Pilsner Urquell Kvasnicový (Yeast beer)

Brewed by Plzensky Prazdroj (SABMiller)
Style: Bohemian Pilsener
Plzen, Czech Republic

5 pints on tap got a 4, however this is a different beer as its from the barrel and is fermented completly differently as it should be in a wooden barrel. Looks utterly beautiful. Aroma is biscuity bready malt, herbal grassy subtlke peppery hop character. Its super balanced and super drinkable. Awsome stuff.

RB#5200: From the barrel at the brewery. Pours hazy golden yellow with a creamy and white head. Aroma dry malty and light spiced hoppy. Flavour is smooth malty with a light bitterness showing through. Delicate fruity flavour and mild acidity. Ends smooth and medium bitter. Great, I really enjoyed getting a second glass of this.7-4-8-4-15=3.8

From tap at Na Parkanu. Pours hazy orange with q creamy off-white head. Aroma mild yeasty and light cornish. Flavour is smooth yeasty and mild cornish. Fresh hoppy flavour too. Shows a light bitterness to a very nice fruity hops and yeast flavour into the finish. Lovely pilsner.7-4-8-4-15=3.8

Draught both at the brewery and at Na Parkanu. Deep hazy golden with a small white head. Wonderful bready and slightly caramelly malt aroma, with fresh floral hops. Light to medium bodied with soft mouthfeel. Long bitter finish. A suberb refreshing and very flavourful beer.

Draught at the brewery (from oak) Cloudy golden, small creamy head. Evident grassy saaz hop aroma. Dry and clean. I seem to sense a bit of oakiness in the crisp malt character. Light-medium bodied. Feels alive and fresh and finishes with lingering bitter finish. One of the top beers of the style!

The unfiltered one at Na Parkanu is understandably similar. If something it felt a bit more grainy, and I couldn’t detect the very vague oakiness I thought I sensed at the brewery tour.

Draught @ the brewery. This was the barrel aged version, and boy had I been waiting for this one. My wife took a sip of her glass and gave the rest to me, so I ended up with two glasses of this wonderful brew. It was possible to take the glass out of the brewery and I was sipping away for over an hour. Quite amazingly the beer really opened up as every minute passed. This was and properly well be the best Pilsener that I will ever taste. If I could only drink one beer for the rest of my life, this would properly be it. As the brew master pored into the glass, a huge thick fin foamed head was forming and slowly settled into a medium - large almost creamy like white head. Color was cloudy shining gold with a sparkling appearance. Aroma was hope juice, mild grassy, citrus, hope oiled, dusty – earthy floral or flower like. As time passed the lovely dry wood notes began to surface with hint of tingling toasted malty notes. The palate was again a chapter in it self with unbelievable chewy creamy smooth hoppy texture, mild fruity notes and again wood dry feel. Medium to almost full bodied with a surprisingly lively carbonation. Flavor was just so well balanced with moderated to almost heavy bitter - sweet and what could appear as a hint of acidic. Lingering wood and earthy – dusty floral finish. This just was so tasty and amazingly well balanced. It might have been the surroundings or the tour and magic of being there, but I really did have an exceptional experience with this beer.

aroma: very malty, yeasty, a little tartness, some wood and minerals
flavor: tartness, yeast, malt, toasted dirt and bugs
palate: smooth with a tart bite, nice yeast aftertaste

Draft at Na Parkanu in Plzen served in a dimpled 500ml mug
This is the same beer as that which is served on the brewery tour, only this one is from the tanks while the tour provides you with the wood barrel version.
Cloudy bright brass colored body with a large fluffy white head. The nose is amazingly fresh hoppy Saaz cones, moderate yeast presence noticed, and the smell is perfectly balanced clean pils malt and dry, grassy hops. Flavor is wet and delicious and slightly sweet up front, then crispness explodes in a rush of grassy, fresh Saaz... drying and bittering into a long, refreshing finish complete with some lemon zest, faint minerally yeast notes and crisp cracker pils malt. Hands down the best pilsener I’ve ever had (8/5/10/5/18 = 4.6), until about two hours later, when…

At the end of the Plzensky Prazdroj tour, we sampled the Kvasnicovy from the wooden barrel. The look is still a cloudy, soft gold and the head is still rocky and foamy and attractive. The nose has a burst of funky yeast and tart, dry, (mildly) pungent wood. Flavor has some amazing dry wood over the back, a light funk that is unique and almost confuses my tongue. Amazingly refreshing overall, the finish has that mild wood and medium to heavy yeast presence to go along with the crisp, crackery, dry malt and dry, grassy hops. This one stands up to scrutiny, it’s a fantastic pilsener and you’ll have trouble finding a better one.
From the wood barrel: 9/5/10/5/17 = 4.6

Draft at Na Parkanu and from the barrel on the brewery tour. As in Glouglouburp’s fantastic scientific presentation rating, my number stands for the barrel version from the tour. Considering that my guide gave me a big cup and told me to go get a second helping( I had built up a mighty thirst on the two hour + tour) I was as close to heaven as a living man is able to get. While the unfiltered and unpasturized version of this critter is yeasty, raw oak infused and has some citrus zest, the peary/peach nose then peppery hop tones were the highlight for me. Some agressive hopping enable this beer to extend its nice dry finish into something that makes your taste buds awaken and drool for another mouthful. At one point I thought I would pull a Mickey Rourke from Barfly and just stick my mouth under the tap. This beer is truly worth the pilgramage to the hallowed caves. Outstanding and humbling.