Back to Basics Beer Series - Pilsners

The wide-ranging, far-reaching world of beer — and novel complexity of craft beer — can be intimidating.

So let’s get back to basics. We drink beer largely for the flavor, and talking about what’s in our beer and why it tastes the way it does is a great way to understand what we’re drinking — and why we like it or why we don’t.

At the end of the day we need to remember that beer has four ingredients: water, malt, hops and yeast. Now, this fact isn’t meant to oversimplify the brewing process, but serves to remind us that beer isn’t all that complicated. What’s amazing is that, even with using mainly these four ingredients, we end up tasting a huge range of flavors in the hundreds of styles of beers that exist.

In this six week blog series, we’re zooming out to get a better look at the big picture. We’ll take you through the flavor profiles of six common beer styles and explain why you taste what you do.

And what better style to start with than a Pilsner. As we like to call them here at Legion, these ‘beer flavored beers’ taste exactly as you’d expect — bitter, clean, crisp and refreshing. Pilsners have a unique ability to foster relaxation and nostalgia within us — their flavor profiles can transport us to our favorite beach spot, or remind us of our glory days and fleeting youth.

Noble hops widely used in both German and Czech style pilsners bring those lightly floral, spicy, or herbal notes we experience with this beer, and pairing these hops with pilsner malts gives this classic style the delicate impact we all know and love. The earthy notes, oats, barley and a hint of lemon tang commonly associated with pilsners cleanse the palate when coupled with the beer’s brisk hoppiness to give a dry, snappy finish.

Here at Legion, we stick with a traditional decoction method during the brewing process that involves boiling a portion of the mash in a separate vessel and adding it back to the mash tun to “achieve a specific rise in temperature”, notes Head Brewer Alexa Long.

Our popular Project Pilsner is brewed with 100% Riverbend Pilsner Malt that comes from Asheville, North Carolina. Alexa spoke to these malts, highlighting that they bring “unique grassy/grainy flavors distinct to North Carolina’s territory that carry through in the beer.”

In terms of flavor, Alexa adds that any Pilsner should follow Reinheitsgebot -- the German Purity Law -- that limits the ingredients that can be used during the brewing process to water, barley, yeast and hops. Alexa reminds us that “no individual ingredient should be too prominent. Instead, the beer should be well-balanced with a neutral flavor profile.”

The clean, crisp and refreshing flavors we experience in a pilsner have become unequivocally associated with drinking beer. Widely loved and easily drinkable, pilsners are a classic — and for good reason. Next time you find yourself with a pilsner in hand, make an effort to parcel out the flavors that make this beer such a beer.

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