FACTOID #31: Think Antarctica is inhospitable? Think again - its land area is only ninety-eight percent ice. Reassuringly, the other 2% is "barren rock".
Pilsener or pilsner is a type of lagerbeer. It was developed in the city of Plzeň (Pilsen in German), Czechia. It is generally distinguished from other lagers by a more prominent hop character, particularly from noble hops.
Up to the 1840s, Czech beers were top-fermented, dark and cloudy, though Bavarian brewers had begun "lagering" beer in cold caves, which improved its flavour and keeping qualities. The Mestansky 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 pilsner on 5th October1842. The combination of pale colour from the new malts (helped by Pilsen's remarkably soft water), noble hops and Bavarian-style lagering produced a clear, golden beer which caused a sensation. Improving transport and communications meant this beer was available throughout central Europe, and its style was soon widely imitated. The invention of modern refrigeration by Carl von Linde obviated the need for caves to store the beer and thus gave it another boost; nowadays Pils is the most popular type of beer in Germany, having largely supplanted the older styles.
Pilsner Urquell is billed as "the world's first golden beer."
PilsnerUrquell obtains barley from both corporate and private crops in Bohemia and nearby Moravia and now malts its own grain (about 64,000 tons per year) in malthouses on the grounds of the PilsnerUrquell and Gambrinus breweries.
PilsnerUrquell's mash is performed in 200-hL (170-bbl) vessels and follows the same triple-decoction method used for the past 75 years (18).
PilsnerUrquell boils the wort for two hours and uses three additions of whole Saaz hops at a rate of 350 g/hL to bring the IBU level to 40 (18).
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