Count me in the Urquell camp as well. I really don't enjoy it. I'd definitely give it a try at the source, but I'm done trying it stateside. I'll take Trumer any day
One of my motivations in creating this thread was my recent experience with Beck’s. I tried some to follow up on the Stella or Beck’s thread. It was fresh and seemed well-made. But I still didn’t care for it. So I keep it colder and pour it into a frozen tumbler to drink it, which was my motivation for the COLD Beer thread. I think I need to do the same for the Ayinger Pilsner and Tannenzapfel Rothaus Pils I’ve tried recently.
Out of curiosity, do you enjoy craft lagers (pils, helles and the like)? How about German imports from (relatively) smaller producers? I don't personally care for most AALs either, but for the most part it isn't due to any off flavors. Not that I think they taste great, but I don't think the flavor profile is awful. For me, it's how lacking in flavor and chatacter that I find off putting. There's nothing enjoyable or interesting about drinking them, which is the primary reason I drink beer.
Urquell and Trumer are apples to oranges; as is the case with any Bohemian to German Pilsner comparison -- especially southern German (or Austrian, in this case) Pils. I don't expect a lighter-bodied, crisper flavor like Trumer when I'm having an Urquell -- maybe that's what people are misunderstanding about the style.
It's not even like a blanket policy or anything it's weirdly specific to certain beers. I enjoy Founders Solid Gold, or local Trillium corn lagers, nothing against AAL or corn lagers. Things like PBR, Hamms, BMC, even Stella and Carlsberg (not AAL) and Corona/Modelo I don't like. Heineken is just skunky and tasteless otherwise imo. The big AB brand beers though have this weird artificial tasting floral apple apricot orchard fruit chewable vitamin taste to me or something. Having had so many different beers, malts, hops, yeasts, etc. my best guess is their yeast or fermentation profile because Stella is not the same as Michelob but I swear there is a taste similar in both that I do not enjoy, that I also find in Bud Light and other popular beers. I love most German import beers and even other Czech beers I've tried. I enjoy Helles lager, pilsners, pale lagers all the time when in the mood. I'm with you, I'm drinking beer for the taste. I want a good beverage, it's not the alcohol I'm after, and I prefer quality over quantity. Not only do a lot of these beers lack flavor and are watery, but whatever flavor is there I find unenjoyable. There may be some big corporate brands dominating the beer market somewhere around the world that I enjoy, not sure if I've found it yet though. I do love almost any beer from Belgium and Germany though.
After telling the bartender I don’t like IPAs, I’ve had some say “have you tried this one? I think you’d like it.” The best I can do in that situation is choke down the sample and say, no thank you to a pint.
People are used to American craft pilsners being "hopped up" so to speak so when they try Pilsner Urquelle and they find out its not that way, I think thats why people are disappointed in it.
Hmm...? All of those beers listed are lagers. Do you only find lagers to be 'off-putting'? The 'funny' thing here is that lager yeasts are very flavor neutral as compared to ale yeasts (I homebrew both lagers and ales). It would be more 'typical' to perhaps not enjoy the fermentation profile of ales vs. lagers. But as I mentioned above we all have our own unique palates/preferences. We should all select brands that suit our individual palates. Cheers!
I may have an explanation as regards beers brewed by AB. The AB house lager yeast is noted for producing a subtle ester that some people describe as being an apple flavor. In a past NBW thread (link provided below) I conducted an exBEERiment to see whether I could pick up apple in a can of Bud LIght: I could not pick up anything resembling "apple" in the beer I drank from the shaker pint glass and I had to 'search' real hard for something from the tulip glass: "Well, the tulip glass did present a very subtle fruity ester aspect. I searched for “apple” but I did not perceive this specific aroma/flavor, it was more of a generic fruitiness for my palate." https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-203.677491/#post-7995718 It would seem that as regards AB produced beers you are a super taster (or equivalent term). A blessing in disguise? Cheers!
But even German-style Pils is "hoppy." I think the real trouble is an age old thing: most people don't know beer styles so when something doesn't taste good to them (or like their favorite beer), they just write it off.
I actually do pick up a big orchard fruit flavor in lagers, whether it is a festbier, pilsner or other pale lagers, though it usually tastes more natural like fresh apples, pears, maybe apricot. I get almost like a hard chewable Flintstone vitamin flavor in some of these big beer products that is off putting to me. Completely separate from the other off flavors I get in Urquell just to note. Maybe ales tend to have more flavor to cover up the yeasty esters? I don't mind the "orchard fruit" flavors I tend to get in most lagers, these big brands have an almost artificial taste that doesn't sit right with me.
I was originally going to say, if I didn’t like a beer, I wouldn’t respect it but, then I thought about all the classic lagers from Germany. I respect them in general, but I am totally uninterested in lagers
I don’t mind light hops with little aftertaste. I think that helps a beer taste “clean.” I just can’t do the big bite that hangs on forever, sometimes spilling over into metallic. Most of my experimenting as of late is to find a beer similar to Carlsberg but with a bit more hops, but with a clean taste.
Try some more pilsners or pale lagers either from local/national breweries or other imports from Germany and Czech Republic. Best bet is getting a fresher option.
Thats why I respect, but don't like, Urquell. Ive been assured by knowledgeable folks that what I'm tasting in Urquell is what is supposed to be there, and that it represents a major shift in the global history of beer. So I respect it even though I don't enjoy drinking it.
I find that Urquell is inconsistent as hell. Be it from bottles, cans, draft, lukr, you name it. That's regardless of freshness, too. Sometimes it's a delight, sometimes it's a butter bomb. I know that diacetyl is "acceptable" within the style, but in the case of that beer it's only there like 1/2 the time and the potency varies all over the place.
I’m working my way through the BA list of Euro Pale Lagers… I think my next try will be Samuel Smith Pure Brewed Organic Lager. Would Helles be a style worth trying?
Helles lagers are great, less bitter than a Pilsner and the best examples are rich with bready pale malts and light floral hops. The Samuel Smith Organic Lager I remember actually really liking even though I only had a single bottle once I think. It left an impact on me even being a British brewed lager. That brewery is the first English brewery I got into when I got big into beer, mainly because of the Organic Chocolate Stout, Oatmeal Stout and Russian Imperial Stout. Looking back at my Organic Lager review, I rated it +19.3% rdev and all I said in my review was "clean and tasty".
