Pilsner Urquell

A translation of the name Pilsner Urquell is "the original pilsner". This goes along with their claim that Pilsner Urquell was the first beer brewed in the pilsner style. As the inventors of this style, the Czech people are protective of it, and go on to say that if it doesn't come from Pilsen it's not a pilsner. Consequently offerings of this style from outside this area are often called "pilsener" instead. Pilseners are a subset of the lager style, so really even though Czechvar is called a lager, it's really a Czech Pilsener like this beer.

It seems that typically, a pilsener is going to be both light in color and flavor. The focus instead is on it's refreshing nature. Distinctions between one type of pilsener and another come mostly from the changes in the hoppy character of the beer.

The beer pours a clear golden color with a tinge of red. There's a frothy white head about a finger thick that dissipated somewhat quickly, but while it was around it left good lacing on the glass. Not having a pilsener glass, we poured into our Pauwel Kwak glasses. It shares the general tall and narrow shape, so it seemed our best match.

The hoppy aroma was the first thing that hit me, but I also noticed an underlying trace of skunk. This made me nervous as I heard that skunking was a common problem with this beer. There were also some grassy notes to the aroma, but this was not very prominent.

Skunking is the result of a chemical reaction that takes place in a beer when the drink is exposed to UV rays. The chemicals in hops are light sensitive, so when they are exposed to light the hops in the beer are altered to a compound that is very similar to the scent skunks produce. See more about that here http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-10/uonc-ucf101701.php.

Anyway, it turns out that for certain beers a very little bit of a skunk aroma isn't considered a bad thing, and this is one of them.

The beer tastes watery, much like Czechvar did. However, there's a bitter finish to the beer that wasn't as prominent in Czechvar. I also noticed that there was an earthyness to the beer, which is something that I'm personally partial to, as long as it's not overpowering and blends well with the other flavors. Ommegeddon would be a good example of when earthyness is a good thing. In this case, since there wasn't a lot going on with the flavor other than the bitterness, it wasn't really doing it for me. There was also a bit of a metallic aftertaste that I wasn't a fan of.

The mouthfeel is thin, but nicely carbonated. It's crisp, and a bit tingly in the throat. Refreshment is definitely key with this beer, it's almost cleansing.

So the drinkability of this beer is either very low or very high depending on the occasion. I can see this being good with spicy food or when you just want something light and refreshing. However, it's not a beer to drink just for the flavor. The bitterness seems unbalanced, and a little overpowering. The overall lack of flavor makes it sort of boring. It's very smooth to drink, so it has it's place, but I can't see myself stocking it on a regular basis, or even justifying the additional expense over a beer like Grolsch. It's a landmark in beer history and worth trying once, but I don't think I'll be revisiting it again.

- Adam