Jever - The German Pilsener

So not 44 IBU. As @JackHorzempa has said in a beer mail the, IBUs will go down with time. By the time it gets to the U.S. It is probably high 30s.

 

Jeff, that is consistent with the presentation on the MBAA website:

"According to a 2010 presentation located on the MBAA website, Jever had 40 IBUs (page 22 of the presentation)."

And yes, given the typical age of Jever that is available in the US ( a few to many months old) is is indeed reasonable that the IBUs would be in the 30's IBU since IBUs do indeed decrease with age.

Thanks for getting back to us on this matter.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Having homebrewed Pilsners, if the sulfate is low the bitterness is round and fades fast, i.e. PU. If the sulfate a are high(er), the bitterness is sharper and lingers longer. You get different impressions for the same calculated IBU.

 

@hopfenunmaltz Thanks for figuring out the answer to Jever's IBUs.

I just bought another case of Jever with a BB date of 7/22/2016 so I'm also wondering what their BB date is based on. (I'm hoping it's a 12 month period from bottling). It tastes fine to me so far. Maybe @jesskidden or @Chaz would know...they seem to know these things...

Now that I've discovered I really like the dry and hoppy Jever, I'm curious to try other similar pils. It was mentioned earlier that north German pils (like Jever) have their own specific character. I've been doing a little searching and reading and discovered these nice references about the history and progression of this pilsener-style beer and how it's character changed with the different regions. This might be old news for some of you, but I found it fascinating!
Northern German Pils: Style Profile
Pils

As mentioned earlier in this thread and in the articles above, North German "Pils" tend to be drier and hoppier as opposed to the Czech and Bavarian pilseners which tend to be more balanced. I'd like find more like Jever. It looks like Radeberger might be one to try. However, for the other North German pils mentioned in the articles I have had (like Warsteiner) I don't remember them having the hoppy, dry character I like so much about Jever.

So, what other Pils similar to Jever would people here recommend? If I can find it fresh I will try it. Examples brewed state-side would be appreciated too to see if I can try a comparable and hopefully fresher example. I'm open to similar examples from countries besides the US and Germany too... Northern Germany can't be the only place in the world with water with higher sulphate content and pilseners are made. But if Jever really is one of kind, then so be it!

(I considered starting a new thread to ask for Jever alternatives, but I think this discussion has the attention of the members who are knowledgeable about the differences between pilsener styles. I would prefer to avoid sifting through the usual suspects of US pilseners most people would suggest that I already know are not like Jever. )

@JackHorzempa, @AlcahueteJ, @steveh, @TongoRad, @einhorn, @Lurchus, @CoverMePorkins

 

This is correct. Most Euro imports allow a 1 year shelf date for their beers, so the bottling date can be calculated back to 7/22/2015 -- pretty fresh.

A couple months back I'd have told you SN Summerfest, but it's probably pretty scarce by now. In your area you should probably look for fresh Victory Prima. Truer is inline with Jever, but probably not as hopped.

 

@Ranbot,

I have not tasted any other Pilsner that has the same bone dry qualities that Jever has.

Did you note from the article you linked: “Jever, though located in the northwest of Germany just slightly north of Dortmund, happens to be an unusual enclave of exceptionally soft water.”

This statement of “exceptionally soft water” is contrary to the concept that part of Jever’s qualities is from high Sulfate brewing water.

I wonder if the Jever brewery (Friesisches Brauhaus zu Jever) treats their brewing water to up the sulfate content. Jeff (@hopfenunmaltz ), what do you think?

The other aspect of Jever is its very low Final Gravity value (1.007); this will provide a dry finish to the beer.

A Northern German Pilsner that I have been looking to try over the past 5+ years is Flensburger Pilsner. In the past this beer was described as being hoppy and dry. I have never located this beer in a 6-pack but I have seen it in cases a couple of times but the beer was too old for me to consider buying it.

FWIW, I have always thought that Jever uses a one year best by timeframe. If that is indeed the case, the beer you recently purchased with a best by date of 7/22/2016 is EXTREMELY fresh (less than one month old). I find it hard to believe that the beer got to the US and on a retailer’s shelf that quickly but since @AugustusRex has posted that he can obtain European imports around a month old I suppose anything is possible?

I have never tasted a US brewed Pilsner that has the same dry qualities of Jever.

Cheers!

 

Living near Philly I run into Prima Pils fairly regularly, it's definitely hoppy, but Jever seems drier. I didn't have SN Summerfest this year, so I'll keep it on my radar.

 

To be fair I was going off memory and I might have the day of the month wrong... but I'm absolutely certain the BB date of 07/??/2016. I'll confirm though.

 

It doesn't clarify very much, but Jever's importer of record circa 2000 - 2008 (or so) was located in Philadelphia. Edit: Raven Brands, at present.

 

Anyone make a Jever home-brew recipe kit? Might be fun to experiment with.

 

The 718 area code is NYC.

I live in the Philly area and I am always on the lookout for fresh Jever. The best I ever achieved was a 6-pack that only about 3 months old. I bought that 6-pack with a BIG smile on my face at the checkout.

If I ever found Jever that was less than one month old I would do a back-flip in the store!!

Cheers!

 

I always thought Jever had a best buy date of one year, but if this is the case, then @AugustusRex's Jever was bottled in the future? (BB of Sept 2016) Perhaps it's different in Canada?

@Ranbot I would suggest Prima as well, simply because it's about as hoppy as Jever to my palate (albeit a different flavor profile, strictly speaking in terms of "hoppiness"). But Prima certainly isn't as dry, as @JackHorzempa said, I haven't had a pilsner as dry as Jever. Jever is truly a unique pilsner (for what I can find on the shelves at least), it's a shame you can't find it fresh more often.

@steveh could you explain why you think Summerfest is similar to Jever? (not saying you're right or wrong, each palate is different) I don't find it NEARLY as hoppy, and it's not as dry either. Personally I'd recommend Nooner before Summerfest if we're comparing it to Jever.

 

The entry in Brunwater pro has SO4 at 75 ppm, from the city water report. Of course, hardness is the Ca and Mg, and does not include the other ions. Will look those up later.

Flensburger Pils is pretty dry, from the NE of Germany. Kindl Pils seemed pretty dry, only had it one night in Berlin.

 

Huh? Check his post again, Ranbot's case of Jever has a best by date of 7/22/2016, so it was (probably) bottled on 7/22/2015 -- calculating for a year's shelf date. And Rex has BB of 9/2016.

See, I find the more traditional hops closer to Jever and I find it pretty dry in the finish. Is it exactly like Jever? Not at all, but nothing is.

None's hop character is too far from Noble Hops for me to recommend it as a Jever stand-in.

 

That doesn't surprise me, but I also wonder if Pasteurization takes some of the body out of Jever and makes it drier in the bottle than if you had it fresh near the brewery?

 

Above is what I quoted in my post from @AugustusRex. "...and the Jever had a BB of Sept 2016."

I see where you're coming from with Summerfest, I was just curious. For what it's worth, I've always felt Summerfest was more German than Czech anyways, despite being called the latter by the brewery.

 

Yeah -- BB is Best By 2016, not Bottled On -- see where we're coming from?

Same here.

 

Ah, I see where our disconnect is. I know the BB stands for best by, and if Jever has a best by date of one year, this would indicate it was bottled in September of 2015. It's August 20th...

 

Sierra Nevada provides the beer ‘stats’ on their website:

Nooner Pilsner

· 5.2% ABV

· OG = 11.7 °P (1.047)

· FG = 1.9 °P (1.007)

Summerfest

· 5.0% ABV

· OG = 12.2 °P (1.049)

· FG = 2.8 °P (1.011)

It makes sense to me that the beer with the higher final gravity should have more body/mouthfeel.

Also from the Sierra Nevada website describing Summerfest:

“Since their invention in the 1840s, Pilsener-style beers have become the world’s most popular style. With a nod toward the original Czech tradition, Summerfest is brewed to feature the best of Bohemian nature.”

In general Bohemian Pilsners have more body then German Pilsners.

I find it noteworthy that Sierra Nevada Nooner has exactly the same FG value as Jever: 1.007.

Cheers!