Malt of the Month: Pilsner

531.

That’s how many times we’ve pulled this stunner of a malt out of our drums. Bright grain, perfect color and flavor, with an extract that always comes in exactly on point. 

Our pilsner kiln profile hasn't changed much over the years. Pilsner is consistent.  It’s the under-appreciated workhorse of the malthouse: not too flashy, just the right amount of hay and straw character to give it the perfect profile for delicate beers.  It lagers bright, the foam it leaves behind has it’s own je ne sais quoi with lacing for days.

The clean characteristics of our Pilsner are precisely those you expect of classic German malts. This is, after all, made from Genie barley, a European variety processed with European malting equipment.  It stays true to its classic tradition.

For the last couple of years, we have seen a shift to Pilsner malt for hazy IPA production, but now it seems the pendulum is starting to swing back: Root Shoot Pilsner lagers are popping up all over the place. Why might that be? Recently, at a sensory evaluation at one of our partner breweries, we put our Pilsner up against that of a large industry competitor. The unanimous results?

This majestic malt didn't win a gold medal and Best of Show for no reason. It lagers with the best of them!

If you’re looking to try some local beers made with our Pilsner before committing to a pallet yourself, we’ve got recommendations! Some of our favorite Pilsner-boasting beers currently on tap include:

Low Flow Pils at Gilded Goat. Photo courtesy of Gilded Goat.

Start’n’ Early from Woods Boss, an American Light Lager with beautiful color and a crisp profile.  Also, the Kellerman Pilsner from Green Mountain Beer Company which garnered lots of praise from the malthouse crew when they brought us a taste (or several.) Verboten's Pilsner is what dreams are made of, and we would be remiss if we didn't mention Barquentine’s Table Saison that won a silver at the World Beer Cup.  Oh! And what about Gilded Goat’s Low Flow Pils? Amazing. If you’ve had any Funkwerks beer lately...that's also our pilsner malt shining through.  

And shine it does. In fact, as of the Malt Cup just a few weeks ago, we can now say that our Pilsner malt is now a gold standard.  That's a hell of a statement. 

We are hell of proud of it.

We can’t wait to see what you dream up of this malt. Please let us know what you do. 

We’d love to come join you in toasting to lacing lagers, sexy saisons, and practically perfect pilsners.

Cheers, 

–Your Root Shoot team