Praga Pils

PRAGA PILS

Origin: Czech Republic
Type: Pilsner
Color: Sand
Alcohol content: 4.7%
Recommended serving temperature: 10ºC/50ºF
Brewery: Praga Pils
Webpage: http://www.pragapils.eu/


I have chosen this beer for the first post on Czech pilsners because it is less common, and so less known than others like the Budejovice or the Pilsner Urquell. In fact, the brand has only just been re-launched this year, making the beer a fairly recent one.

Therefore, I hope to help more people discover it through this post. Although it's less known does not mean that it is not equally as interesting.

The Praga Pils is a sand colored pilsner with a very (VERY) low amount of foam and bubbles. This is the first shocking thing about it: when you serve it, it does not make a big amount of foam, no matter how recklessly (or purposely recklessly) you do it, and immediately the bubbles die down until they almost completely cease.

The next surprising thing about it is its smell. It has a very strong, bitter and maybe herby smell which reminds me, strangely, of green olives or olive brine, or even peas. This bitter olive resemblance is still present, together with a toasted and slightly metallic feel in the taste, which is very intense.

That is probably the most distinctive feature of this beer, the sheer strength of the flavor, much more distinguishable than in most other pilsners. I suspect that this is also helped precisely by the low amount of bubbles, which keeps you from getting distracted as you drink it and shines the spotlight on the taste. This makes it a very interesting pilsner to drink if you feel like something different.

However, because of this low amount of gas, you might want to drink it fast. Otherwise, you might be left pretty soon with some slightly pétillant barley juice, which might not be as nice or interesting an experience.