Sales are up for light, sessionable beers. That’s not surprising given we are approaching summer, but the trend is even more pronounced this year.
San Diego’s brewers are crafting lots of pilsners, which gave Bitter Brothers’ head brewer Tyler Tucker the idea for a competition of that style, to be hosted by O’Brien’s Pub.
On Saturday, May 19, dozens of drinkers ordered a six-taster flight and ranked their favorites from the board, without knowing which beer came from which brewery.
In the end, Tucker’s Bitter Brothers Bill’s Pils, a Czech Pilsner, topped the leaderboard. In second place was Burning Beard’s Normcore, the West Coaster reader favorite of 2017. Rounding out the top three: Societe The Heiress.
“We brewed the beer as close to style as we could, but also to a style that we want to drink,” said Tucker, who has also recently brewed at Coronado and Societe. “In my Societe day we spent a lot of time talking with Doug Hasker [of the Gordon Biersch brewpub] and I just listened, took notes, and it paid off.”
Bill’s Pils features Pilsner malt, Saaz hops, and White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast.
O’Brien’s GM Tyson Blake confirmed that the Pilsner Blind Tasting Championships will return next year.
2018’s competitors:
- Bitter Brothers – Bill’s Pils
- Burning Beard – Normcore
- Societe – The Heiress
- Fall – Plenty For All
- Eppig – Pilsner
- Honor – Pilsner