The Naked Pint (14 page)

American-made Pilsner might not be as authentic as the beers from Das Mötherland, but the craft creations are much more delicious and complex than the mass-produced Pilsner styles that most Americans are used to. Here are some of our favorite Pilsners and Pilsner-style craft beers that are perfect for taking baby steps:

When we were new to beer, we were shocked at the multitude of light, crisp, clean styles out there. Just like the Bavarians who fell in love with the crisp clean Czech Pilsner style and made one of their own, many other European countries started brewing beers in a similar style. Some added a little more hops, some added a bit more malt for sweeter notes, some relied on the water source of their region to put their distinctive stamp on the beer, creating a general style called European Pale Lagers that serves as a kind of umbrella title for this style of beer. The great thing about this variety is that even if you never move from this stage of beer drinking, preferring only light, clean, and subtle beers, you will still have a plethora of beers to choose from.

One of these styles is Helles Bier (
helles
means “pale”), created by taking only pale malts and brewing them with the lager method. Helles Lagers are generally a bit more malty and therefore a touch sweeter than Pilsners, but they’re still light and nicely hopped. Helles Bier is common in Germany but relatively rare in the United States, so if you see one, grab it and try it.

Another light style that fits under the Pale Lager umbrella is blond (or blonde) beer. This can be a vague and confusing category. Blond beer is one of those modern inventions—a style named because of what it brings to mind: something that is easy on the palate. Many people order a blond because it sounds light. Some brewers do officially call their beer a blond, typically showing a beer that is pale in color, low on the hops, low in alcohol, with subtle fruit or honey and biscuity flavors, and a fairly clean finish on the palate. However, other brewers, especially Belgians, can call their beer a blond even when it has quite a bit of alcohol content and maltiness. We’ve found that Belgians are generally referring to a paler malt when they calls their beers blond, and American blond beers tend to relay attributes that we Americans often apply to blond people, like bubbly, bright, light, and easy. So if you want a lighter style of blond beer, you might want to make sure that you are drinking an American version. Here are some great pale beers with which to while away your Neophyte days:

W
e frequently get requests for a good wheat beer. Many people ask for a wheat beer because they think of it as light and refreshing, mainly because they are used to seeing it with a big fresh lemon wedge attached. But the lemon doesn’t make it a wheat beer, so what does? Simply put, a significant quantity of the grain used as malt should be wheat, typically between 30% and 70% wheat malts and the remainder is regular barley malt, usually of a pale variety. Though there are many different styles and substyles that can be called wheat beers, they all share certain characteristics. Wheat has a lot more protein in it than barley, which contributes a cloudy haze and creates a thick, long-lasting head on the beer. Wheat has very little flavor, sometimes a sourness, but it does contribute a distinctively silky mouthfeel.