Pilsner
Pilsner (also pilsener, pilsen or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the city of Plzeň, Bohemia, Czech Republic, where it was first produced in 1842. The world’s first-ever blond lager was the Pilsner Urquell, making it the inspiration for more than two-thirds of the beer produced in the world today (which are still called pils, pilsner and pilsener). The original Pilsner Urquell beer is still produced there today.
Origin
The City of Pilsen began brewing in 1295, but until the mid-1840s, most Bohemian beers were top-fermented. The taste and standards of quality often varied widely, and in 1838, consumers dumped whole barrels to show their dissatisfaction. The officials of Pilsen founded a city-owned brewery in 1839, called Měšťanský pivovar Plzeň (German: Bürger-Brauerei, English: Citizens' Brewery - now Pilsner Urquell), which was to brew beer in the pioneering Bavarian style. Brewers had begun aging beer made with bottom-fermenting yeasts in caves (lager, i.e. German: gelagert [stored]), which improved the beer's clarity and shelf-life. Part of this research benefited from the knowledge already expounded on in a book (printed in German in 1794, in Czech in 1799), written by Czech brewer František Ondřej Poupě (Ger: Franz Andreas Paupie) (1753–1805) from Brno.