What even is Pilsner? | The Craft Beer Channel
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2020
- What even is Pilsner? | The Craft Beer Channel
This week we take on the world's most popular beer style, Pilsner! Exploring the three very distinct versions as well as their off-shoots - with a bit of beer sensory, booze rumour and drunken history - we look into what makes it one of the most exciting kinds of beer. Learn all about the world's first pale lager and how it's come to dominate the world. Oh and there are pretzels.
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![Pilsner Urquell Review: The Origin of Lager Beer [Supermarket Beer]](/img/1.gif)
Come on then. Gun to your head - Bohemian Pilsner, German Pilsner or Helles?
Obviously the actual answer is run, but we're talking metaphors here.
Bohemian, no doubt. It's the perfect style of beer
I like all of them and I'm trying to work out my favourite I've got loads of German beers at the moment.
Budvar vs pilsner urquell? I’m currently having this disagreement with my mate.....
I’m from Germany, and prefer Original Budvar. Just like the caramel note of it over Pilsner Urquell or any German Pilsner.
I believe that a bohemian pils style of beer is what we expect when we ask for a beer here... An ale is something rather exotic.
Greetings from Romania! 🙂
Gold Finger Brewing in Downers Grove, Illinois USA is kicking some incredibly tasty Lagers and Pilsner. Their Pils on tap is art.
Tegernseer hell is one of the best easy drinking beers I have ever had.
But that is not a pilsner
I am Bavarian and my favorite style of beer is Kellerbier. And in my local town there is a very small brewery, that make the best kellerbier. They are called Schwanenbräu. You can't basically get that beer outside of that town and it's always sold out, but it's so good. And not even more expensive than other beers.
Nothing beats drinking Pilsner in Plzen in Czech Republic. I used 2 live in Brussels and i didn't think there was a better place in the world for beer. Until I went to CZ, as for Lager, you can't beat Czech Republic. Pilsner/lager is best drunk at source. If you don't live in Plzen just try any fresh lager and it'll taste 10 times better than not having it fresh is my view. Unlike other darker beers or IPAs, Lager is best drunk on draught, not in bottle or can which has sat in your cupboard for months. In my view, lager on draught is almost a separate style, it's that much better when fresh. It almost shouldn't be compared to cans/bottles, the taste is so much superior on draught (as long as the bar is well kept & the glasses & taps are cleaned , which u can guarantee they are in CZ!)
That's the truth! Living in Czech, I generally go for whatever is freshest and most local.
Even Heineken...I used to trash talk it but when I went to the brewery in Amsterdam it was exceptional from the tank...These types of beers change a lot with travel and storage. When they are fresh and well done there is a whole other dimension of flavor.
@@ethanlaw Im so envious. I've considered moving to Czech for 1 reason only lol and it's not the women (altho they're not bad either)
Heineken I've heard is good in Holland!
Only because lagers are not so popular in Belgium.They make ales.I love Czech beers,but their lagers are just a joke,comparing to belgian Trappist ales.
@@amradzinovic4086 Agreed
Thanks for the amazing video guys. Cleared up nicely a lot of things I found confusing about pilsners. Loved to see more content like this.
There are lots of good pils in Czech Republic nobody talks about. Urquell and Budvar are of course mainstream, but as fresh and unfiltered nothing compares such superb beers like Bad Flash Proste Lezak 12, Vinohradsky 12, Ferdinand 12, Purkmistr Plzen 12, Kamenicka 12 just to name a few :)
I had a Lezak from Poland I thought was pretty darn good as well as Tyskie.
Mainstream is in many ways a negative word when talking about beer. Budvar orrginal is not a proper pilsner, it is a more like a Helles. But PU from tank served properly is for sure as good or even better than the ones you mentioned here. It is what a benchmark beer. It is difficult to find a beer with a better balance. But you are right that there are many Czzech breweries that makes very good beer.
@@user-jl1ry7qp1y Yes, you are right PU From tank is very good and balanced! And the beers I mentioned are Not all available all Time. My New favorite seasonal pilsner is Chroust Sklizen 2023.
What does this « 12 » stand for?
Really liking this "What even is" series you guys. Keep it up!
all of em
Omg, I love and hate how you totally avoided the Budweiser copyright controversy! Granted, that deserves a video on it's own!
Pilsner Urquell is sooo good my local sells it on draft love it
The best.
It tastes like piss from a can though
Hi guys, There is more specific things about czech pilsner. You have Budvar. Mash, hops, decoction - very similar to clasic Pilsner Urquel. The biggest difference are yeasts. In the Czech republic we have two classic types of yeast for lagers - Budvar style and Pilsner style. Thats made difference. Thanks for your chanel, you are amazing.
Can you tell us a bit more about the different yeasts? I know Budvar ferments a lot drier than PU does.
No accident that it's the most popular beer in the world across almost every culture. Delicious is what it is. Cheers!
Czech pilsner is hands down the best in the world, especially when from the tank. Tasting the beer from the Plzen brewery is an experience every beer enthusiast needs to have. When visiting Prague I basicly judge the tank pilsner on a day to day basis to see who has the best tasting pils.
Fantastic video guys! The last beer sounds incredible I need to look out for this.
I'm so happy to have found you folks.
Great looking pretzels
Tegernseer is the GOAT. Greetings from Bavaria
Great show, and nice mention oft Jever Pils. I grew up around there and you could often smell the hop aroma from the boil in the brewery while in class at the high school.
One thing, though - the water in Jever is extremely soft. The brewery has its own wells and use it minimally processed, but the water there does not have any calcium hardness,so hoppyness and soft water seems to go together in that case.
Thanks Wolfram - but I believe it has very high sulfates, which enhances hop character and bitterness?
That Lost and Grounded Keller Pils is simply wonderful!! Bristol baby! Yeah!
Really liking this "What even is" series you guys. Keep it up!. Really liking this "What even is" series you guys. Keep it up!.
Great video! Love the format and dynamic duo. Wish we had access to the EU brewery history, but we will just have to stick with the local micro's for now. Keep up the great content!
Thank you gentlemen for the informative video! I do love my beer and any well made beer is welcome. Nice to find your channel during my covid stay in Santa Fe New Mexico USA. Cheers!!!
There is my all time favourite beer. Tegernseer Hell.
Drink it almost daily.
Love your videos guys! Cheers from Czech Republic! 🍻
Love these videos, even though I work in the industry I still learn tons!
Great video 👌 spot on gentlemen.
Pilsner Urquell is my favorite drinking beer, great for being with friends and just slamming a bunch back. Stiegl Gold is also a great one, its a Helles and its a little sweeter, wonderful taste. Ayinger is not a helles or pilsner, but its a great heffeweissen that reminds me of helles
Ayinger Braüweisse*
Ayinger has a bavarian Pils you should try! Expensive but worth it.
I loved when he pulled out the Schlenkerla.
Greetings from Franconia!
Smoked Gouda on a burger with a beer from Schlenkerla is a fantastic thing.
Sounds like heaven
Killing it as always, super video
back to the roots great vid
Great episode
Good one: "non smoked smoked beer" ! Love the Schlenkerla Lager!
Watching this video with the faint sound of my airlock bubbling in the background made me happy
No finer sound in the world than an airlock bubbling
I bet you were looking forward to filming this one! These 4 are in my list of recurrent brews. It may sound silly but in my mind they are like a Lager for every season: Bohemian for spring, Helles for summer, Northern for autumn and Franconian/smoky for winter.
Can totally see that! Maybe the schlenkerla marzen when it gets real cold
Tegernseer is my favourite Bier. Reason I clicked the video. FYI, both those Bavarian beers are from Franconia. If you’re looking for a helles with a bitter bite try Gans brau
Just had a paulaner helles. That Should be minimum.. standard for any lager ever. So Nice and refreshing and easy to drink.
Amen to that
yeah and thats still pretty basic for us here in germany. maybe you are able to get your fingers around a augustiner or bayreuther helles - these are amazing! (even these are pretty popular, but the more „niche“ you go the more you have to explore: in the south almost every town has its own sorts of helles and they are all splendid)
yeah, simple but good.
I've got an aufustiner. I bought a helles pack of the big 6 Munich brewerys. The hoffenbrau was good aswell.
Every Christmas day we drink Budvar, amazing Lager/Pils. Spent time in Munich, love Helles, I think it translates to Light, Pale, Bright. Great beer is great beer.
All of the above 🍻👍🏻
I do love a Budvar - Most excellent!!
Tegernseer helles is a wonderful beer. When I’m in my Berlin that’s my go to at the Spaeti 👌
Loving the videos
I'm sippin' a Von Trapp Bohemian Style Lager with dinner as I watch! And learn. Thanks for this.
Good video, gentlemen. On the east coast of Canada, we have a limited selection of pilsners. Mostly IPA or APA, etc. Would enjoy bringing some of those traditions here. Cheers!
I hear ya. BC is bad for that too.
I've been to Tegernsee and the Hell is the BEST beer in the world in my opinion
Tegernsee-I’m jealous. Drank a lot of it in Munich and Tegernsee of course! A lot of memories and things forgotten enjoying that beer.
Love me some Rauchbier! I havent had the non Rauchbier non smoked but smoke-ish Schlenkerla, but I will look it for it! Cheers!
To say "We're in Munich" and having a great Tegernseer made me laugh out loud!!!! I guess those two places in Bavaria have more like a love hate relationship;) It's nice to see my favorite!!
We shoulda said Bavaria- apologies to those offended.
i found your lovely channel just recently and i am absolutely astonished about the fact that i know lots of stuff just because i'm german.
i always thought that its just a little bit of a clichee that we are such beer-hats
but you do make very interesting stuff tho, even for a beer-breathing german guy like me
Great to hear we still keep it interesting! The germans truly are blessed.
Great video, very educational. Please consider doing one on Bock style beers,. My first time trying the Ayinger celebrator beer was mind blowing.
I love Schlenkerla and have been to their Braugasthaus. I think anyone who says smoked beers are not for them should try a Schlenkerla. I have never experienced such a delicious balance of malts and silky smoke! Definitely made me a convert. And thank you for the wonderful anecdote on the flavour of their Helles!
Or Spezial- their Biergarten is beautiful, set on top of one of Bamberg's seven hills, and their Rauchbier is also great.
Bloody great video. I'm actually thirsty after that. So informing might of given me some ideas for our own live show on Saturdays. Cheers 🍺
My first competition as a BJCP judge was in the smoked beer category. 8 beers with a standout Rauchbier. To be fair it could have not been standout but our palettes were so fucked so quickly that we just closed our eyes and pointed at that beer as the winner!
@ Mod Grip
That reminds me of herb judges doing the same thing with loads of different pots. I don't smoke but I remember hearing about it. How the f_ is one to judge the difference when one is gone?
Like judging a rocket ship from inside another rocket propelling out of sight.
I tried the original Rauchbier from Bamberg and it was like drinking a destilled ashtray. Still gonna visit that town someday.
Cheers!
it tastes like a campfire. i really didn't like it but other beers from bamberg are amazing!
I didn't know that about the Schlenkerla Helles not using smoked malt! Makes it even more interesting.
If you're after a wheat beer that tastes amazing from outside Bavaria, try the Einsiedler weisse beer (It's from Chemnitz in East Germany). Honestly, it's great stuff.
A lot of the people who I've heard saying some version of "lagers are boring", have only tried boring macro lagers. Once they try a good pils (Czech or German, or even a new world take) they usually change their tune.
I recently had a collab between one of my local breweries (Newstead Brewing Co) and Weihenstephan, and it was bloody lovely: "LUFTSCHLOSS - Old World fermentation (2 months lagering) meets New World mashing and malting (from Voyager Craft Malt). Old World kettle hops (Hallertau) meets New World dry hops (Ella). It’s a modern bent on a classic style".
I'm local to you and had no clue that Newstead had that going on. I need to get on a mailing list or something.
@@ohmightyzeus6135 It's definitely worth tracking down if you can.
@@erehwon80 I'm all over it like a fat kid on a cupcake.
Just a short correction guys (great video btw). I live in Bamberg and both Spezial and Schlenkerla produce ‘non smoked’ Rauchbiers. However, the slight smokiness you get has nothing to do with the equipment, as romantic as that may sound. Stainless steel doesn’t tend to hold ‘flavour’ compounds. It actually comes from the yeast which both breweries use without washing in all of their beers. That means, the same yeast that has just brewed a Rauchbier will be used to brew their U or Helles. That’s where the smidge of smoke comes from.
This was confirmed by the son at Spezi who is a friend of mine :) cheers
Totally right apologies.
Sorry, but it's imposible to use the same yeast more than once! And I am sure that the yeast as such is not smoked! Maybe they are using a sample of the brew with the smoked barley while it is still in the process of fermentation to start a badge of non-smoked brew fermenting as well, but this is not in accordance with your description!
@@geotropa1043 Aside from the fact I know the brewer and have no idea who you are, of course yeast can be used multiple times up to a point - you make a starter from a previous brew. And no, the yeast isn’t ‘smoked’ (there’s a statement of utter ridiculousness), it holds the flavour of the rauchbier just brewed which imparts a very subtle, almost imperceptible smokey flavour on the Helles they brew straight after. Because it isn’t washed.
Local Pilsner is the way to go
Had the oak aged Pilsner Urquell at the Barcelona Beer Festival last year. The queues were horrendous to get one! I just waited for the queue to subside and got mine straight away. There's always plenty to go round :)
You're right Pilsner Urquell is great and a real Pils, not like the stuff that is reviewed in the video.
Bangin'. Man I'm thirsty! That filled some knowledge holes. I've probably only drunk lager (properly) in the last 4 years or so. Now can't get enough Munich Helles!!
Going there should be on everyone's beer bucket list too.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Augustinerkeller in the summer ist the dream 😍
Nice video
Have you guys tried the Kräusen yet? It's the lagerbeer that has a bit of fresh smoked marzen to get the carbonation going. Only for sale in spring!
Enjoying a great Pilsner by Grimm made with motueka hops and double decoction mashed
Wish you guys could make a video on South African/ Cape town soon after all this covid sh*t. Please please! Love your stuff.
Bamberger Beers are my favorite.
I am a brewer from Germany. Tegernsee Hell, Schlenkerla Hell and the Czech Lager are NOT Pilsner style Beers. All Pilsners are Lager-Beers, but not every Lager is a Pilsner. But I like you a lot :)
U should have tried a Trumer Pils... For me it’s the Pils Benchmark.
Dutch pilsener!!!! Haha. The first bar I worked at had budvar and urquell. Both amazing beers. But being a dutchie my heart lies with dutch pilseners. Hertog Jan, gulpener, Bavaria, Brand, Grolsch, Amstel... All greats
Drink along every time Jonny says ‘Umami’ in the videos 😂
We already do!
1) I've been a pro brewer for 7 years now, and just about everyone in the industry I've met prefers a really good Pils over just about anything
2) if you haven't already, you should try the New Zealand pilsner style. The kiwi hops, specifically Motueka, make for some amazing crisp, limey goodness.
I was your typical American hop head/haze bro before my wife and I went to Bavaria for our honeymoon. Having Ayingers pils at their taproom in Munich blew my mind. As did the Augustiner Helles. That trip was nearly four years ago and I still think about how amazing the beer was. I wish more American breweries could do the styles justice.
Will have to look for those beers next time I go to the "fancy" liquor store on the other side of town, really want to try the "smoky" beer from Bamberg. Wish they had tried Pilsner Urquell, that's kind of my benchmark for this style of beer, its delicious and pretty easy going.
We only didn't be cause we have featured that beer so many times! it's one of our favourites.
Great place to stay for a weeks holiday. Even most of the local villages have Brewery/Hotel/Restaurant/Pub, all rolled into one.
Man I bet you can get those relatively fresh? So jelly!
Funny, I´m from Bavaria (Munich to be specific) and I have never tried smoked beer, now I really want to try it!
But one thing: Even if they share their origins, at least in Germany Helles isn´t considered to be a Pilsner, they are considered different kinds of beer, with Pils being the more hoppy beer style.
That´s why I was ready to freak out when I saw the Thumbnail of a Tegernseer Helles and a Pilsner title 😂
Or am I just wrong?
Actually, southern Germany and especially Bavaria have really hard water, but it's good water.
Our apologies what we should have said is lower sulfate levels, not hardness. Although the hardness in Bavaria does boil off to some extent - what's referred to as temporary hardness.
Hey, I'm no beer expert but I just have say this: Urquell and Budvar are SO different.
In all honesty a lot of Czechs won't drink Budvar for its unpleasant sweetness and lack of bitterness. Foreigners seem to love it, Czechs not so much. Obviously, it can't be 100% generalized but the point is that it's a lot more popular abroad than it is in its home country.
I'm not implying you can't (or shouldn't) like Budvar but saying that it's a typical representative of a Czech lager is a little far fetched.
(I, personally, am not too picky and will have almost any Czech beer but if Budvar is on tap, I usually order juice or pop.)
Agreed Budvar is not as flavoursome as Urquell, Gambrinus and others. Just remember, it will be different when comparing Budvar to dreadful British and American imitations?
I completely agree, wrote a comment noting the same thing! Urquell is so nice and drinkable with its mid-tongue bitterness, whereas Budvar tastes like Coca Cola in comparison…
So I am not Czech, but I much prefer Urquell 😀
yoou are very correct and Budvar Original is NOT a pilsner - it is like a Helles
Thanks for sharing this Pilsner History! One thing you mentioned is the type of Mug or Cup they used in the first beer 🍻 drinking days? What did they use? 🤔
One day I'll find a video that definitely explains the difference between lager and pilsner. One day.
I was in Pilsen too (fantastique) - I am proud to add the detail - it was not only a German - it was an 28 year old Bavarian Brewmaster with a new idea.... In Munich nobody would say to a Tegernseer Helles it is a Pilsner. You have to know nearly all of our Munich Breweries have also a Pilsner- Version in their sortiment even Augustiner (and nobody is buying it by the way) - so we in Munich make a clear distinction beetween our Helles and a Pils... you are quite good at research and will have facts I don´t know - so I am sure you are technically right...
“Nice bit of smoke on it". Craft Beer RUclips references!
Keepin it niche since 2013
6:51 In south Germany, we do not have soft water. Our water is very hard and this is the reason why we did not manage to brew Pils here. Münchner Bier was an attempt to produce Pils in south Germany. We pulled it off and eventually it became its own brand !
However, nice to see you are having a Tegernseer. This beer you will get at pretty much every gas station here :)
You are 100% correct but we were under the impression that the 6 larger breweries (now the Oktoberfest ones) drew from a soft water source underneath Munich?
@@TheCraftBeerChannel depending on the beerstyle, the water is going to be processed i.e. reverse osmosis.
Love this video! I really enjoyed your Pilsner Urquell video back when it came out and it set me on a (good!) lager train which I am still on now! Also I remember in one of your videos a while back you talked about the craft beer journey circle, where you start with lager, move onto pales, then onto IPAs, then stouts, then sours etc, then you eventually come full circle and get back into lager (but good lager!) I certainly have found myself on that journey and just can't get enough of a quality lager. Out of interest, did you not include Pilsner Urquell here because it isn't independent? i.e not craft and hence not wanting to include in on the channel. What is your stance on it, given it is owned by a big brewery firm? I personally love it as a beer - still probably my favourite pilsner, but I wonder whether one should feel wary given it is from one of the big firms? In terms of product quality, it certain doesn't seem to be a macro beer, but I guess you could argue it is, in the sense of its owner and world-wide reach.
Good question! On the channel we have an policy of not promoting a macro-owned beer where an independent can be used - and we only ever use ones that are either world class or have historical significance. PU certainly does but in this instance we chose Budvar because we have used Pilsner Urquell so many times already. I think it has been in 7 or 8 videos because we love it so much.
The other day I had a bottle of the Schlenkerla Helles (with some other beers) for a small Oktoberfest party with some trusted friends (everything was safe) and boy it was good
Lately I've been developing a taste for lagers, got angry the other day because I couldn't find any interesting lager in my trusted bottleshop hahahahaha
What’s even better is you can get cans of budvar in tesco where it’s 12 cans for 9 quid
Again a couple of Northern Pils brewers that you dont mention are Becks and Radeburger. With the Southern Bavarian Pils, Berchtesgadener Hofbräu, and Häcker Pschorr.
It's Radeberger and Hacker Pschorr.
To give some Germans, Deutschland volk credit, Konig Pilsner I thought was wunderbar !
Munich Helles is a different style. I wouldn't compare it to a Pils at all
Well sometimes you have to to explain the difference!
IBU range ist a bit lower and it has a bit lower content of CO2. It is supposed to be a beergarden style. Traditionally a bit lighter in colour and it supposed to have these nice strawy notes of hay. The Saaz hops which are used in the traditional Pils is very distinctive spicy and the Helles should contain more floral and more "Hallertauy" notes. A very hard style to brew. And even harder to brew a perfect Helles. But it is indeed a VERY lovely style 🍻🍻🍻 Cheers
@Joern Mertins Yes it is different, and it's the best of the three, by far, for me.
I have a friend that has done the world travels and sampled beer in all his travels he had some of the stuff in this video while in the Chech Republic .. To keep it short his favorite that he turned me onto was a German brew "Spaten Optimator" I'm drinking one again while watching this video... My world travels were only to Taiwan and The Philippines so "Red Horse" was the brew of choice there , Mostly because of the ABV and the selection there is really small... Red Horse or Colt 45 pretty much it.. Anyway I'll finish this Spaten and my next bottle it something called "Old Rasputin" .. As you can see I'm not much into Lagers or Pils.. they seem to be fizzy and watered down tasting. Like a Bud Light (the worlds worst beer) ....
"when it goes south in germany"... haha well I definitely saw that going in a different direction.
what are some good bohemian pilsner i can get in Calfiornia?
Consider looking into Spezial Rauchbier from Bamberg, one of the most refreshing beers I tried in Germany.
I went from not enjoying the Rauchbier I had in the past to drinking zwei Bierkrüge!
Great video!! I wish you coulda mentioned where does a Kolsch fits in compared to those?
Haha tricky one seeing as it is an ale/lager hybrid but we will definitely do a video on kolsch at some point!
For brewing Kölsch you would use a top-fermenting yeast, while for brewing Lagers as Pilsener or Helles bottom fermenting yeast is needed.
Appreciate the Wayne’s World ref
wunderbar
Thumbs up for the Wane’s World reference 🙃
I was drinking Pilsner Urquell and Dortmander last night and the Dortmander tasted much more bitter even though the Urquell has generally higher IBU, its hard to tell if they do much water adjustments in any of these breweries.
Oh they do lots in German breweries. Not sure about PU though - a lot of that softer bitterness will be from the fact that PU has a pretty high level of sugar after fermentation but also be a very low sulfate level too from the crazy soft water
Ok guys, what to say about this Video... I am a bavarian beer brewer and i like the beers you choose and at the same time I dont like it because each of this beers deserves its own video ;)
Then you mentioned the Water quality and it really is the most important thing when you talk about beers in the past, nowadays not so much. And you mentioned the hardness of the water but also just in a half truth. The water of dortmund f.e. is incredible hard but it has lots of MgCl2 so it is quite good for the taste. Well w/e.
Then to the pilsner... Why you mix pilsner with Helles? Well I guess what even is Pilsner xD. Well i am a bit sad you did not choose a Pilsner from bavaria, because you would see it is more focused on the Hop oils and not the straight bitterness of Pils from north germany...
But the biggest compliment I have to make is you take food in your tasting. If you want to enjoy a good beer you have to compliment it with the right food!
Great video enjoyed it!
Great video! This so explains how it works and I love you included my favorite (Schlenkerla). The only thing you omitted: "Helles" means 'clear', "Lager" means 'store' and "Keller" means 'cellar'.
Helles means a light or a pale one
You should visit the cotswold brewing company in Gloucestershire. They produce some really good lagers and are a lager only brewery and one of the first in the UK.
LOVE that brewery.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel have you been? Lucky to have them 30 minutes and deya 10 minutes from my home.
@@christianaldridge1964 not yet but drank a lot of their beers.