Fresh Hop Pilsner

While most people think of pilsner as a German style, it actually has its origins in Bohemia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. In 1842, a Bavarian monk smuggled a bottom-fermenting lager yeast from Munich to the Bohemian town of Pilsen. He gave it to the Bavarian-born brewer, Josef Grolle, at the Plzensky Prazdroj brewery.

Josef Grolle used the smuggled Bavarian yeast with a pale colored malt that he had developed from the maltsters of Great Britain. This created a truly golden beer that was revolutionary to the brewing world. Before then the majority of German beers made had been dark in color due to the different malting process. Soon after Josef Grolle’s Pilsner sent shock waves across the brewing world the German brewers scrambled to imitate the style. Out of this imitation, the German Pilsner was born.

Historically, genuine pilsner is a thing of beauty-delicate, sharp, flavorful, aromatic, and appetizing. The bottom-fermenting yeast, true to its promise, will drop to the bottom of the vessel after the cold fermentation is finished, leaving the beer clear and bright after its long cold aging. The sharp, clean bitterness and flowery aromatics of the region’s native Saaz hops and the full breadiness of the Moravian barley malt are accentuated by the remarkably soft water of the brewery’s wells. The high carbonation, developed by months of aging, forms a white pillowy head on top of the golden liquid. People were enraptured, and word of the new golden pilsner beer raced past the borders of Bohemia and swept throughout Europe.

Josef Grolle and his brewery, today known as Pilsner Urquell, can take credit for the first pilsner beer, but the industrial revolution can take some credit for the rapid spread of its popularity. 

Our Fresh Hop Pilsner takes a base beer that is similar to pFriem Pilsner and turns our Lauter Tun into a large hopback. We run wort on top of Fresh Tettnang Hops that we get directly from the Willamette Valley grown at Goschie Farms. We leave this beer unfiltered in order to get a complex, fresh, and vibrant showcase of the Fresh Hops and the Lager beer.

Tettnang has advanced through the hop development process with crisp, refreshing lager beer in mind. This hop has a unique ability to let the tasty malt platform shine yet contributes an addictive finish of lemon/lime zest, fresh melon, sweet hay and wildflowers, all capped by a cinnamon spice that cleanses your palate and lures you back for more. 

Tangy fresh fruit and the feeling of a summer meadow near a cold mountain stream, Lórien is conducive to celebration and appetite. Low alpha and squeaky clean, leave the taps open and let ‘er flow!