Owners of Anaheim Brewery – Anaheim, Greg and Barbara Gerovac, developed an appreciation for the taste of fresh, local beer and the art of brewing while living in Bavaria for seven years during the 90s. During that time the couple was able to visit the Plzeňsky Prazdroj, or the Pilsner Urquell brewery.
Pilsner Urquell means “the original source of Pilsner beer,” and the brewery the Gerovacs visited was the first to brew the bitter beer in Europe. Josef Groll, the Bavarian brewmaster, developed the beer in Pilsen, a town in the western Czech Republic, during the 1840s. He used sweet barley grown in the region, and Czech Saaz hops, which are very aromatic and have pleasant floral and fruity notes. The most important ingredient is the water from the wells in Pilsen, which are very deep and produce soft water that allows the malt and hops to stand on their own.
During Barbara and Greg’s first trip to the town of Pilsen, they stopped to try some Pilsner Urquell from a street-side stand selling cups for 30 cents US. They drank from leaky wax-covered cups, used and with rolled paper rims. Only a few years earlier the Czech Republic had been a Communist country, and the man selling the beer explained that while getting the beer was easy, finding good cups wasn’t.
Anaheim’s own Pilsner is a clear golden lager with a thick, snowy white head and delicate and complex, slightly floral hop aroma. It has a crisp, refreshing taste.
To try some of the brewery’s Pilsner, visit their Beer Gardens and Tasting Room.”We’ll even put it in a clean glass for you,” says Greg Gerovac. They are open six days a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5pm – 9pm, Fridays from 4pm – 9pm, Saturdays from 11am – 9pm, and Sundays from 11am – 6pm.
For more information, visit the brewery’s website. You can also subscribe to their newsletter, or follow them on facebook and twitter.
Posted by Melanie Figueroa
07/22/12
