König Pilsener

Last night had my first example of the German Pils style, as sighted by the Guide.

This beer is very good. I'm not usually into the pilsner style, but I think part of that is that I haven't actually explored many beers of this style. Short of James Squire's Pilsner and the watery american lager labeled as 'pilsner' I can't say I know much about them.

Needless to say this beer was surprisingly great.

I'm still working on figuring out aromas. I honestly don't know how people get what they do from those smells, but I guess it requires training and practice, but I definitely smelled some fruity-ness from the hops.

For me two things immediately stood out as a I tasted this beer.

1) So much balance between hops and malt.

2) More bitter than I would have expected, all the way through, but surprisingly delicious!

This is an 'adult' beer. That is, the flavours are all well-balanced and very subtle. Nothing to smack you in the face. The bitterness is strong throughout and the finish is quite dry. I really like it and will be keeping an eye out for it from now on in bars!

If I can brew something as delicious as this for summer time, consider me hooked!

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German Pils Profile:

IBUs: 25 – 45 SRM: 2 – 5
OG: 1.044 – 1.050 FG: 1.008 – 1.013
ABV: 4.4 – 5.2%

I would say that this pils is on the higher side of the IBUs, probably in the 30s somewhere. The colour is of course a very pale straw yellow. I know I will have a difficult time replicating the colour and clarity of this beer simply because I'm using BIAB. The final gravity is quite low as well. I have only been able to achieve this once and that was through an unusually low mashing temperature. I imagine that this will be similar.