- published: 18 Sep 2010
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Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the then city of Pilsen (Plzeň), Bohemia, in today's Czech Republic, where a bottom-fermented beer was first produced in 1842. The original Pilsner Urquell beer is produced there today.
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 Bürger Brauerei (Citizens' Brewery - now Plzeňský Prazdroj), brewing beer according to the pioneering Bavarian style of brewing. Bavarian brewers had begun aging beer made with bottom-fermenting yeasts in caves (i.e.German: 'gelagert'), 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 1801), written by František Ondřej Poupě (Ger: Franz Andreas Paupie) (1753–1805) from Brno.