BEER REVIEW: 459

BREWER: Plzensky Prazdroj, Bohemia, Czechia

STYLE: Pilsner

ABV: 4.4%

VESSEL: 0.33l tin

DATE OF POST: 24th July 2026

 

SAMMY SAY’S…

Ah, Pilsner Urquell. Even before the glass is raised, one feels a certain obligation to stand a little straighter, for here is the original, the beer that set so many others upon their path.

I regard it with the respect due to a venerable elder who has seen fashions come and go yet remains serenely itself.

The body is pleasing, neither thin nor boastful, and it drinks with the calm assurance of a lager that knows precisely what it is meant to be.

The nose is modest, offering little more than a quiet nod, and the flavour follows suit, playing that straight lager bat with admirable discipline. There is no flourish, no unnecessary hop bravado, simply the clean, steady character that has defined the style for generations.

One must admit that others have since taken the template and embellished it, refined it, perhaps even surpassed it in certain respects, but this does not diminish the achievement of the original. It remains a very decent drop, dependable and dignified, and even as I note its limitations, I cannot help but acknowledge the quiet authority with which it continues to hold its place in the world of beer.

Sammy’s Rating: 65%

 

JYMI SAY’S…

So, what do you want from your Pilsner?

A bit of spice? A hop presence without it being overwhelming? A mild spike in the aftertaste to keep the dream alive?

If you answered yes to all of these questions then PU will be right there when it comes to a go to beer. And thankfully, this thoroughly enjoyable brew is kinda readily available. And even though now mass produced, it is still brewed where it was born, and remains to this day very flippin’ good.

I don’t want to go down the ‘if Heiniken got hold of this’ path (I’m fully aware I just did) but it is worthy of note.

Let’s take a look at the live manual notes…

This is defo good!

Bitter

Spice

Dry

Hoppy… nature to the sip.

 Kinda ‘how it should be done’.

 Literally does everything a Pilsner should.

 Good good beer.

 Still brewed in Czechia 184 years on and somehow bringing the iconic bottle to life in tin form…

It’s just a flippin’ well done all round really.

Jymi’s Rating: 79%

 

MUSE ON BOOZE RATING: 72%

MOB review next weekend: SUDS by BULLHOUSE BREW CO.

Sammy & Jymi – Musing on Booze weekly since 2017

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M O B 2026