What Makes a Good Pilsner?

After I posted a link to my Sherpa recommendation for Block 15’s Gloria! pilsner on Facebook yesterday, Jonathan Aichele added his own link–and promptly sparked 397 furious comments. He directed us to a blind tasting the Oregonian did with Oregon pilsners that resulted in the selection of … an infected one as Oregon’s finest. (Verbatim tasting notes from the “winner”: “is this infected?,” “good, clean fun,” “tart, gose-y,” “not very pilsner-y.”) This demonstrates that, while style sometimes blinds us to a beer’s true nature, ignoring it while comparing beers doesn’t make a lot of sense, either. It’s like selecting a schnauzer as the best tabby because you don’t like cats.

Which leads us to an obvious question: okay, smarty pants, then what is a good pilsner? In anticipation of yet another pilsner-related post for later this week, I’m really glad I asked.

Pilsners Generally
Pilsners are pale lagers that originally came from–spoiler alert–Pilsen (or Plzeň in the Czech), Bohemia. In the …