Pils Off

Today, some 19 of 20 pints poured around the world are descendants of a concoction created to quiet angry Bohemians in 1842. Considering pale lagers like Budweiser, Heineken, Corona and Labatt Blue are all cousins, some beer drinkers have never had anything other than a bastardized Pilsner.

There are several thousand commercial beers made in Oregon every year, yet you can count the number of Pilsners on one hand. Why?

"Pilsners are more difficult and expensive to brew and don't sell as well," says local beer blogger Ezra Johnson-Greenough. "Being a lighter beer, there are not caramel or roasted malts or hops to hide flaws in production. To make things more difficult, a well-made Pils is lagered for six to eight weeks when most breweries are turning around an ale in two weeks or less."

There's also a bit of a stigma about Pilsners, says Kris McDowell, who works on Brewvana's Portland brewery tours.

"There just are not a lot of places turning out German beers," she says. "I think there is some aversion based on macro products... Although it's not fair to compare apples to oranges, there may be some spillover."

Oregon does brew some great Pilsners, though. We were only able to track down six beers called Pilsners in their name or description—some breweries also offer Pils as a summer seasonal—four bottled and two poured from taps into growlers. A team of six tasters began by sampling a can of Pilsner Urquell, the original Czech pale lager that birthed the style. Because growler beers aren't as carbonated, we tasted everything before putting the three best through a blind taste-off to pick the best.

OUR PICK:

ALSO RECOMMENDED:

UNREMARKABLE:

NOT RECOMMENDED:

WWeek 2015