Beer Style Guide: Get to Know German Pils with Em Sauter
The German Pils is one of the most recognized beer styles on earth. Many beers are labeled as pilsner as a marketing technique yet aren’t at all (cough Miller Lite cough) - so what makes a German Pils stand out from those merely labeled as Pilsners?
The German Pils is not the original pilsner beer; that designation belongs to the Czech or Bohemian Pilsner, named after the town of Pilsen in what is now the Czech Republic. The German Pils is a copy of Czech Pilsner but uses German ingredients such as German Pilsner malt, German hops like tettnanger, hallertauer or hersbrucker and German lager yeast. The German Pils rose to popularity in the late 19th century in Northern cities like Berlin where they are still popular to this day! In America, the craft lager movement is really taking hold and German Pils are a staple of this trend.
Tasting Notes
Using the name Pilsner in Germany got some breweries in trouble and the brewery now known as Bitburger lost their bid to call their golden lager a Pilsner in court twice before a court sided with them in 1913 that “Pilsner” was a generic term that could be applied to beers outside of the Czech Republic. We now know the Czech Pilsner and German Pils as two markedly different styles of beer as the German Pils can be lighter in color and is drier than its Czech brother. Think of flavors like a cracker, hay, herbal and floral while Czech Pils is spicier with flavors of baked bread.
How to Pour
There’s some ritual around pouring German Pils which was popular in the 1980s when Pils was most common amongst the beer-drinking public of Northern Germany. This included the “slow pour” which took roughly seven minutes to complete in order to build a perfect head of foam. This has been revived in recent years because of the resurgence in lager love, especially here in the United States. Does it really make the beer taste better? Some argue it does plus the foam comes out stacked almost like soft-serve ice cream.
German Pils’ has its own glassware, a beautiful tall and long outwardly tapered glass with a short stem to keep your hands away from warming up the beer. It’s a beautiful glass meant to show up the crystal clear quality of the beer and the lovely head of foam. Pilsner beers taste better out of this glass for sure.
Food Pairings
Pils is an excellent out of doors beer as are most golden lagers. Get the grill going and enjoy German Pils with BBQ, roasted veggies, teriyaki salmon or delicious pork cutlets. I also love German Pils with lemony desserts.
Beers to Try
Bitburger
A real steal at $5/6 for four 500mL cans, Bitburger is the ultimate “I’m going to a party and I don’t know what to bring and I’m a little short of cash right now” beer.
Warsteiner
One of my favorite mass-produced German Pilsners, Warsteiner is an excellent hot weather beer and very satisfying.
Bierstadt Lagerhaus Slow Pour Pils
The brewery that brought the slow pour to the craft beer scene, Denver, CO-based Bierstadt Lagerhaus does the slow pour so well, it’s a must-stop when you visit Colorado. If you don’t visit Bierstadt, did you even visit Denver?
Victory Prima Pils
One of the best American-made pilsners, Prima Pils is easy to find in the Northeast and is available in cans and bottles. I find I gravitate towards this beer when the leaves start to change making it a lovely football beer.