Pilsner Urquell Kvasnicový (Yeast beer)

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

[Unfiltered, unpasteurized, barrel-fermented. From the brewery tour] Very cloudy yellowish/golden color. Nice dense foam on top of my small sample glass. Aroma is FRESH. Fresh yeast, fresh grassy hops. Delicious. The malt character seems to be a bit subdued by all the other complexities of this beer. Yeast character is quite dominant, but not really overpowering (or providing much, if any diacetyl.). Hop character is strong and grassy. Quite bitter. The fermentation within the barrel seems to provide some interesting character to the beer overall... kind of musty and wet. Another layer of complexity. Overall, this beer was one of the highlights of my beer-focused trip abroad. Outstanding, overall. I’ll be lucky if I’m able to try this one again.

IMPORTANT NOTE: There exists many versions of this beer. The unfiltered Pilsner Urquell available at Na Parkanu, the un-pasteurized Pilsner Urquell available at U Zlatého Tygra and the unfiltered-un-pasteurized in wooden Pilsner Urquell Barrel available at the end of the brewery tour. I see that people are entering ratings for the regulars and wooden-barrel ones here. I’m reviewing all three but the score is for the wooden barrel one. The two first one can arguably remain one entry in ratebeer but the one aged in wooden barrels should definitely be a separate entry. It is totally different from the other two. Totally different aroma and taste. It even looks totally different

Unfiltered Pilsner Urquell: 3.9
In short: Typical
How: Tap at Na Parkanu, Pilsen, Czech Republic
The look: Almost clear golden body with a large but quickly diminishing white head.
In long: Overall rather inexpressive malts with some pleasant hay. Hopping is something else, wonderful hops bouquet. Sharp medium bitterness with a little lemon twist. The beer gets dry before the finish and the finish is very dry. Didn’t feel unbalanced despite the intense hopping and inexpressive malts.

Un-pasteurized Pilsner Urquell: 3.8
How: Tap at U Zlatého Tygra
The look: Almost clear golden body with a large off-white head.
In long: Very similar to the above but with a little tiny bit of added acidity.

Unfiltered un-pasteurized aged in wooden barrel Pilsner Urquell:4.9
How: From the barrel at the end of the brewery tour
The look: Cloudy golden yellow body with a small white head.
In long: Round and chewy body. Very woody but a different type of wood than what we get from that new trend of barrel-aged-xyz. This felt like freshly cut wet wood. Unlike its non-barrel-aged unfiltered sisters the hopping on that one is dry grassy and slightly lemony. Here it felt juicy citrusy which is obviously something coming of a strange alliance between the wood barrels and the hops. Some dry grass on the come-back only. Softer than usual carbonation and it fitted perfectly with the fresh chewy juicy body. Fruity notes are light but rather complex with peaches, bananas, pears and more. But overall it’s that freshness feeling that enchanted me. During my Czech Republic pub crawl the freshness was a key ingredient but never as much as in this beer. This felts like it was just harvested from some kind of magical beer tree. To say this beer is highly drinkable is an understatement.

In Conclusion:While the unfiltered and un-pasteurized Pilsner Urquells are superior Pilsners (certainly far superior to the regular Pilsner Urquell) it is really the unfiltered-un-pasteurized aged in wooden barrel Pilsner Urquell that is the shit. Brewed in very limited quantity it unfortunately never leaves the wet caves of the brewery. It is unfortunate that like the penis of an obese man this beer will never see the light of day because it will remain alone in its wet and moist spot and no-one will ever abuse it.

Had it in the magic cellar... Hazy gold with small white head. Flowery hops and clean malts, fresh cut grass in the aroma, silky smooth texture that tastes like well....anything you want to taste in a good pilsner. Truly the godfather of all pilsners.

Went to the brewery on the second of april. Had this beer straight from the wooden barrel in the cellar of the brewery, wich isn’t in use anymore for production. the beer unfiltered and unpasteurizized is much more tasteful than the bottle version. I don’t understand why they do that anyway.

pisner from brewery cellas is the best what i drunk ( else 5 years ago) pity that regular pisner is not so good

Had it in Plzen right from the barrel. Perhaps the greatest beer in the world. Even all the girls and non-beer-appreciators we were with loved it. THE TRUE PILSNER. however its nothing like the worldwide distributed pilsner urquell(even though you can sort of taste the relation, which i found to be really neat)

From the barrel at the end of the brewery tour in Plzen. Head is white, mostly lasting. Body is hazy medium to dark yellow. Aroma is moderately malty (toasted bread/grain), lightly to moderately hoppy (flowers, herbs), lightly yeasty (basement), with notes of pineapple juice and gum. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Not quite worth the somewhat dull tour, but it’s interesting and kind of odd that such a thing exists from such a large brewery. It’s sourish, as portended by the yeasty state it’s in, but in a slightly harsh fruit-juicy kind of way (as one or two other unfiltered lagers I had on this trip were, much like British bitters can be when the cask is old), which becomes more prominent as it warms. Fun to have tried, but I’m not sure I’d even buy this if it were readily available in my home town. The Kout svetly is way better IMHO.

Tasted at both the tunnels under the brewery and at the beer hall in the town. In the underground brewery tour you get a glass filled directly out of the oak barrel. Amazing experience. Very cloudy, a little hoppier than the regular stuff, and uniquely pilsener. One taste and you’ll have a hard time drinking the regular stuff again.