very tasty. As time went on though and cost savings became a priority, concessions were made, the biggest being the step away from barley to cheaper adjuncts like rice and corn. This cheap derivative of the original still sold like gangbusters and encouraged other copycats. The problem was that neither corn nor rice can bring the good malt taste of barley, and for a beer like pilsner that uses very few ingredients that is a death sentence. While this is a very simplistic look at it, the end result was the reputation of pilsner beer slowly slipping into mediocrity.

Now though, things are changing, the craft beer revolution has spurred brewers to recover and reclaim styles of beer. There are craft brewers that have risen to the challenge of brewing true pilsners. Combined with European brewing stalwarts both parties are working hard to dispel the bland image that pilsner has become in the minds of beer drinkers.

Pilsners today coming from crafts have several common traits with their traditional European counterpart: the crystal clear golden color, the white fluffy head, the crisp, light on the palette and refreshing taste. As always, American craft brewers continue to refine and tweak and while the results vary a majority are worth seeking out. For the beer drinker the excellence of pilsner is found in the details and the subtlety.

I argue a great chilled pilsner is one of the most refreshing beers a person can enjoy on a hot summer day. For me it was a Mama’s Little Yella Pils by Oskar Blues that got me interested in pilsners after being turned off of them by the willy-nilly use of “pilsner” by macrobrewers. The golden liquid in that golden can forced me to reconsider my previous notions of what pilsner really was and it opened up a cool part of the beer world. 

We’ll talk a bit more about the history of pilsner in part 2. 

Pennsylvania Pilsner Face-off!

We have looked at the Czech, we've looked at the German, now let's look at the American pilsner...what? Actually allow me to rephrase that. Since it is American Craft Beer Week, let's look at the pilsners being brewed by American craft breweries.

Ignore the tools and the Windex and just
focus  on the  beautiful golden color

Our first candidate is Stoudt’s Pils brewed by Stoudt’s Brewing Company. This is one of their standard year round beers. It checks of the pilsner basics easily, a crystal clear light golden straw color, nice fluffy white head with the lacing clinging tightly to the side of the glass. The nose on this beer is very flowery.

This is brewed in the German style of pilsners which means it has a very earthy taste to it. There is a lot of carbonation on the tongue and you end up with a dry mouth but also a mild and long lingering bitter aftertaste. There is a nice hoppiness to this beer as suggested by the nose that makes for a refreshing beverage. It charts at a very drinkable 4.7% ABV. This is a fine pilsner that strides well between elegance and complexity. I like it and recommend it. 

Our other candidate tonight is another German style pilsner, Prima Pils by Victory Brewing Company. This too is a year round standard. As usual we have the prerequisite pilsner qualities: The clear golden color, the white fluffy head, and the floral nose though unlike the Stoudt’s, the Prima Pils has less of a nose than I would have expected.

What happened to the head?
It disappeared so quickly.

There is a sharp crisp bite on the front of the drink that leads into a long earthy but light bodied taste. The hops are restrained in the beginning but gives way to a lingering bitterness that is more overt than other pilsners tasted during the course of the month. The overall finish is bitter and very dry. It is a nice 5.3% ABV. The Victory Prima Pils is a solid beer and worth trying but not as subtle or deft as the Stoudt’s Pils.

One other thing worth mentioning about these brews; both are out of Pennsylvania which may have a bit to do with why they taste good. Both of these tasted better than the European pilsners I have tried this month, and truth be told most of the American craft pilsners have been “better.” There is a big reason for this. Pilsners are tastier the fresher they are. These hit the shelves faster than their European counterparts; they didn’t have to travel across the ocean to get here, and had less chance of being subjected to any temperature extremes that could potentially skunk out the beer. That said both of these pilsners are good representations of American craft brew skill.

Here are the “party lines” for these brews:

Stoudt’s Pils:

Pils is reflective of a traditional German-style Pilsener. It is delicately dry with firm bitterness. A brilliant straw color with medium body, and noble hop aroma. A terrific thirst quencher, crisp from the Saaz hops with a dry malt finish.

Victory Prima Pils:

Heaps of hops give this pale lager a bracing, herbal bite over layers of soft and smooth malt flavor. This refreshing combination of tastes makes Prima a classy quencher in the tradition of the great pilsners of Europe. 

Want another opinion?
The Beer Observer takes a look at Stoudt's Pils
Fermentedly Challenged has a write-up of the Victory Prima Pils

Czech to German by way of Austria and Brooklyn

Last week we looked at the original, Pilsner Urquell,  our baseline for Czech pilsners. Now we will look at the German style of pilsner, though truth be told our first candidate is actually from Vorchdorf, Austria. The finer points in the various styles of pilsner are going to wait till this Friday when I write a more comprehensive overview of the pilsner style and it's impacts on modern brewing. Let's get to the beer!

Our first candidate is Schloss Eggenberg Hopfenkönig. We have all the pilsner characteristics here, the golden color, high carbonation, crystal clear appearance, the white fluffy head, and lacing down the side of the glass.

This had less bite than expected and while there is some bitterness in the aftertaste it is mixed with a some biscuitiness.  While light on the palette and refreshing, the hop effect is muted and that takes away from the crispness. Truth be told this is not actually a good representation of the German Pilsner style despite what the bottle says. It has more in common with its Czech counterparts to the north. It comes in at a drinkable 5.1% ABV. This is a decent beer for someone getting into the style but you will want to move on to others soon.

Here is the “party line” on Hopfenkönig:

"Is an excellent pils brewed with the world-famous Saazer hops. Hopfenkönig has a crisp, clean dry, hoppy nose and aromatic flavours. It is a perfect aperitif beer with 5,1% alc./vol." 

Our other candidate tonight is an American attempt at the German style, Brooklyn Brewery's Brooklyn Pilsner.

A nice floral nose on the pour, setting up with a darker golden color and crystal clear appearance with the requisite fluffy white head.  It has a crisp bite, and a bolder hop character up front, but it does not have much of a lingering bitter aftertaste. This is more in line with the German style of pilsners with an earthy taste to it.  It is a refreshing beer with a bit more body than expected. It comes in at a drinkable 5.1% ABV. I would say that it is worth enjoying a few on a nice summer afternoon. It would do well at summer picnics and with food on the grill.

Here is the “party line” on Brooklyn Pilsner.

 Brooklyn Pilsner is a refreshing golden lager beer, brewed in the style favored by New York’s pre-prohibition brewers. In the 1840’s, the pilsner style emerged from central Europe to become the world’s most popular style of beer. Like its ancestors, Brooklyn Pilsner is traditionally brewed from the finest German two-row barley malts. Germangrown Perle and Hallertauer hops provide a crisp, snappy bitterness and fresh, floral aroma. The flavor of the malt comes through in the finish. We ferment Brooklyn Pilsner at cool temperatures, and then give it a long, gentle maturation (lagering), which results in a beer of superior complexity and smoothness. We believe that you will find there to be none finer. Unlike mass-marketed so-called pilsners, Brooklyn Pilsner does not contain cheap fillers such as corn or rice, nor does it contain any preservatives or stabilizers. Brooklyn Pilsner is the real thing.

Beer links for May!

Beer links is back! So let's dive in!

(Original here)

In the News!
Northern Virginia is a beer drinker's paradise (Washington Post)
It is hard to argue against this. The whole DC metro area is pretty rocking for beer.

Bubble has not burst on craft beer market (Washington Post)
Double WaPo! On topic though I would argue that the craft beer market has even begun to get saturated.

Responsible NASCAR Fans Rewarded at Talladega Speedway (Globe Newswire)
It is a small start but a step in the right direction. More can be done though.

Can beer save America? (Salon)
If you read one article on this link page then this should be the one!

New Brewers Speak as Part of American Craft Beer Week (nola.com)
The revolution will be brewed with diversity and that makes me incredibly happy.

World Beer Cup Announces Winners At Craft Brewers Conference (Huffington Post)
There is a slide show with a few of the winners, also check out this one for the winners of the Canny's

The Haitian Beer Prestige won Gold at World Beer Cup 2012 (Haiti Libre)
I think I need to get media credentials for the World Beer Cup 2013.

Oregon father drunk on Clamato, beer allegedly lets 10-year-old drive (KWCH Channel 12 - CBS)
Here is your weekly dose of beer crime.

Mac Power Adapter + Beer Bottle = Apple's Secret Church Key (lifehacker.com)
It is good to know I have a backup always in my bag now.

In Site News!
We will be recording a new episode of the Beercast this week, expect some reviews on some crisp and tasty pilsners, and a more thorough write up on why we are focusing on Pilsners this fine month of May. If we can cram anything else in we will! As always you can find us on Facebook, Untappd, Twitter, and Google+. Just click on the widget in the top right corner. Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome to the beer that changed the world

It is pilsner month. For the next thirty days we are diving into a style of beer that changed everything, but more on that on Friday. First we need to quench our thirst and look at our baseline for pilsner beers. 

That means we are starting with a look at the original pilsner, Pilsner Urquell, which loosely translated means "from the original source." The original source being Plzen, Czech Republic which is the home of pilsner beer, as stated earlier, more on this on Friday. This is the beer that altered how we perceive and drink beer. In a way the brewing and success of this beer is responsible for the resulting craft beer revolution we are currently undergoing. 

Not only does it look delicious,
it was delicious. 

So let us get to the enjoyment phase of this. It poured with a rich golden color that was crystal clear. This beer has a higher carbonation than most with the bubbles streaming up from the bottom making for a pleasant looking glass. It had a white fluffy head that slowly dissipated with lacing clinging to the side. It just screams, "Beer!" 

It tastes light, crisp, with some slight fruitiness and grassy aspects. It has a distinct smell to it which stems from the Saaz hops. It has a relatively mild bite, not sharp but spicy, and a lingering but light bitter aftertaste also a result of the Saaz hop. It finishes very clean. This is a very drinkable beer coming in at a session like 4.4% ABV. 

This is beer for pure refreshment which should be the most common theme throughout the month. At the time this beer was introduced it would have been the crispest, cleanest, and lightest tasting beer in the world. The question that has to be asked though is how close is this beer to the original brewed in the 1840s? One thing to understand about pilsners is that they tend to be better the fresher they are. They aren't for keeping, they are for drinking. We know this beer has already put some mileage under it, in addition Pilsner Urquell these days now falls under SABMiller, one of the goliaths of the beer world, and while they claim the recipe has been unaltered I would like to know how this tasted before it was being produced on an industrial scale. 

That said this is a good way to kick off pilsner month. Your thoughts in the comments!

Witbiers: Our segue into Pilsners...what?

So it is not a perfect segue by any means but witbiers do have one thing in common with the pilsners we are about to look at during this month of May. They make great refreshing summer beers. 

A brewing saint who resurrected an entire style of beer.
(Original here)

So what is a witbier? For starters it was almost a style of beer that went extinct until the intervention of a man named Pierre Celis came along and single-handedly revived it back in the late 1960s. If I was doing this right I would have grabbed a Hoegaarden, that was the beer Celis brewed that reintroduced the world to the joys of witbier. It is an InBev product now and has been for twenty plus years so I can't say how accurate it is to Celis's original brew. It is still a tasty brew though. Another peculiarity of this style of beer is it is not exactly the easiest of beers to brew, we are dealing with unmalted wheat and that requires some more effort from the brewer to become a workable brewing substance. On a side note witbiers were also an early favorite of mine as I started my beer journey. 

Gussie is intrigued. 

Our classic style from Belgium is the St. Bernardus Wit that comes in at a very drinkable 5.5% ABV. (This is part of the Pierre Celis Signature Selection so there is that.) Since we aren't really dealing with hops here the gruit is more subtle than other wits I have had. The spices, coriander / cloves/ orange are there but they are background scenery, and not trying to hog the spotlight. It poured a hazy light yellow with a small head and it drank very smoothly. It has a pleasant fruity taste with the spices coming more to the front as you swallow the beer. They do stick around and take a curtain call in the aftertaste. Overall this is an excellent refreshing, light on the palette and rewarding beer. I wholeheartedly recommend this. This is a perfect beer to convert drinkers into the craft beer world. 


Here is the party line on St. Bernardus Witbier

This traditional Witbier (Wheat beer) has been developed in cooperation with Master Brewer Pierre Celis, the Godfather of Hoegaarden and Celis White. This beer as well has a second fermentation in the bottle, giving this beer its specific taste (5.5% alcohol content). 

I was going to do a review of my local's version of a witbier, Port City Optimal Wit, but a different bottle was calling my name and Optimal Wit will have to wait for its day in the sun. (It is a solid beer in my opinion.) Our "nouveau" witbier is actually from Japan. It is the Hitachino Nest White Ale. We've had Hitachino Nest beer before around these parts with good results. One caveat going into this. I have had this bottle since October 2011 stashed away in my cellar. That said let's dive in. 

Something is wrong
in the picture

This poured a clear straw gold color with a big spicy nose. This should have been an indicator that something was amiss, but I didn't pick up on it right away. On the drink this is smooth on the tongue but loaded with spice up front. It does clear off the palette very quickly with minimal aftertaste which is opposite to the St. Bernardus Wit.  It was the lack of body that had me puzzled though. I expected more. Then a light bulb went off and I realized that since I had stored this for the last 8 months everything has settled. Sure enough there was a big layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Here is where beer purists may wish to stop reading for a moment. I shook the hell out of it for a few seconds and voila, a beer with body that was much closer to what I expected. This is a very drinkable 5% ABV. If you can find a bottle of this I would encourage you to pick it up. It is a refreshing and enjoyable witbier. 

That's much better!

Here is the party line on Hitachino Nest White Ale:

A refreshing mildly hopped Belgian styled beer with a complex flavor of coriander, orange peel, nutmeg. White Ale has won gold medals at several beer competition in U.K. and U.S. 

So after a weird month of Belgian beer I think we can walk away knowing we barely scratched the surface of the ridiculous awesomeness that is Belgium's contribution to beer. There is an  exoticism to these beers but that does not take away from the fact that many of them are very approachable and can be rewarding to a beer drinker. These top tier beers have had a huge impact for the better of the craft beer world.