Pilsner Urquell tour: the men who invented lager | The Craft Beer Channel 

We are here for you

Hello Andrew! Only cure out of this... Well there isnt any. Just Enjoy our beer :D

Me too 😬

Hi Andrew. Between it and Staropromen I'm with you

Unfiltered and unpasteurised, yes. Yes it is.

Come to the Czech Republic and taste it on tap straight from a beer tank. You will never want to leave

Me too 😭😭😭😭😭

@@Hawaiipaul i will my friend, i will 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

From the bottle is considerably better, a little harder to find, but completely worth it. Pilsner Urquel from a bottle at night, damn.

@@wallycunningham5090 can betttr always

+The Full Mug yeah there is nothing like it fresh and unpasteurised. People rarely believe me til they try it.

What is plain to some is perfectly balanced to others!

Your friends probably like IPA and therefore they have trash taste

As a Cz shareholder from Pilsen, I think that you still need to appreciate Škoda cars, trams, kofola, Semtex, Avast, and some dozens of other products 😂.

Are they?! What kinda shops? Supermarkets?

@@TheCraftBeerChannel 4 years latter and it's like everywhere same as original (Czech) Budweiser

Sorry we didn't mean to imply they didn't. Simply that pale lager was created in Pilsner.

Lager was invented in Vienna!

Bavarians are different from the rest of Germany, culturally closer to Bohemians' attitudes towards life. They drink, dance, eat, dress similarly. Bohemians have an underestimated strong culture.

​@@lordnat1968but Pilsner Urquell was the first pale lager in the world. Pale lagers are over eighty percent of beer in the world now. The Pils is a small subset that emulates the Urquell closely, the other pale lagers emulate it loosely.

I did not like the unfiltered & unpasteurized version. For me the unpasteurized is the best

Budvar is fine but Urquell is superb. I agree with u about its kicking butt status.

@@margol2168 Just be carefull as Budvar goes under name Budweiser everywhere but in USA :)

@@alucardonus certainly my friend

If you, try the tank stuff first. That is what is so special.

@@TheCraftBeerChannel I've just had it in the bottle and I really like the bitterness. Its an awesome Czech Pilsner. I think I found my next holiday destination once the rona fucks off

+Cypeq czechs never drinked bad beers, but to be honest quality of some breweries went rapidly down since they don't have czceh owners anymore, now are most popular small breweries here

S. Hutchens you probably do. He visited at the same time!

It's so sad when old traditional companies to bankrupt...

I think you'll find that the Stroh "heirs" were heavily targeted by the parasitic false jews, as they had in fact targeted all the "brewing families" in the USA, as the vast majority of them were of German descent, with places like Milwaukee, close to Detroit Michigan, being particularly affected. The answer? The response? If YOU WERE A BREWER, WITH BREWING IN YOUR BLOOD, PICK-UP THE PIECES, AND START ALL OVER AGAIN, THIS TIME WITH NEW-FOUND KNOWLEDGE, AND PROTECTION OF YOUR ASSETS, INCLUDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, INVENTORY, THE SITE, PLANT, AND PEOPLE, MAKE SURE NO-ONE CAN GET-INTO THE BREWERY - NEVER LET THE (FJ) PARASITES WIN, AND ESPECIALLY, NEVER LET A PARASITE, ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR WOMEN......... THAT IS THEIR ULTERIOR GOAL NEVER LET PARASITES "IN" BUSINESS MEETINGS, NEVER LET THEM ON YOUR FARM. REMEMBER (((BEN N JERRY'S)))

Hey. Well the story is certainly more complicated than we made out here, many years ago. Having done considerable research since there's a few things to say in relation to your comment. First, Josef didn't bring the style anywhere. By the time he arrived the brewery was built and the ingredients ordered! There is confusion over whether the very pale malt was his idea, a mistake, or someone else's but even his father is on record calling him a "simple man" so we suspect he was not the genius he was painted as. As for the lager style being created by Dreher, lagers had been brewed in Bavaria for centuries before Dreher came along. His invention, the Vienna Lager, is essentially a Marzen which is the German equivalent created by Sedlmeyer at Spaten almost exactly the same time. That's because they travelled together to the UK where they learned to kiln paler malt, which is all the difference really was between the braunbiers that came before Vienna/marzen. So in terms of the invention of pale lager it is a case of small changes rather than invention, but in terms of the creation of pilsner that's PU... with Grolls role not entirely known.

@@TheCraftBeerChannel Ok, this is quite a claim.. What makes you so sure that it is actually true and not spread by competitors out of envy or political chauvinistic propaganda as it often occurs when dealing with inventions. 😏 For example, it is said that Edison wasn't the genius he is usually presented to public but to a greater degree a clever self-promoting businessman who bought patents and plans from other bankrupt inventors, or Einstein, who worked at a Swiss patent office and allegedly was bad at school. Possible. Some people claim that Hitler _(sorry for mentioning, as he was not an inventor)_ only had one testicle.. but who really knows that as there is no secure proof? At least, Groll seems internationally recognised for having created that kind of beer and there's no official and neither credible unofficial dispute as far as I could look up. And even at the Pilsner Urquell website _(article headline: "How Pilsner Urquell changed beer forever")_ they mention Josef Groll as the inventor of their beer, being the first of its kind. So please tell me, why would this company itself provide misinformation?

@@TheCraftBeerChannel Well, sorry that in my first comment I didn't express myself correctly and actually wanted to point out that he brought the Bavarian lager style to Bohemia, Czechia (of today) and modified it there, resulting in the Pilsner style. Before, the Bohemians of which more than one third were part of the influential German minority didn't like the taste of their beer, rich ones protested and allegedly spilled entire barrels of beer while doing so. Upon this event, Groll was invited there. According to Pilsner Urquell company, people modernised the brewery when he came and it further confirms that Groll was the one who led the modernised company _(later called "Pilsner Urquell", which is German language)_ to success with his creation _(being a lager variant)_ . Citing Pilsner Urquell: _"Josef Groll changed beer forever when he brewed Pilsner Urquell for the first time in 1842. People had been drinking beer since about 7,000 BC, but no one had ever seen or tasted a golden lager quite like this._ _For thousands of years, beer was flavoured with a combination of fruits and spices called ‘gruit’. These sickly sweet beers took on the colour of the malt used during brewing. Depending on whether or not the malt was roasted, the beer had a colour from pale yellow to dark brown or even black._ _In the 19th century, brewing was hugely popular in Plzeň, but no one could get it right. So a group of beer lovers _*__hired Josef Groll, a talented Bavarian brewer_* , and *built him a state-of-the-art brewery.* He chose the finest local ingredients: soft Plzeň water, delicately bitter Saaz hops with a characteristic crisp flavour and aroma, and double-row Moravian barley, combined with a bottom-fermenting yeast._ _Groll created a crisp, refreshing golden lager-Pilsner Urquell. His beer was perfect, and everyone who tasted it agreed. That’s why most beers in the world today are pilsner-style lagers, and why we still brew Pilsner Urquell like Josef Groll did at our original brewery in Plzeň."_ *_Bottom line: I don't think Pilsner Urquell company would mention an alleged blockhead to be responsible for its worldwide success..._*

@Eks Why Pilsner Urquell's story is of course edited and slightly shifted to tell a simpler and more exciting story, as all companies do when marketing their brands. The truth as always is significantly more complicated. I heartily suggest reading Marl Dredge's excellent Brief History of Lager. He has done some very deep and fascinating research into PUs story and the origins of pale lager.

@@TheCraftBeerChannel Yes, that's right of course.. things often get simplified _(simplified for simple people which unfortunately represent the majority in society 😅)_ . Nevertheless, not only PU states that. Maybe Groll is not the genius who created all by himself, but it can be that he did a good job there in Bohemia.. why not. The knowledge of making beer supposedly is several thousand years old, having already been practised by the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians and somehow came to Europe where Celts and Germanic tribes brewed it. Throughout the ages, processes will have been refined and partially changed, ingredients modified or added by different people.

Yes we learned about the pitching after our trip. The pitch does contribute flavour too though - very interesting field. Notch Brewing in Salem, MA have started a pitch lining project to explore it further.

@@TheCraftBeerChannel Very interesting indeed! Thanks for the reply. Big fan!

@@TheCraftBeerChannel When you learn that you've made an error, you should correct it in the description or a tagged comment so the truth is told. .....But u don't give a shit, right?!

I believe it is all still brewed on the one site. If not, they have a lot of lawsuits coming their way! We saw fermentation going on (it's in the video) but no brewing. Either way I think that points to it being made here still. Would have loved to see the "open flames" under the kettles - there may be an embellishment there perhaps.

Pilsner Urquell is really made on this one and single place. There is not any other brewery. Also the yeasts are on two places ONLY. In the Pilsen brewery and in i suppose its called international yeast bank? :)

Or even is there a taproom in the brewery

Hey Kris - so to taste the beer from the barrel you need to be on the tour. There is also a pub/restaurant on site you can visit but this serves the standard (tankovna) beer. A great place to go is Lokal in town for the beers served right and with great food.

Just back from the tour had a great time thanks guys

I believe so.

It is Pilsner Urkwell (as water well). Or Plzeňský prazdroj (Czech name) :)

ur-kell - English pronunciation ur-kwell - German (used in many non English speaking countries) from UR-ancient and QULLE - source/spring so ancient source in English- to indicate it's the original golden lager imitated by every "pilsner"

Good beer. Try Schneide weiss and Weihenstephan too. Slightly different beers (coz they're German) but they are the best wheat beers around!

I love weiss beers, am lucky enough to have family living in germany so i visit a lot.. they put a lot of thinking in their beers it's great!!

@@TheCraftBeerChannel I love Schinder weissbier tap 7 and Erdinger weissbier one of my favorite macro weissbier or wheat beers I would love to try Whenstephineer Hefeweizen and Franziskaner weissbier. Pillsner urquell is fantastic one of the frist modern Pillsner or lager in the world which set the benchmark for Macro lager pillsners Heniken American Budweiser coors light Corona Miller Bud ligh Korenbourg 1664 Carlsberg Fosters . Stella Artois Crown lager Tooies VB James Borg Carlton extra dry Labatt Moosehead Keith's Molson Canadian Carling Ashai super dry Yebsui Kirian lager Kiran ichban Shabori Orion draft Sapporo it's true the Sequel cant beat the original I would love to try Pillsner urquell fresh unpasteurized from the tanks

+tatuira93 sign of a well made beer!

Very true, and a point we wish we'd made in the video. That said, there had been lager in Bohemia nearly as long as in Bavaria too - just not pale either.

i mean czech republic was also in the holy romaan empire with germany austria etc.. it was all one country so it depends on how u look at it.

Yes it can be a bit like that in bottle. We only champion the tank beer (tankovna) as one of the best beers in the world. in bottle there are better lagers, though it's still good!

I had a can of it the other day exported to Taiwan and it had a cheesy smell. Not as sharp, bitter and distinctive as the bottle ...more akin to yeasty/unclean pipes in a pub. Is that normal for the canned version? I ask because it is at a local convenience store for far more than the local stuff and I don't want to buy more and find it's all the same. It is worth noting that I have had it a lot in bottles and it has never had this characteristic.

+1977Futre this may sound weird, but I like my pilsners with a cheesy kind of taste. That's how I describe a good lager. I'm sure there is a better word for it, though. I certainly don't like the old, funky, unclean tap line taste, though. Lord knows I've had plenty of drafts from hole in the wall dive bars that have probably never changed their tap lines.

Hmmm...cheesy definitely not. There was an issue round 2 years ago where their cans got infected but I believe this was all sorted. Do you remember the date on the cans? This beer should have a slightly sweet butteryness from the diacytl but otherwise all saaz hops and malt!

you mean the buttery diacetyl thing? A creamy sweetness? Or do you like more funk?

A town

Both good questions. So on the water point - it isnt so much they couldn't pump it through the brewery, more that it was significantly cheaper, more efficient and technologically easy to just pump the water once then let gravity do its thing. There are thousands of gravity tower breweries all over Europe for this reason. As for wood being harder than steel...yeah that's probs nonsense we were fed for the story. But wood is certainly easier to wield.

Thank you Sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

+ruto so many lagers do! Though from he bottle PU is only a shadow of it's barrel or tank version.

+ruto so many lagers do! Though from he bottle PU is only a shadow of it's barrel or tank version.

+JohnS1704 do they really? Well I never. It is a shame you couldn't tell.

You are 100% correct, the Czechs first combined lager yeast, cave ageing and pale malt but the germans had been making strong dark lagers for centuries. However here we are referring to pale lager - putting that in the title would be confusing to new beer lovers though, which is who we aimed this video at.

I tought pale lager was invented by Anton Dreher in Vienna in 1841

It is an interesting historical note for sure. The beer was much darker thanks to the Vienna malt but still much paler than the bocks of Germany. However, the pale lagers of today don't have much lineage with Vienna lager. As for combining lightly kilned malt and lager though, they have a claim

Czechia is a mix of germanic and slavic so it doesnt almost change anything, its still bohemian land

+Christian Guerrero I know it can feel like that but they take great pride in saying it's all made there. And that's one hell of a sword to fall on. I believe it is but the issue is it is nowhere near the beer it is in tank once in bottle. And one pasteurised. For me this is one of the best beers in the world when fresh and unpasteurised. In bottle and can it is ruined. So long live their tank beer!

unfortunately they have the pasteurize it because its illegal to import unpasteurized beer into the US.

Is that right?! I'm not sure it can be. I know for a fact that De Dolle export there but don't pasteurise. Same for Cantillon and all the lambics. In fact pretty much all Belgian beers! Unless they break the rules, which is also perfectly likely knowing the Belgians.

All Pilsner Urqell is made there. The wooden kegs are ONLY for local consumption (and by local i mean it... It is only for 2 pubs in the city - Brewery one and Restaurace na Šenku). All the other batches are fermented and aged in high volume metal tanks. They are tho still brewed in those copper pots. Also all batches but those ,,original style wooden kegs'' are pasteurized and filtered.

@@alucardonus these two pubs are Restaurace Na Parkane, a Restaurace Na Spilce ;)

Which would you say is best?

Hi there. So we shot this 4 years ago and actually had that exact microphone. Shooting in these noisy, huge places is very hard. These days we use rode lapel mics so hopefully the later vids are better for you!

True we could add "modern" or "pale" but we thought that created more questions than answers! Cheers for the comment.

+The Craft Beer Channel It's misleading, and should be changed if you have any respect for the history of beer.

+ryan82scott we have a huge respect for beer history but the sour, dark beers that were made in caves with lager yeast have little to do with the lagers as we know it now. This video is about where we are now§§§§§§§§, and to be an effect tool for education we have to make sure it's accessible and meaningful to beer drinkers today. We'll get to the more archaic lagers soon as we can.

+The Craft Beer Channel Then maybe say "modern lager," as it's inaccurate to say that lagering was somehow invented in Pilsen in 1842, which the title suggests. It's plain wrong. If you cared about beer history, and not just views, you'd change the title. Anyone capable of a quick google search (let's say: "history of lager") might quickly lose respect for your channel due to your misleading title.

+ryan82scott all valid points! But as we stated above, any other terms for lager is misleading to people new to the idea. Modern lager is, if anything, more vague to someone who didn't know there was an old or new style of lager...particularly because there are hundreds of version of each. We believe this is a clearest way to talk about the evolution of lager as most people drink it, and we'll expand on it as soon as we can. Apologies for any offence to you or beer history!

They also have some amazing glass tankards though. Try to get hold of them!

not true, old originals are rounded from thick glass with handle

Pilsner is a subfamily of lager. Lager is defined as a bottom fermented beer, fermented cold.

Manni Schmidt as a czech, im really sorry for that ethnical cleansing of german people, but you must consider fact, that these events took a place after ww2 ending where everyone was quite pissed at germans, because they were pro german occupation of czechoslovakia and wanted to do ethnical cleansing of slavic people in central and eastern europe as well. Our ethnical cleansing was at least made in way that we expelled germans from czechoslovakia back to germany and not gasing them in a camps lol.

and i think its still a bad thing, because we czechs still share a hundreds years of common history and good relations with germans since the first germanic and slavic tribes where we coexisted in peace

It's Czech because it's brewed in the Czech Republic and always has been. The English call the Czech town Plzen "Pilsen", as well as the Germans, but English people aren't claiming this beer as being English. That's because it isn't English and it isn't German - it's Czech. Hence Pilsener lager. Pale lagers were first brewed in Germany, and these were based upon pale ale which the English invented, but this style of lager is Czech in origin. There's no doubt about it.

George Morley it's not though...you could argue it's both german and czech. but claiming it's solely czech is wrong. go read up the history of pilsner urquell (the name is german fyi) - Plzeňský Prazdroj is the czech translation. the brewery was founded by a german.

Also, Herr Schmidt ... What is Czech about Pilsner Urquell? Well, just about everything. It's made out of Czech water, Czech hop and Czech malt in Czech city Plzeň which has been claimed a city by a Czech King with very non German name Václav II Přemysl and this place used to be known even 300 years before that as the place where another Czech King with very non-german name Boleslav II Přemysl won the battle against a German King Otto II (yeah, seems that the tradition of fuck-up with the neighbours is a German's national sport for centuries now - and still not funny btw). It is made by Czech people which were always majority in the city since it's veeeery long existence. It's made in brewery founded and invested by proud Czech citizens of the city. Yes, the product has German name, as it comes from the ages when (as couple times in history) Germans tried hard to vanish Czech identity (sorry bro, didn't happen ...). And yes, the first brewer-master was German, nobody denies that, he was hired for that job and did very well - thanks. I know that in the Germany, you have a bit alternative history perception - so I'm not surprised that You are not aware of the fact that Germans were loudly and promptly asked to leave the country since they kind of managed to kill the 300 000 Czech people! Three-hundred-bloody-thousands! I guess, they'd prefer to be asked to leave instead of being murdered. So, that - I hope - roughly answers the question.

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