The great pilsner conundrum

Pilsners are in a tough spot. The BMC crowd isn't going to switch to craft because of the price. And many craft drinkers pass over it because it is not quite a flavorful as the many others styles that we enjoy. Both groups are missing out. There will always be a place for well crafted, great tasting, fresh pilsners. I think they are great.

 

For that to happen, they will have to innovate themselves out of the ballpark and into the parking lot. Then again, I hear that's where the line culture crowd likes to hang out anyway.

 

It's about consumer conditioning.

"Craft" brewers have been very effective at conditioning the consumer to accept higher prices for:

• beer in a bomber or 750
• beer with high ABV
• 16oz local IPA cans
• beer aged in previously used barrels
• beer from mixed culture or spontaneous fermentation
• "limited" beers

Craft brewers have not been very successful at conditioning the consumer to accept higher prices for:

• pale lagers that aren't "IPLs"
• session strength beers

This has been the case because:

• consumers already view pale lagers as cheap despite the fact that they require expensive methods
• consumers equate ABV and raw materials with cost and value even if it isn't entirely accurate

Generally speaking, German consumers have been conditioned to only accept inexpensive beer.

When Chris Lohring started Notch Brewing, he knew that he HAD to go with contract brewing in order to keep his prices low enough. He knew that the consumer would not regularly pay over a certain amount for a session strength brew.

The other day, I noticed on the store shelf, a 16oz can of a "barrel aged sour saison" (brewer's words). I thought to myself, "You don't see cans like that everyday." The can was $9. Those exact words were put on the can for a reason. I knew that the decline of bombers would coincide with the rise of consumer conditioning that another format signaled "it's OK to spend a lot of money on me." 16oz cans are one of those formats.

I'm sure that an IPA packaged in a $16 six pack of bottles would get more price complaints here than the same IPA packaged in a $10 bomber if it was only available in one of those formats. I'm also sure that more people are willing to spend a lot more money on an NE-IPA in a 16oz can, than the same beer in a 12oz bottle. The breweries know this. It has relatively nothing to do with cans being a "superior vessel" for beer. It's about what it signals to the consumer. It's a "duck test."

Note that I'm not making claims about the costs of brewers to produce the product, but rather, the willingness of a consumer to buy that product at a given price. In the case of local and expensive 16oz canned pale lagers that aren't "IPLs," brewers will not find as much success (compared to an IPA) given the market.

 

I agree that Finback beer was money.

 

Fully agree. Some are good, some are Pale Ales disguised as Pilsners.

Never seen it.

 

Yup, this is how I roll. Mostly purchase mix-a-six, so I have no clue what I pay for beer most of the time.

Also like you, more of my purchases trend towards regional/local over imports due to freshness. On the whole, the imports are still better than what we have regionally/locally on the shelves here in MA. But there's so much beer out there these days, you can find something just as good, or close enough, and then freshness becomes the driving factor for a purchase.

 

That's understandable, OP. Craft beer is so expensive these days I don't judge anyone for buying cheap beer. In fact, I think that the best way for hype new craft breweries to revitalize old-school, sessionable styles is to market them en masse for prices comparable to Big Beer value. If you could get 12 packs of Gose, pilsner, or grisette from a convenient store for the same price as a 12 pack of Keystone Light? Just imagine it!
I do side with StoutElk_92 in that I often pay top dollar for new beers just because I want to try them. Any new brewery's new take on a pilsner is worth trying once in my book.
However, the other issue is freshness, which is the reason why I usually buy American pilsners over German importants. Weihenstephaner and Prima Pils are both $10.99 a six pack here, but the difference is that Prima Pils I can get about one month old, whereas Weihenstephaner is often over six months. You can guess which I'm going to buy.

 

Skepticism is warranted, but this particular beer was to Sunshine Pils what Alien Church is to HopDevil. What I'm saying is there's a marketable difference, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of these breweries that charge $22 for a four pack of IPAs will find people willing to pay the same for them before too long.

 

I've got notices from Neshaminy that Trauger Pils was $30 a case. Hell ya on that.

 

For about 3 months I haven't had any IPA's in my fridge. I started buying 5 O'Clock Pils from Saint Arnold's and Live Oak Pilz, both Czech Pils. Both the Saint Arnold's and the Live Oak go for between $6.99 and $7.99 at Total Wine and are almost always fresh, if not there, then other places for another buck. The Saint Arnold has more hops added than the Live Oak so it has more of a hoppy character, not too much though. I have found myself 2 or 3 times driving about 8 miles to a restaurant that has Pilsner Urquell on tap (took a friend, trying to expand his palate). I have had this beer before this year and didn't really appreciate it until I was in Poland and had it on tap. I drank a lot of it while I was there. So to sum up a long story, liking Pilsners now and lucky to have a couple available year round that are a little over a buck a can

 

Pleas provide more details here. How specifically did the PU in Poland taste vs. the PU you had on draft in Texas?

Cheers!

 

If I saw a $20 4 pk of pils tallboys on the shelf, that's exactly where I would leave them. One of the regional grocery outfits around here often runs Pilsner Urquell 500 ml can 4 pks for $4.99. No brainer.

 

@guinness77 Have you picked up any Sixpoint The Crisp? I think it's tasty, reasonably priced, and might meet your "local" preference too (NY brewer).

Smuttynose Wunderbar Pils was a pleasant surprise to me too, but I think it's a summer seasonal.

 

The same, that is why I have been driving 8 miles to get it on tap back here in Houston. I just never had too good an experience in the bottle, granted I think the first few times I had it, it was still in green bottles. And no it wasn't one of the elusive unpasteurized kegs . The restaurant that had it, it was the only beer they served, and I found myself eating there about every other day.

 

$4.00 is high that beer is $2..50 in NJ, good in the bottle better (and costlier $7.00) on tap.

 

I haven't had the new post shift pilsner from Jack's Abby yet but it's priced in mass at $15 for a 12 pack. I'm looking forward to trying it

 

Couple years ago MillerCoors began shipping PU to the states in refrridgerated containers to preserve flavor. Also started bottling in brown bottles from green for the same reason. I have attended an event here in Denver and one in Chicago where kegs of PU were flown in so they were less than a week old. The biggest difference was that it was unfiltered versus what we normally get here. Anyway, always have PU in my fridge (along with Konig Pils and Bitburger).

 

It's amazing.

 

Sort of skimmed your post last night, missed the 2 examples you used. I like Stammtisch a lot, but the hop character is a little off for a Pilsner -- to my palate.

Lager of the Lakes is outstanding -- maybe just what the O.P. is looking for. I know Bell's is available in certain spots on the east coast, it's worth looking for.