Additional sourced indicate that Bohemians were growing hops by the year 859 and brewing beer by 1088. Though surely incomplete early historical records show that the Slavs, the ethnic and linguistic group to which Czechs belong, served beer to Byzantine envoys as early as A.D. Brewing in this region dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years.

The origins of Pilsener beer can be traced back to its namesake, the ancient city of Plzen located in the western half of the Czech Republic in what was formerly Czechoslovakia and before that part of the kingdom of Bohemia. The Kingdom of Beers - A Brewers’ History of Bohemia Pilsner Urquell is to this day a true king of beers.īrew your own Pilsner at home, click here to browse our recipe kits! Brewed with a combination of soft Plzen water, home malted barley, super native Saaz hops, and a lager yeast originally smuggled out of Bavaria more than 150 years ago. No imitator, however, can hope to match the true character of this Czech original. The import’s subsequent impact on American brewing trends is most manifest in the popularity of its most famous American successor, Budweiser. No sooner had shipments of this new beer reached American shores than brewers set to work duplicating the style. Within a couple of decades it was being exported around the world. Its brilliant clarity, golden color, and light body made it an instant success in a world that was accustomed only to dark, heavy, cloudy beers. The first Pilsener, brewed in 1842 Bohemia was a lager unlike, any other. Pilsner Urquell emerged from a small Bohemian village in the 19th century to become what is now the world’s most imitated original. It sometimes happens that history and fortune intersect at precisely the right time and place.

Ensminger (Brewing Techniques)ĭivining the Source of the World’s Most Imitated Beer

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Pilsner beer origin