general low rating of czech pilsners

It might just be that not enough people have "czech"ed them out. Haha...ha......ha.

 

I think Czech Pilsners are best when drank fresh and from the source. Most of us in the US have not been privileged to have that opportunity.

 

Green bottles used as storage? which makes them not fare so well in shipment possibly. I would love to try them in their homeland as I hear them are pretty phenomenal.

 

No idea really, I love me a good Czech Pilsener with a nice snappy Saaz bite. Most of the imports we get here don't fare to well, but there are some excellent home soil Czech Pilseners, Lagunitas Czech Styled Pilsener springs to mind and is one of my personal favorites.

Conversely, not too big on German styled Pilseners...they seem less snappy and more like just plain old Helles Lagers.

 

No import I've had here compared to the Budvar I had in the Czech Republic. The Urquell wasn't near as good ( this was 2003). I would say the same about most German beers as well, best at the source with out a doubt...

 

Nothing like going to the Urquell factory in Plzen. They still make the beer in huge old barrels. Comes fresh out of the barrel and unfiltered. One of my favorite beer memories.

 

What is the big difference between Czech and German Pils again? Am I right in thinking the German ones are dryer and the Czech a bit more rounded with more of a bready malt profile?

 

I believe the distinction is the hop profile, with the Czech style pilseners having a more pronounced Saaz character and as a result have snappier almost lemon-grassy kind of flavor where as the German Pilseners have the more rounded profile.

 

German Pilseners are actually higher in IBU's as well as even lighter in body than the Czech style. So that would make the Czech Pils more balanced.

 

I've realized that I probably don't like Saaz hops because any pilsner I've had that's been brewed exclusively or predominantly with Saaz, I've disliked. The reason I say "probably" is because:

and because:

 

I agree that they are underrated here, and I have a few theories:

1. Balanced, well-crafted session beers rarely get the same kind of ratings as great big heavy 10% ABV brews;

2. People might find it hard to mentally separate a good Czech pilsner from the legion of bad beers that were influenced by the style;

3. No beer on earth washes down a giant pile of pork better than a Czech pilsner. Therefore, it stands to reason that more BAs need to start consuming giant piles of pork.

 

the reasons are pretty simple. big beers with high ABV and bold, sometimes outrageously strong, flavors tend to make lasting impressions and thus boost the numerical score. then add onto this "handicap" some of the above mentioned factors (green bottles, freshness, etc).

 

tai is right. The trend in avant garde beer in America is this new style of American ales, which is a very, very different beast than the traditional pilsners. American ales are going their own direction which is quite a different path than German/Czech pilsners, or lagers in general.

 

i'm hesitant to include "lagers in general", as the american inclination towards "extreme beer" doesn't actually exclude lagering. plenty of "extreme" lagers (high ABV, highly hopped, and/or barrel-aged) get decent scores as a result.

 

I've never had a tasty Czech Pilsner. In Prague or anywhere.

 

While the green glass bottle does allow the beer to all too frequently and quickly become lightstruck, that does not happen "in shipment" from brewery through the importer and distributor tiers to the retailer. It happens only after the retailer removes the sixpacks or individual bottles from the case and shelves them - often under bright florescent lights on warm shelves (which also does not help preserve the beer) or behind well-lit cooler doors.

SABMiller and MillerCoors, brewer and importer, respectively, for Pilsner Urquell is attempting to remedy some of these shortcomings in the US market- closed, wrap-around cardboard for sixpacks (12's and cases always had that protection, of course), well marked pull date codes, increased distribution of 500ml. cans and refrigeration through the entire distribution system - at least, until it hits the retailer, where, as usual, the "Please Refrigerate" request is often ignored.

Sadly, Czechvar, Staropramen and some others don't have those benefits, and also suffer from a longer shelf life period but it seems to me beer drinkers who are interested in drinking good beer (rather than those just "ticking a single bottle" regardless of condition or age, or primarily influenced by the majority's prejudices of a particular beer style's ratings) can find good Czech beer in the US with a little effort easier today than ever before.

 

^ I agree with this guy.