Eurotrash Pils - Southern Tier Brewing

About the the "Pils" style of beer

If you want to just see what I thought about this brew, skip down to the "What's it Like?" section, otherwise read on and learn a bit of beer style and history.

Pilsner - Plzen Czechoslovakia 1842 sometimes spelled Pilsener. This was the first "light beer" commercially brewed (as far as my reading tells me). Previously all beer was dark, caused by toasting the malt before using it to brew. One of the characteristics of this style is that it is brewed with soft water (low mineral content). There are two styles of Pilsner still brewed currently, the Bohemian Pilsner, which is quite true to the original style, and German Pilsner, which has more hops and a less balance of hops and malt than the original. The German style is often called just "Pils" although that's not always the case, which is true of a lot of beer nomenclature. There is also Noble Pils, which is a Pils brewed with a blend of five "Noble hops[1]" and offered from time to time in the US by Samuel Adams Brewing in Boston.

Pilsner Lager - is a Pilsner brewed using the lagering cold brewing process. Topic for another day, ask in comments if you want to encourage me.

What's it like? It's like a perfect example of the style in the style book, and being a Pils it is a bit hoppy, although not wildly so, it has no aspirations to be an IPA, but it has a distinct sour aroma when poured, and a hop taste when you drink it. Note that many descriptions of the original Pilsner style mention a "creamy head" which was not the case with this beer, although the head was composed of small bubbles, but not the tiny bubbles and high surface tension I usually would call creamy. Lasted nicely, didn't go flat, but unexceptional.

Serving temperature. I normally chill beer to 40F and the mug to 50F, then let the beer warm to 50F or warmer. In many cases the brew will gain flavor, both hops and malt, as it gets warmer. Occasionally the taste will change markedly, but that's not typical. This brew tasted much better as it got warmer, and it kept getting better to about 60F, at which point the bottle was gone, "consumed in testing" as material analysts sometimes say. Several beer books suggest serving this style at 45-55F, so my observation that it tasted best to me in that range is expected, although I tried the beer before I read the book, no power of suggestion involved. I would find a place in my little 50F fridge for this, along with some stouts, porters, and IPAs which are better at that point. There are beers which come in trick cans which change the label to read "super cold" when they are cold enough to freeze if they didn't contain alcohol. This is not such a brew, and should not be treated as such!

How did I like it? Rather a lot, although I'm not sure about it as a session beer to drink all evening. Because I found it much better not over chilled, a bit of care in serving will improve the experience.

Food pairings: I thought it went well with vegetables and dip, it works well with a corned beef on rye with wasabi mustard, but one bottle and one lunch are not enough to really test the range. I would expect most meals to go well, the beer is well balanced to avoid overwhelming most dishes, while being strong enough to match spicy or dishes like sauerbraten, even if it wouldn't be my first choice.

 In the cooler: Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA.


[1] The hops normally called "Noble hops" are Hallertauer, Mittelfrüh, Tettnanger, Spalter, and Saaz hops.