The Next Big Lager: Belgian Pils?
Since everyone in North America is pinned down today—including Floridians, apparently (it’ll drop into the teens today in Tallahassee)—let’s talk emerging styles. I had the pleasure of writing about Belgian pils for Craft Beer & Brewing recently, half hoping it would stir interest here in the States. It’s an interesting style no one really talks about, but if you travel around the country, you might find examples from really famous ale breweries like Dupont or Verhaeghe. And they’re really good, too.
I found the restaurant and was served a luminous glass of liquid gold with my steak-frites. The glass, of course, was embossed with the Verhaeghe’s ornate crest, typical for Belgium. The beer had a curious quality—sweetish malts, zesty hops, a mineral note, and a quick, dry finish. It bore some resemblance to German pilsner, but the malts, the minerality, the finish—they were unusual.
A local Portland brewery put one on this week—so maybe momentum is growing!
People familiar with Belgium will know that the dominant brand, by a mile, is a nondescript mass market lager called Jupiler. (You might assume it would be Stella Artois, but no, Jupiler is far more popular locally. Though it hardly matters—both are made by AB InBev.) Following WWII, the rise of cheap pilsners imperiled the rich local ales funky little breweries made slowly and inefficiently, and many decided to offer a pils themselves. They didn’t have big breweries optimized for lager-brewing, though, and their beers often had a certain Belgian quality.
In that CB&B article, I discuss the various elements (go read the whole thing if you’re curious), and I came up with these notes on how to replicate them:
Start with Belgian pilsner malt and, optionally, include some corn in the grist.
Use classic spicy, herbal hops, probably including some Saaz.
Find an assertive lager yeast and consider primary fermentation in a wider vessel with headspace, or not otherwise under pressure, to encourage the yeast to express themselves.
My sense is that water hardness is a characteristic of some of these beers—that minerality—though De Baets says most breweries now adjust their hard water.
Almost all Belgian pils is between 5 and 5.2 percent ABV, and typically below 30 IBUs. However, the light body and dry finish accentuate the bitterness.
Belgian pils tends to be highly attenuated and—typical for Belgian beer—relatively highly carbonated with impressive, sturdy foam.
Upright’s Belgian pils has everything—except the ribbeke glass.
American Belgian
I was delighted to learn that Alex Ganum at Upright Brewing saw the article and thought it was rich with possibilities. He has a small brewery initially designed for Belgian-style beers, including open fermenters, so it was a perfect system to try making one of these. He followed their lead, fermenting it warmish with the house yeast in those open fermenters, using Dingeman’s malt (a Belgian variety), corn, and Saaz hops.
Most of the classic old Belgian pilsners were first brewed decades ago, when their own ales were faltering. (Pilsners were, ironically, the beer they created to protect their ales from Jupiler.) They aren’t assertively hoppy—rather the Saaz garnish the lagers with a zest of spice. Revivals seem to take the old model, but boost those hops. In Brussels, Brasserie de la Senne introduced a vibrantly hoppy pils in the past couple years that amps up the hops, but evokes the little family pilsners. Belgian brewer Joran Van Ginderachter moved to Atlanta to found Halfway Crooks, and he makes one, too. Like Senne’s, it’s pretty punchy.
Upright made their pils in this mode. Saaz is one of the kings in producing “fine bitterness,” so it wears incredibly well. By the end of my first pint, I was tasting a gentle sweetness on the palate underneath the hops, and was ready for three more. In Belgium, you often order them in these little 25 cL glasses and knock them back like water. They are a counterpoint to the incredible local ales, which demand your attention. Upright hit the mark, and I hope they do another batch—maybe in July.
As an epilogue to my Craft Beer & Brewing piece, I might note that this kind of hopping is starting to become characteristic of the revival style. Rather than 20-25 BUs, breweries are shooting for 30-35. My guess is that this helps distinguish them from German pilsners (though Yvan De Baets at Senne specifically mentioned Northern German pilsners like Jever as an inspiration). In any case, whether they’re 22 or 32 BUs, I hope to see more. Breweries, give them a shot!