Origin
Until the
1840s, most of Czech beers were
top-fermented,
dark and cloudy, although
Bavarian brewers had begun
experimenting through "lagering" beer in cool
caves using bottom-fermenting
yeasts, which improved the beer's
clarity,
flavour, and
shelf-life. Ironically, they got a
lot of knowledge from a book printed in
1794 (in
German,
1801 in
Czech) and written by famous
Brno brewer
František Ondřej Poupě.
The
Mešťanský Pivovar (Burgess
Brewery) recruited the Bavarian brewer
Josef Groll
(1813
–
1887) who, using new techniques
and the newly available paler
malts, created the first batch of
modern pilsener on
5 October
1842. The combination of pale
colour from the new malts (aided by
Plzeň's remarkably soft water),
noble hops and Bavarian-style lagering produced a clear,
golden beer which caused a sensation. Improving transport
and communications also meant that this new beer was quickly
available throughout
Central Europe, and its style was
soon widely imitated.
Modern pilseners
The invention of modern refrigeration
by
Carl von Linde removed the need
for caves in which to store the beer, however even until
recently the
Pilsner Urquell brewery still
fermented their beer using open
barrels in the
cellars underneath their brewery.
This technology was changed in
1993 since large cylindrical tanks
are used, however small sample is still brewed in a
traditional way for the comparsion of the taste. They also
have the unique claim to being "the world's first golden
beer."
A modern pilsener has a very light, clear color from pale to
golden yellow, and a distinct hop aroma and flavor. Czech
pilseners tend toward a lighter flavor, while those in a
German style can be more bitter or even "earthy" in flavor.
Other well-known pilseners include:
|
