Let's Give Lagers Some Love (2025)

Not really. Just being lazy and wasn't in the mood to sort through the junk a Google search might turn up.

 

It does bring up a good point in the huge difference between two beers with pretty similar ABVs. I’d like to see the difference in lbs of hops per barrel, that information may be more closely guarded, but I’d bet PU uses at least 6X the amount the Bud Light uses, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were 10X.

 

Well, both use pellets* but, given Pilsner Urquell's IBUs is at 40 according to a recent label, and Budweiser is usually said to be down to "under 10" by secondary sources, I'd say at least 4 times as much.

Of course, that could vary based on the actual alpha acid stats of the different hops AB uses for their flagships vs PU's 100% Saaz. At one time it was claimed Bud Light had more hops, just to give it some flavor. At least, I think that was the case - can't find a source for one.

*Pre-InBev, Anheuser-Busch still used whole hops for its premium brands. Pretty sure that is no longer the case.

Wait, you're not trolling me, are you?

 

Hacker Pschorr - Münchner Gold

Excellent beer after a hot afternoon working outside

 

The actual amount of hops used to brew Pilsner Urquell will vary upon the alpha acids of each Saaz crop to achieve the target bitterness of 40 IBUs.

Information from the article I provided you a link to:

“Saaz hops: Pilsner Urquell boils the wort for two hours and uses three additions of whole Saaz hops at a rate of 350 g/hL to bring the IBU level to 40. The hops are grown in the nearby Zatec region of Bohemia. Hops are initially added into the sweet wort before it reaches a boil (first wort hopping); more hops are added about 80 minutes before the end of the boil, and the final addition is added about 25 minutes before the end of the boil. (Pilsner Urquell is not dry-hopped.) Alpha-acid levels in the Saaz hops during the past five years have averaged about 3.8%.”

The above nominal value of 350 g/hl can be converted to English units of 1.2 lbs./barrel.

Cheers!

 

No trolling from me, there’s just so much hop flavor in Urquell that I’m guessing that there’s a lot of hops used that don’t get accounted for in the IBUs.

Someone on BA theorized that the amount of hops used in these American macro “Lite” beers is so small that you couldn’t tell a difference between something like Bud Light and the same beer made with no hops at all. I have a feeling that’s not entirely true, but it’s also not far off.

 

Our Town Brewery (Lancaster, PA) - The Fridgerator.

A nice doppelbock brewered with locally grown Double Eagle malt.

 

As posted above: "The hops are grown in the nearby Zatec region of Bohemia. Hops are initially added into the sweet wort before it reaches a boil (first wort hopping); more hops are added about 80 minutes before the end of the boil, and the final addition is added about 25 minutes before the end of the boil."

The multiple additions will also add hop flavor as well. And first wort hopping contributes as well.

It is all a balance with those hops adding bitterness and also flavor.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for doing the math to convert g/hl to lbs/bbl, I thought it would be a little more than 1.2 lbs, but if Bud Light uses .2 lbs per barrel, my other guess would have been right. I remember reading that AB preferred low AA hops, at least for the Budweiser line. I think Willamette was the main hop in Bud until 20 or so years ago.

 

I have no insight on hop types/amounts used to brew Bud Light.

In the book Brewing Classic Styles there is a recipe for an American Light Lager and that recipe calls for only 0.6 ounces of hops for bittering. This translates to only 3.72 ounce per barrel (0.23 lbs. per barrel). It would appear that your guess is very much 'in the ballpark' here.

Cheers!

 

On my Pilsner Urquell page, there's a pre-Pro article about US brewers discussing the Pilsen beers (including the flavor of pitch). Julius Liebmann - of Brooklyn's Liebmann & Sons, Rheingold brewery fame - is quoted as saying the Pilsen brewers used:

"...steeped in hops and redolent of hop aroma..." Brewer-poet.

Further down the page is the PU portion of a 1986 Brewers Digest article on Czech breweries which notes that Pilsner Urquell had a "bitterness level of 44 bitterness units". Bitterness Units (sometimes noted as B.U. in older industry publications) predated IBUs but, as I understand, while the method of measuring them differed, they were the same numerical value.

 

@LAFreeway - The number one restriction US brewers have w/ representing Czech lager is the water source, which is regularly unaddressed: Brienne Allan changed her business model due to this (i.e. Check-Style vs Tanková Pub).

This is Chris’ approach

--

Re: Diacetyl – There are very few [stateside] brewers that will approach this by design: It’s usually a fermentable misstep, and one that is commonly unfavorable: The GB + Schilling collaboration understood this, and stayed cognizant…

+Water

 

Interesting, I thought that modern reverse osmosis technology made making soft water pretty easy. I can understand why Notch would want to create something original given that they have pretty soft water to begin with.

 

Your site is the gift that keeps on giving, I thought that I’d read everything you had posted but I don’t remember seeing your Urquell page.

 

@LAFreeway - The quote above is also linked to an ‘industry’ article that you may have been referring to: #216…Chris calls out BA here –

Source:
Case Study: Notch Brewing Leans into a Strong Point of View | Brewing Industry Guide

 

I emailed Paulaner USA about H-P Muenchner Gold's availability and they said they stopped importing bottles/cans of Gold in 2024.

The only way to get it now (apart from any remaining stock on the shelf from 2024) is on draft.

 

Well that's a bummer. That was the last bottle of a six pack that I had picked up a few months ago