Some Czech Pilsners

I was first introduced to Czech Pilsners by way of Pilsner Urquell during my college years. Back then, Trader Joe's used to carry it in "hornets", or 22 oz. bottles. It was a standard at my roommate Rob's house and quick became one of our must-haves in our early days of connoisseurship. I got the chance post-college to visit the Pilsener Urquell brewery in Pilsen and was able to taste the beer fresh, prior to filtration - a real treat.

Over the years, I've tried a few different beers from the Czech Republic and decided it would be fun to taste a few of the more famous brews comparatively. For this tasting, I've assembled: Pilsner Urquell (Pilsen), Staropramen (Prague) and Budweiser Budvar (a.k.a. Czechvar from České Budějovice).

The beers were tasted blind in Riedel Vinum port glasses. Following are my tasting notes and scoring:

#1) Pilsner Urquell, 91 points
color - medium gold
nose - medium maltiness with some cereal grain and light hops
taste - Nice bright hoppiness with a pleasant bitter finish
finish - fairly long and bitter

#2) Czechvar, 89 points
color - the lightest of the group. Yellowish gold.
nose - appetizing with bitter hoppiness. Delicate.
taste - light on the palate and in flavors. Delicate malt and hops. Not much bitterness, but not much anything. With extended tasting, some honey and flowery notes emerge.
finish - medium-short.

#3) Staropramen, 86 points
color - darkest of the group. Golden amber.
nose - Richer and more malty than the Czechvar.
taste - Rich, with some maltiness and and bitter hops. Some off, metallic notes.
finish - medium length.

Final Notes - Pilsner Urquell remains the standard among Czech Pilsners and is the "original" Pilsner, dating back to 1842. Czechvar, one of my other regular favorites is definitely a lighter style and is perfect for a hot afternoon with its crisp, clean flavors. Staropramen is a good beer, and I enjoy it on its own, but in the comparative tasting, that ominpresent metallic note knocked it down a few points.

Orval Trappist Ale

I've been on a bit of a Belgian beer kick lately. My interest was stoked by a recent trip to Wurstküche (translation: sausage kitchen) - a great exotic sausage place in the LA arts district.

Described by Rachel's brother Zack as a "hipster German" joint, it serves up great sausages along with some sensational beers - many on tap all in a modern, slightly minimalist setting. Aside from offering a rarely seen style, Berliner Weisse, Wurstküche seems to make something of a specialty of offering a broad selection of Belgian ales, many on tap, and served from the "proper" chalice - shaped glass with the brewery's mark on it.

Some of the highlights that night were Duvel Green (a light, draft-only version of Duvel that omits the in-bottle fermentation) and La Chouffe and Houblon Chouffe (the former a fruity, hoppy, yeasty, spicy golden ale, the latter an even hoppier and fruity india pale ale). Oh, and the sausages and mustard were great too.

Since then I've been drinking a variety of Belgian ales, mostly Tripels. When I came across this bottle of Orval, I tasted something unlike any beer I've tried before.

Orval is a Trappist pale ale. Only one beer is brewed and in only one format as far as I can tell - an attractive bowling pin-shaped 11.2 oz. bottle (pictured above).

The beer I tasted was bottled in January 2009, so it's just over a year old. Incidentally, it has a "best before" date of 5 years from the bottled date. The beer pours a deep amber with some haziness typical of yeasty Belgian ales. On the nose, it smells of cut flowers with some raspberry and citrus. On the palate, there is a fairly strong flavor of elderflower with some berry notes that follow through from the nose. The finish is clean with some nice bitter hoppiness and with the elderflower continuing to linger.

It's fairly readily available - I bought this bottle at the local Bevmo. If you're looking for something different from Belgium, this is certainly a beer worth trying with its exotic flavors.

My Favorite Belgians

To be clear, I'm not talking about Dr. Evil or René Magritte here - rather, I'm referring to a couple of my favorite Belgian ales. Belgian beer comes in a variety of styles, including golden ales, white beers (witbier, e.g. Hoegaarden), Trappist ales, and Abbey ales (e.g. Leffe), among others. While there are a lot of these worth talking about, I've picked a couple of my favorites, Chimay Triple (white) and Duvel as the subject of this post.

Chimay produces a number of Trappist ales, brewed in the Scourmont Abbey. Their Triple, (known as Cinq Cents in the 750 mL bottle) with the white label has always been my favorite. The Chimay website speaks of two fermentations (as compared with Duvel's three, below, but the actual process appears similar) - a top fermentation followed by bottle conditioning. According to the site:

The yeast is a primary constituent. It is this that makes the story of Chimay beer. In fact, the yeast was selected by Father Theodore in 1948. His work was to isolate the yeast cells and cultivate them, make some "micro-brews" and then, of course, to evaluate the flavour and brewing qualities. When he had isolated the best strain, Father Theodore propagated it selectively.

Duvel (which means "Devil" in Flemish) is a "strong golden ale" and is made from Scottish Yeast, Czech hops, Barley from France and local Belgian water. The beer undergoes 3 fermentations - the first is a top fermentation taking place at a temp of 64-82F, the second is a "lagering" process at 27F, the tertiary step is a "bottle conditioning" whereby additional yeast is added prior to bottling and aged first at around 72F, then for a longer period (about 6 weeks) at 41F. It is this lengthy process which prompts the website to proclaim "Guaranteed not Fresh!".

Following are my tasting notes for these two beers which were served straight from the fridge in a wide-mouthed snifter approximating the glasses shown in the pictures:

Chimay Triple
Color - Dark golden, amber, slightly hazy
Nose - Malty, cereal grains, yeast
Palate - Full-bodied, round, malty. Complex, with some dark, raisin-spice notes.
Finish - Malty, smooth, complex

Duvel
Color - Light gold, slightly hazy
Nose - Bright hoppy elements. Crisp, mouthwatering
Palate - Fruity hoppiness continues, well balanced, crisp. Some yeasty/doughy flavors.
Finish - Crisp, bitter hops. Very nice.

Pour yourself a glass of these delicious, yeasty brews. And if someone happens to catch you with some beer foam on your upper lip and nose, you can proudly proclaim "That's how we drink it in Belgium. It's called a Belgian Dip." - to quote Dr. Evil.