Hoppy Czech Pilsner

Several Czech Pilsners are hoppy within the context of the Pilsner style. Pilsner Urquell is quite hoppy and it has about 40 IBUs.

A Czech Pilsner that I am on the lookout for is Pivovar Kout na Šumavě Koutska 12. That beer just so happens to have greater than 40 IBUs.

Shelton Brothers imports this beer:

"Koutska 12

Pivovar Kout na Šumavě • Czech Republic

Kout na Sumavé, a small town in the Bohemian Forest near the German border, was a prosperous center for beer production until it’s local brewery was shut down in 1969. a local businessman bought the brewery building in 2003, took two years to clean and renovate it, and in 2006 brought in a master-brewer to create a new line of traditional Czech beers. The company has struggled to survive, but the undeniable integrity and quality of it’s products has gradually earned Kout followers and awards, in its home country and abroad.

Koutska 12º is the brewery’s flagship beer, and was named Czech “Lager of the Year” in 2010 (as almost all Czech beer is lager, let’s just say “best beer”). The 12º is an absolutely heavenly balance of rich, round, clean Czech malt and flowery, spicy Saaz hops- you’d be forgiven for not wanting to stop at one, or ten.

This is traditional Czech beer, made the old way-according to 200-year-old recipes-with it’s own well water and all-local barley and hops, using either double or triple decoction mash. It’s also open-fermented and unpasteurized-subsequently it has had to be shipped in cold containers, door-to-door, from Kout na Sumavé to Shelton Brothers, to preserve it’s unique quality as a “real lager”.

Style: Lager

ABV: 5.0%

Packaging: 20L kegs

Brewer Website: http://www.pivovarkout.eu/

 

I agree with Jack: Kout na Šumavě is really very good, and quite hoppy. My last ebook is about Kout and my relationship / obsession with the brewery. One of the things that happens in the story is that the brewmaster there shows me the lab report for their beers. It says that their 12º pale lager, aka "Pilsner," has 44.2 IBUs, which is pretty high for the style. It's not just about the bitterness, though: the beers from Kout often have mountains of peppery, spicy hop aroma, too. They use only Saaz hops from the Saaz region (we have three regions that produce hops called Saaz; Kout only uses Saaz Saaz, the best of the best).

In my opinion, two other Czech pale lagers are just as good: Únětice and Břevnov, which I just wrote about in Beer Advocate magazine #89: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/beeradvocate-magazine-89.184558/

Although Pivovar Kocour is known for its IPAs, their pale lager is also nicely hoppy. Many Czech beers are. Most of them have a lot of hop presence, especially when you compare them to most German "pilsners," or American versions.

 

When I was in the Czech Republic in 2010 I had a beer from Opat called Opat Extra Chmelene. It was a extra hopped lager. I liked it. http://beerohbeer.com/2008/07/05/opat-bitter-extra-chmelene/