ABITA Brewing Company

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MIXES

SELECT

Abita Select is an exclusive premium draft product line from Abita featuring a new style every few months.

 

IMPERIAL PILSNER

Released June 2005

History of the beer style
The creation of genuine pilsner beer came in the 1800s with the development of pale malts. Before this, all beers were dark in color. Once lighter colored beers were made available, they immediately became more popular than darker beers. The first pilsner was brewed in the 1840s in the Czech town of Pilsen, hence the name. It became wildly popular and brewers throughout Europe tried to mimic this beer and sell it in their home regions. They were unsuccessful in duplicating this beer because, unbeknownst to them, the brewing water they were using was very different and imparted a very different taste. Later, with advances in water chemistry, brewers were able to artificially adjust their water tables and make pilsner beers more similar to the Czech original. Today, the pilsner brew is the most popular style of beer in the world. Over the years brewers from around the world have made pilsner style beers that used the Czech original as a basis for their beer but made changes to make the beer uniquely their own. Our newest select, Imperial Pilsner, is one such example. Historically, the word Imperial has been used to describe a style of Stout that is stronger in body, flavor and strength.

Abita's Select Imperial Pilsner
Our Imperial Pilsner is similar to the Czech original, but all of the flavor characteristics are increased or “Imperialized”. Thus, the beer is slightly darker, maltier, stronger and has more hop aroma than the original style. Also, because our water in Abita Springs is remarkably similar to that in Pilsen, we do not have to artificially adjust our water to achieve a similar taste. Our Select is made with Pilsner, Munich, Cara Munich and Cara Pils malts. In keeping with tradition, it is hopped and dry hopped exclusively with Czech Saaz hops. The resulting dark golden beer has a sweet malty taste and floral hop aroma.
   
Food Pairings
Like most genuine pilsners, our Imperial Pilsner is very versatile and pairs well with a variety of dishes. It is excellent with almost all shellfish, but is especially good with crabs and raw oysters – do not over use the cocktail sauce, though. It also pairs well with most fish, especially oily fish such as salmon. The best part of this beer with regards to food is its extreme versatility. You can easily sit down to a five course meal and drink the Imperial Pilsner the whole time and it would go beautifully with the entire meal.