Italian pilsners are German-style pilsners that have been dry-hopped with European hops for maximum aroma. (Dry hopping is the process of adding hops to beer to maximize aroma without imparting bitterness.) Italian pilsners are dry, squeaky clean, and as Kevin Davey, brewmaster at Portland, Oregon’s Wayfinder Beer puts it, should “punch you in the face with Noble hops.†Unlike some other lager styles, Italian-style pilsners are less about malt and all about the hops. Using German-grown Noble hops like Tettnanger, Spalt, Hallertau Mittelfruh, other German varieties like Polaris and sometimes Saaz hops from the Czech Republic, American brewers recreate a German-style pilsner–but with amplified, American levels of hop aroma.
Aroma:
Flavor:
Mouthfeel:
Appearance:
History:
Craft-brewed Italian pilsners in America can trace their family tree back to a single beer: Birrifico Italiano’s Tipopils. Brewed in Limido Comasco, a small Italian town southwest of Lake Como, Tipopils may be the most influential beer Americans have never heard of. It was the inspiration for Firestone Walker‘s revered Pivo Pils which debuted in 2012, and since then it’s remained something of a well-kept secret among brewers. (At this past year’s Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest, numerous brewers told me Tipopils was the beer they were most looking forward to tasting, as Birrifico Italiano attends the festival every year.) After tasting Pivo and Tipopils at festivals like the Invitational and Birrificio Italiano’s Pils & Love, American brewers couldn’t wait to return stateside and brew their own versions.
Characteristic Ingredients:
Unlike some other lager styles, Italian-style pilsners are less about malt and all about the hops. Using German-grown Noble hops like Tettnanger, Spalt, Hallertau Mittelfruh, other German varieties like Polaris and sometimes Saaz hops from the Czech Republic, American brewers recreate a German-style pilsner–but with amplified, American levels of hop aroma.
Notes:
Though not a BJCP style, found this style written up by Craft Beer at https://www.craftbeer.com/craft-beer-muses/how-one-beer-birthed-an-american-crop-of-italian-style-pilsners interesting.
