Episode 8: Morimoto Imperial Pilsner - Domo Arigato

In this episode we hit the top of our Pilsner series with Morimoto Imperial Pilsner. Another chance for me to try describe the taste of a beer, since Jim can't get it in Chicago all of a sudden.

News

Pizza, get your pizza beer here. A Chicago brewpub is making a beer out of pizza. From what the news story says, they are making a beer with real pizza in it. I guess pizza and beer are good together, but this is ridiculous.

Morimoto Imperial Pilsner

• Rogue Brewing Company is based out of Newport, Oregon and opened in 1988 making it a pioneer in craft brewing. They are known for their penchant for more experimental beer styles.
• Rogue is available in most places including: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin. Yeah, thats a lot of states.
• Weighs in at an impressive 8.8% abv, which for a Pilsner is very strong. Which also means think before you try to operate your car after downing one of these.
• It’s made from four ingredients: water, yeast, French Pilsner Malt, and Sterling hops.
• As for the taste…think kind of citrus, but not like chewing on an orange, more like a mild grapefruit. You may also taste some more sweetness here that we haven't found in other Pilsners.
• Also, a quick note about the bottle, its a cool 750 ml cermanic bottle with a swing top.
• Now if you can’t get this beer, there are several other Double/Imperial Pilsners out there including Golden Shower from Dogfish Head, or you may want to go into your local micro brewery like Rock Bottom, sometimes if they have an adventurous brewer they may try something like this.

Next Week

We are moving on to a new style, Hefeweizen this style is great for the summer, and if your listening to us in the Northern Hemisphere, it's summer. We'll start our journey in this style with Blue Moon from Coors Brewing Company. You should be able to get this beer just about anywhere.

Episode 7: Victory Prima Pils - It's Gold Jerry

Time for my favorite beer, Victory Prima Pils. Plus in this episode we talk about glassware. Yes we are kind of metrosexual that way.

The Pilsner Glass

What do you drink Plisners out of? A Pilsner Glass you say, no! Check out the ever present Wikipedia, which has an article. These are typically tall, skinny tapered 12-ounce glasses. Think about a champagne flute but without the stem and for beer. The tall glass helps to show off the bubbles and the head of the beer.

Target has a bunch, my favorite is the Luigi Bormioli doesn't that just sound cool?

Prima Pils

• From Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown, PA, a town between Harrisburgh and Philly.
• You can get Victory products in; Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado, California, Washington, and Oregon. In other words, it has pretty wide distribution.
• Prima Pils is one of the companies flagship beers. It is around 5.3% ABV and is brewed year round. This is even an award winning beer, or so Victory's Website would have us believe. It is on Details Magazine top ten best summer beer list last year, Mens Journals Top Lager Worldwide in 2005
• Again, we are climbing up the hop ladder here again, and you could probably tell that by looking at the bottle. Remember, hops tend to mean bitter.
• The crispness of this beer really make it a great summer beer, one that tastes great after mowing the lawn or just sitting outside on a hot summer evening.

Next Week

We will be closing out this series with an Imperial or Double Pilsner. We will be talking primarily about Morimoto Imperial Pilsner from Rouge Brewing Company. You can get it on tap in the Washington, D.C. area at Rustico.

Episode 6: Pilsner Urquell - Czech Baby Czech Baby 1-2-3

We take a step backward in this episode to look a the origin of the species: Pilsner Urquell. Hear Jim and I butcher Czech names all through the episode.

News

VEGITARIAN ALERT - Guiness is not a vegitarian beer. Or so says the Vegitarian Society that recently released a list of food that was not considered vegitarian safe.

Pislner Urquell

• Pilsner Urquell, the first Pilsner beer, sitting at around 4.40% ABV. Comes in a green bottle with a nice foil label. Have been using the same reciepe since 1842, developed by Josef Groll. Yes, this is the night we butcher Czech names.
• The name "Urquell" even means "Original Source"
• Pretty straight foward ingredient list.
• Taste - Very carbonated, and a little more bitter than you may be used to if you are drinking light beers.
• This is a nationally distributed beer, so you should be able to
get it anywhere.
• Other imports that are simlar to this one include Spaten Pilsner from Germany and Budvar/Czechvar from the Czech Republic.

Our next show

• Up the ladder a rung to micro brews - Victory Prima Pils.
• If you can't get Victory, you may also want to look for Goose Island Pislner, Sierra Nevada Summerfest, or Brooklyn Pilsner. If you can't find one of those, try your local microbrew and see if they have a pilsner.

Episode 5: Budwiser - It's good to be the king

This episode looks at an old favorite, Pilsners. If you have drank a beer in your life you probably have had a pilsner. Hopefully this show will take you from a light pilsner to a regular good old pilsner.

A quick shout to Lance Meyers who is listening to the show from Iraq. Jim was so excited to hear we have a listener over-there he called me at work. Thanks for listening and more importantly thanks for serving.

Also want to thank Spotus for the intro music.

News

• This week, May 13th thru the 20th, is American Craft Beer week
• Beer is a big industry in the U.S. The industry employes over 1.7 million people, paying over 55 billion in wages and benefits and over 5.2 billion in taxes. More stats over at Beer Servers America

Pilsner Background

• Lager beer, brewed first in the town of Pilsen which is in current day Czech Republic, or whatever they are calling it these days.
• Smooth beer, often times with a much more hoppy (bitter) flavor. A sharp yellow or golden color, very clear. A highly carbonated beer. Generally about 5% ABV.
• First true pilsner brewed was Pilsner Urquell, which we will be talking about on a later show.

Budweiser

Once again the theme of the show is what your next beer should be, and we are starting with the premise that most people drink the light versions of the big three, not the regular old Pilsner version.

• Some examples, MGD, Coors Orignal, and Budwesier. Oh yeah, and Iron City Beer as well.
• While Budlight is the Number 1 selling beer in the US, Budwesier is #2.
• With Bud, you should be finding a little bit of sweetness from the malt that goes away in a hurry.
• Important thing to note of about some of the mass produced beer, it may have corn or rice in it instead of or in addition to barley. This is done to save money and to give the beer a little more crisp flavor and much less bitterness.
• Note about beechwood aging. Imagine through beer on Popsicle sticks.
• These don't really have to much of a bitter flavor or taste for the matter, HOWEVER they are more bitter than the light versions of the beer and do have a little bit of taste to them.

Next Show

Up the ladder a rung to the originals of the styles, Pilsner Urquell, Spaten, and Budvar/Czechvar.