Let's Give Lagers Some Love (2025)

It sounds like you are talking about Chris Lohring at Notch.
Other possibilities are Sacred Profane and Godspeed.

 

I'll enjoy any Grodziskie, but I enjoyed this one less than others.

 

The Seed (Atlantic City, NJ) - Danko

A lager brewed with NJ grown Danko Rye

 

Yes, I think Chris Lohring is the guy from looking at their website. Have you tried Notch? If so, how close is their Pils to Pilsner Urquell? I’ve never had an American Bohemian Pils that was on par with PU. Some like Firestones Pivo and Victory’s Prima Pils that we used to get years ago were just as enjoyable, but neither were Bohemian Pilsners either.

 

I’ve had a bunch from Notch. Not really related to that though - For me, I’ve never had an American beer that tastes like Pilsner Urquell. That’s mainly because American brewers can’t get past the idea that diacetyl=“flaw.” FWIW, I think that idea is very limited, but I also don’t personally like the diacetyl in Pilsner Urquell (although I respect it). I did have a pitch-lined pilsner from Godspeed (who collaborated with the folks at Urquell). That beer was nothing like modern Pilsner Urquell.

 

As I posted prior I suspected that Notch was the brewery you were thinking of.

I have had Notch beer (in fact I purchased a four-pack of a Notch Pilsner earlier today) and one example is the Czech Pale Lager branded as The Standard. I have also had many Pilsner Urquell beers including at the brewery in Plzeň during a tour. Notch The Standard is not similar to Pilsner Urquell. During the tour at the Pilsner Urquell (Plzeňský Prazdroj) they emphasized they use direct fired brewing at a very high heat (i.e., 600 degrees C) which creates carmelization of the wort. I have no specific knowledge of the Notch Brewery but The Standard has the sensory qualities akin to being boiled via steam heating.

For completeness I had many other brands of Czech Pale Lagers during my two week visit to the Czech Republic and none of those beers tasted like Pilsner Urquell either. It seems to be 'popular' for folks to view Pilsner Urquell as the exemplar of a Czech Pilsner (Czech Pale Lager) but there are lots of other brands of Czech Pale Lager in the Czech Republic with varying flavor profiles.

And there is the 'issue' of the level of diacetyl present in Pilsner Urquell vs. other Czech brands as well.

Cheers!

 

It’s funny you mention diacetyl, it was a post from Chris Lohring on that subject that I was looking for. Do you know if he posts on here? If so, what is his handle? Thank you for the help.

 

Since you bought a 4 pack of Notch Pils today, I’ll assume it’s good, I’d like to give their beers a try, they have a really interesting tap list.

 

I have enjoyed the Notch beers I have had in the past. The 4-pack I bought today is a new brand for me, their French Pilsner. I will discuss this beer in an upcoming NBW thread.

Cheers!

 

He used to post here. Do you recall his handle @AlcahueteJ ?

 

It was ChrisLohring. But his account is no longer active unfortunately.

You can still see his posts, but can't search the name.

 

@LAFreeway Jack is spot on with his post here. Like Jack, I too have been to the Czech Republic and tasted many examples of pale lager including the tour at Pilsner Urquell.

The caramelization gives it a unique malt character to my palate that I didn't find with other pale lagers (including the look, more brown/amber than pale yellow). My two stateside favorites, Schilling's Alexander and Notch's The Standard also do not taste like Pilsner Urquell. However, those two beers do a great job of mimicking what I tasted in Prague with other pale lagers not PU, and in some cases even surpassed them.

The one time I had a beer that tasted like Pilsner Urquell was one of the first, if not the first, iterations of Notch's Pitch Lined Pilsners. I have a picture I can post and compare it to Notch's latest batch of Pitch Lined Pils, you can see the color difference.

Regarding diacetyl, I only detected that in beers served tankovna style. Pilsner Urquell served via normal draft and not directly off the tanks had no detectable diacetyl to my palate. And the unfiltered/unpasteurized PU on the tour and in the pub next to the brewery also had no detectable diacetyl. I also do not detect it in Notch's or Schilling's beers. I also do not detect it at Sacred Profane in ME, at their tap rooms they serve their beers tankovna style.

In my personal opinion, diacetyl is only acceptable in Czech beers since it's so common in the Czech Republic. The locals don't seem to care, but to me it's clearly a flaw. One theory I've heard is that they don't let the beer finish before serving it, time is money.

 

The picture below is a half pour of the Standard (beer on the left) and their latest Pitch Lined Pils (beer on the right). For completeness, The Standard is what is added to the pitch lined barrels.



The picture below is from their second batch of Pitch Lined Pils, I believe this was 2020 based on the plastic cup.

 

His final post on Beer Advocate.......
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/notch-brewing-2022.664117/page-46#post-7662124

 

Thanks for the information, i’ve had an a lot of Pilsner Urquell and haven’t noticed diacetyl myself, at least recently. There is something very unique about the malt flavor. It seems to be pretty common knowledge that they only use Sazz hops, local grown barley malted at the brewery, yeast “smuggled” into the brewery from Bavarian, and very soft local water.

In today’s age where multiple varieties of hops and grain are used to make beer, how can a beer be that tastes as complex as Urquell be made with such a simple recipe and only 4.4% ABV? I think a lot of that has to do with them using the perfect ingredients to create their product. There’s not a lot of variety, but everything that they do use is top notch for the application.

In addition to what you guys wrote about kettle caramelization, I think the fact that they can control the level of modification in the malt and use a triple decoction contributes a great deal to that unique flavor profile.

I realize that most of the beers mentioned in this thread are not trying to duplicate Urquell,but there have been a lot of instances over the years where brewers would say “this is our version of PU” but none of those beers have been close to the original in my estimation. It would be really interesting for me to get a locally made copy since I’m probably not moving to the Czech Republic anytime soon.

 

Permit me to offer a differing explanation here: it is the various and numerous brewing process decisions they make to produce Pilsner Urquell.

Yes, as well as many other brewing processes beyond the ones you mentioned.

Na Zdravi

 

I’m sure that you are right, it’s the sum of a whole bunch parts. I think they must have a pretty good handle on minimizing TPO, the bottles I’ve bought over the last few years have been in good shape. We don’t get cans, at least not anywhere that I’ve ever seen.

 

Thank you for posting, he posted a lot of interesting stuff. Here’s what I found on diacetyl in Czech beers posted way back in 2017:

“In my experience, diacetyl levels there (Czech Republic) are wide ranging, much like British bitter. Some overpowering, some right in the pocket, others non-existent. Also, I'm always puzzled by those who claim German Pils are hoppier than Czech pale lager. Take away Jever and few other outliers, and this is rarely the case. I always enjoy trips through Germany and then heading to the Czech Republic, as the hopping rates are clearly different.”

for some reason, I’ve never seen Jever for sale, but it sounds like something that I would like.

 

The 'tricky' part here is that some (most?) Czech Pale Lagers have a substantial maltiness and even when generously hopped (e.g., 40 IBUs) the maltiness can at times 'balance out' the hops. I discussed:

"Hops are generously utilized throughout with Pilsner Urquell having 40 IBUs (International Bittering Units). These beers may not seem to have this level of bitterness since there is a rich maltiness to these beers which can provide some offset to the perceived bitterness and the soft water has an impact as well (to be further discussed)."

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Pilsen_Beer

I bolded the aspect of brewing water in the above since that is ingredient that is often overlooked as regards brewing beer.

I used to be a BIG fan of Jever but my last couple of purchases of Jever have been disappointing; my last two purchases the beers tasted more 'insipid' as compared to prior drinking experiences. I have no specific insight here but I suspect that Jever has cheapened the brewing of this beer (e.g., reduced or cheaper malt, reduced hopping amounts) in order to meet the need to price this beer for consumption in Germany.

Cheers!