What makes a Pilsner Urquell a Pilsner Urquell? To me it’s the “bite” in the flavor, especially in the first sip. Is this sulfur from the lager yeast?
Diacetyl
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Denny, when we toured the brewery the beers in the keller had no perceptible Diacetyl, as they were unfiltered and lagered for a long time. I don’t remember much in the restaurant pub. In other places it can be a butter bomb, for example at a well known pub in London served from a Tankovna. It’s a crap shoot.
For the OP.
PU produces thier own malt. Saaz hops are used. They used the PU yeast. The mash is tripple decocted. The boil is done in direct fired copped kettles that will produce more Maillard reactions. Many things make it what it is.
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Diacetyl???
I thought diacetyl is butter flavor (think movie popcorn).
No diacetyl I’m tasking in a Pilsner Urquell.
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BTW, the Pilsner Urquell I’m writing about are in 330 ml brown bottles.
I find none in the canned PU…just sayin’.
I can’t recall ever having one without it.
Yea, I’m puzzled by the Diacetyl thing also. My perception of diacetyl is “slick” and “buttery”; almost “creamy”. PU is non of these. But that’s my Perception and everyone’s is different.
I believe PU gains it’s unique flavor from water, and hops.
IMHO the unique flavor is from triple decoction. I toured PU, Budweiser, and a number of other Czech breweries in September and the traditional brewers still use decoction. Since these breweries started long before there were modified malts, decoction was necessary to get better yield. A light amount of diacetyl in flavor & aroma is considered optional in the BJCP guidelines for Czech lagers.
Diacetyl is one of those difficult to understand beer flavors. Some people are super sensitive to it, and others have a hard time identifying it. For those that are sensitive, it can jump out and hit you in the forehead! I’m lucky to be slightly sensitive, so it usually seems to add complexity to British ales. As I’ve aged I have a harder time recognizing it in PU, but I remember picking it out years ago.
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A good % of the population is Diacetyl flavor blind, 20 % is often mentioned.
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As normal, my esteemed friends are both correct. PU is known for Diacetyl, I do not find it every time. You will hear the oft quoted slick mouth feel and buttery flavor. I find it more as butterscotch and not a great one you want to sit and eat.
The flavor profile is a combination of CZ ingredients and process. I have chased it from the ingredients side and can affirm that process is a large part of the flavor profile and the decoctions are a REQUIREMENT if you want to duplicate this beer.
The next challenge you will have is coxing the flavors from Saaz hops. As a hop broker, I could get great fresh hops and used to think that was the missing link in my ability to brew a better CZ lager. I also need to learn how to use the hops correctly. Toss out all you IPA knowledge, that will work with some lager hops, not Saaz. On my upcoming batches I am going back to my old recipes with first wort hopping and heavy noble hop bittering. I have tasted many wonderful hoppy lagers with that technique.
Brewthru asked about the bite. No it is not sulfer but a combination of higher bitterness (higher than German Pils), light body, even though it is thicker in mouthfeel than the German pils combined with lack of caramel and a solid amount of carbonic acid, helping lower the already well controlled PH
I would be very interested to taste an electric brew kettle version of this beer. I think gas fired is part of the taste profile
Overall a very simply complex beer!
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I was always told that a huge distinction was the local water they used. After peeping into it, apparently they have very soft water, both from municipal water supplies and from their own special Artesian wells.
I’m quite diacetyl sensitive, and haven’t picked any up in any of my Pilsner Urquell experiences, BUT apparently the brewery says they allow a maximum allowable level of 0.12 ppm, which I guess is higher than your average Pils? Maybe I’m not as sensitive as I thought…
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I’m not exceptionally sensitive to it, but I always pick up the slick mouthfeel in PU
I drank a Pilsner Urquell in a bottle in Italy over fifty years ago. I read decades later that it’s the equivalent of a Corona Extra or a Modelo Especial-- a low-flavor beer with just slightly less than no character. I never had the opportunity to drink another…
I disagree with that description. I don’t find it at all like those beers.
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I know the bite you are talking about. I think it comes from a combination of the rich melonoidins from the decoction, and the pronounced bitterness from the hops. #1 favorite beer of all time.
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When I was in Prague, I found the Budvar to have way more diacytl than the Pilsner Urquell - which was to say - maybe just a hint of - or maybe it was the power of suggestion. Budvar was definitely a bit buttery.
I think this is the answer to my OP.
The wort is boiled in direct fired copper kettles, which will have hot spots. When the new brewhouse was installed copper was used for the mash and boil kettles, while the lauter tuns are stainless steel.
This artivle is 20+ years old but covers the ingredients and brewing procedures.