Beer Reviews: Czech Pilsner (Pilsner Urquell) and Pils (Laqunitas Brewing)

Beer Stats for Pilsner Urquell

Container: 12 Oz. Bottle
ABV:    4.4%
Style:  Czech Pilsner
Brewer: Pilsner Urquell

LUDB Notes:

• Bitterness Level:  Medium
• Drinkability:
  • Would I purchase again?  Yes
  • Would I stock it?  Yes
  • Distinguishing Characteristics:  Thick foamy head, bitterness consistent throughout

For more information on Pilsner Urquell and how they also do Milk Tubes, you can check out this article on Human Robot (which discusses the Milk Tube technique pioneered by Pilsner Urquell): Human Robot – Milk Tube – Pioneered by Pilsner Urquell.

Beer Stats for Lagunitas Czech Pilsner

Container: 12 Oz. Bottle
ABV:    6.0%
Style:  Czech Pilsner
Brewer: Lagunitas Brewing

LUDB Notes:

• Bitterness Level:  Medium
• Drinkability:
  • Would I purchase again?  Yes
  • Would I stock it?  No
  • Distinguishing Characteristics:  Higher in ABV than most Czech Pilsners,  slightly higher in bitterness which lingers into aftertaste

Old World Style Beers – Czech Pilsners

You can’t sample old world style beers without going right to Czech Pilsners.  As I work my way through these various styles, I like to try an “original” and an American version at the same time.  This allows me to compare and contrast using the old world product as a sort of benchmark.  Granted, it’s not a perfect way to compare beers; but it’s very helpful to me in learning the nuances of particular breweries.  So for this review, what is more appropriate than using Pilsner Urquell as the benchmark!  I selected Lagunitas Czech Pilsner fairly randomly.

It’s been quite some time since I have drunk a Pilsner Urquell, with my faint memory of it being that it tasted and smelled a little “skunked”.  To my pleasant surprise, this one did not.  I noted that it comes in a brown bottle instead of the more familiar green one I remembered.  I don’t know exactly when they switched; but I suspect the better taste was aided by the switch to the brown bottle.  Anyway, this Czech Pilsner pours a brilliant, golden-yellow with good retention of its white, fluffy head.  In keeping with local tradition, this Pilsner begs for a hard pour to produce the desired head.  The blossoming carbonation releases subtle aromas of floral hops.  That bready malts aroma is there; but barely detectable. Flavors are well-balanced between bitter Saaz hops and sweet, caramel malts (Moravian Barley).  The bitterness runs consistently start, middle and finish.  Finishes with a medium, drying bitterness – just right.  It is crisp and refreshing and leaves no doubt about it being the benchmark for Czech Pilsner.

It’s no surprise, but you get a slightly different experience with Lagunitas Czech Pilsner.  It pours with a brilliant, slightly lighter gold color than Pilsner Urquell; but with a similar white, fluffy head and head retention.  Now Lagunitas says they use Saaz hops; however, you get a noticeably different, more citrus aroma and bitterness.  They obviously accentuate the hops a little more in their process.  Malts flavors are not noticeably different.  The bitterness is medium, but balanced and lingers into the aftertaste.  It completes your journey with a dry, bitterness.  All in all, a solid rendition of a Czech Pilsner with enough differences to be interesting.

Beer Reviews

Both Pilsners are crisp and refreshing and fit the bill for a year round beer.  One thing I have learned from the brewmaster at Arches Brewing here in Atlanta is that water is extremely important to the final product and sometimes the most neglected ingredient in the brewing process.  The local soft water of Plzen gives Pilsner Urquell nice smooth mouth-feel and plays a big role in making it a challenge to replicate the style. But that’s okay because as beer drinkers we often prefer uniqueness.  One big thing to remember to truly enjoy any Czech Pilsner is, don’t be mamby-pamby with the pour!

Bottom line: both are very enjoyable beers and would be perfect for hot summer days or cheery Holiday celebrations.

Until next time…Let Us Drink Beer!

As always, thank you everyone for reading! Leave your likes, comments, suggestions, questions, etc, in the comments section. Or use the Feedback – Contact Us – page, and we’ll get right back to you! You can also reach out to us at our direct e-mail address: thebeerthrillers@gmail.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please make sure to follow, bookmark, subscribe, and make sure to comment and leave feedback and like the blog posts you read. It will help us to better tailor the blog to you, the readers, likes and make this a better blog for everyone.

You can check out our different directories here: Beer Reviews, Hike Reviews, Book Reviews, Brewery News, Brewery Openings, Brewer Interviews, and Travelogues.

Please be sure to follow us on our social media accounts – Facebook, Facebook Group, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Influence. Please be sure to also follow, like, subscribe to the blog here itself to keep updated. We love to hear from you guys, so be sure to leave a comment and let us know what you think!

You can now find us on our Discord Server here: The Beer Thrillers (Discord Server). We’ve also joined LinkTree to keep track of all of our social media pages, as well as hot new articles we’ve written.

We have partnered with an affiliateship with Beer Drop.com. You can check out that partnership and receive great discounts, coupons, and more here: Beer Drop. Going here and logging in and ordering will help you receive your discounts and coupons as well as help support our page. Thank you for helping to support The Beer Thrillers and to help us maintain the site and blog and to keep it running.

The Beer Thrillers are a blog that prides itself on writing beer reviews, brewery reviews, travelogues, news (especially local to the Central PA brewery scene), as well as covering other topics of our interests – such as hiking, literature and books, board games, and video games which we sometimes stream with our friends over at Knights of Nostalgia. We are currently listed as #7 on FeedSpot’s “Top 100 Beer Blogs” and #8 on FeedSpot’s “Top 40 Pennsylvania Blogs”. (As of January 2023.) Thank you for reading our site today, please subscribe, follow, and bookmark. Please reach out to us if you are interested in working together. If you would like to donate to the blog you can here: Donate to The Beer Thrillers. Thank you!

You can also check out our partnership and affiliation with Pretzels.com, where ordering pretzels and using our affiliate code – AFFILIATE CODE IS THEBEERTHRILLERS20 – will help you get wonderful pretzels and help us maintain and keep this blog running. Thank you!

If you would like to reach out to us for product reviews, beer reviews, press release writing, and other media – please contact us at thebeerthrillers@gmail.com. Thank you.