Serve in a pilsner glass at 6-9 °C
What it tastes like
The first golden lager was brewed in Plzen, in Bohemia, in 1842, and the Czech version is still the fullest of the pilsners. It pours deep gold with a dense, creamy white head. The malt leads with fresh bread, a little honey and a toasted biscuit note, richer than you expect from such a pale beer. Saaz hops bring a soft spicy, herbal and floral aroma, and the bitterness is clear and lasting but never harsh.
Three things make it. Very soft water lets brewers use plenty of hops without a rough edge. Floor-malted Moravian barley, often taken through a traditional decoction mash, gives it depth of malt. A Czech lager yeast can leave a trace of diacetyl, a faint butter note that is tolerated here where it would be a fault elsewhere.
Compared with a German pilsner it is rounder, sweeter and a shade darker, with a fuller body. The bitterness is just as firm, but it is cushioned rather than sharp.
Style profile
- Look
- Deep gold, brilliantly clear, with a dense, long-lasting, creamy white head.
- Aroma and flavour
- Fresh bread, honey and light toast from the malt, spicy and floral Saaz hops, and perhaps a faint buttery note from Czech yeast.
- Mouthfeel
- Medium body, moderate carbonation, a rounded palate and a clean, lingering bitterness.
- Ingredients
- Moravian or Czech pilsner malt, often decoction mashed, Saaz hops, a Czech lager yeast and very soft water.
In India
A well-made Czech pilsner is one of the best beers for Indian food, but it travels badly. Saaz aroma fades in warm storage and the beer picks up stale, papery notes, so the freshest glass is at a brewpub. Most Indian borewell water is too hard for this style, and brewers here strip it with reverse osmosis first. Some local brewers add Indian grains to a Bohemian base, and the style suits a long monsoon lunch.
At the Indian table
Food pairings contributed by Anuradha Rao
- Chettinad chickenThe rounded malt softens the black pepper and fennel heat while Saaz spice echoes the masala.
- Dal makhaniThe beer's bread and honey malt sits under the creamy dal and the bitterness cuts the butter.
- Bengali fish fryCrisp carbonation and clean bitterness lift the batter and work with a sharp kasundi.
- SandeshThe honeyed malt echoes the light chhena sweet without drowning it.
Brewed in India
- Banger Lager, Toit source
Want the long read? Pilsner: the style guide