Hofmark Pilsener: You can’t get much closer to Plzen than this!
Jun 27 '01 (Updated Jul 01 '01)
The Bottom Line A wonderful pilsner with a heavy Bohemian influence. The closest interpretation to the original. One of the best pilsners I've ever tasted.
Hofmark Pilsener, Loifling nr. Cham, Bavaria, Germany
The Pilsner style is the most popular and imitated beer style in the world. Pilsner was named after the town Plzen in the Czech Republic where it was originally brewed in 1842. The brewers responsible for this style changed the name of their beer to Pilsner Urquell in 1893, which literally means “original pilsner”.
Most US beers, Budweiser, Miller Lite, Coors etc are imitations of this beer style, as are popular brands such as Heineken, Fosters and Corona.
It is widely believed that the further you travel from Plzen, the poorer quality pilsner beers become. The Germans make good pilsners, but by the time you get to Mexico, Australia or St. Louis the pilsners aren’t even in the same league. There are of course some decent microbrewed versions, and Sam Adam’s version is pretty good.
Hofmark
On the other side of the Czech border, a mere 65 miles from Plzen, comes an excellent version of a pilsner that is as good as any I’ve tried. Hofmark Pilsener was the May selection from Michael Jackson’s Real Beer Tour, and in my quest for quality summer brews, a very welcome selection at that.
I had waited a while to review this one, having enjoyed 7 or 8 so far. I happened to be watching The Michael Jackson Beer Hunter series, generously donated to me by a fellow epinioneer, which not only features the Hofmark brewery, but also the Pilsner Urquell brewery. What other excuse did I need to drink a couple more of these and finally put pen to paper.
The town of Loifling, Bavaria where this brewery is situated has a number of advantages, including a strong Bohemian influence sharing much historically with the towns of Budweis and Plzen. Also all the towns between Plzen and Loifling take their soft water from the same quartz-limestone bed, which makes for excellent brewing.
The brewery was established in 1572 by a local aristocrat, and the name “Das feine Hofmark” means the “fine beer bearing the seal of the royal court”. In the past 250 years the brewery has been run by the “Härings” family and is expected to continue in the same tradition.
There are two versions of “Das Feine Hofmark”, a Würzig Mild and a Würzig Herb. The beer I received was the latter.
Hofmark Pilsener – The Technical Stuff
* Two-row (better than 6-row) summer barley malt from Franconia.
* Hopped three times: Hellertau-Hersbrucker, Tettnang, and Saaz.
* Kräusened, filtered, unpasteurized.
* 5.1% ABV
* Reinheitsgebot compliant – The German purity law that states all beers be made from only water, hops, and grain (and yeast).
A final point to note is the rare use of beechwood aging, something that Budweiser uses to its credit.
Tasting Notes
In my reviews I have referred to many lagers as golden, but have never seen a truer example of that than with this one. I guess I’ll have to become a little more creative in future. There’s an impressive head of white foam, although I did forget to balance a coin on top, which is a true test. While not overly carbonated there is a good promising persistent uprising of tiny bubbles.
The nose continues the beer’s appeal with maltiness, a slight berry fruitiness as well as signs of hop and spice. It’s a nice elegant bouquet that tells you what a wonderful beer you’re about to try.
A tingly carbonation greets you at the tip of the tongue. The initial sharper carbonation smoothes out towards the middle, while you can feel the softness and the delicacy achieved by the water source.
There’s a good initial malt in the front of the palate that doesn’t overwhelm like many pilsner imitations. It’s a clean, gentle and soft malt that’s very pleasant. This is followed by a countering crisp hop bitterness in the finish with the briefest hint of spice. The aftertaste rounds out with a perfect balance of malt and hops, neither being too dominant.
Verdict
This is truly a great beer to savor while refreshing at the same time. It has a nice elegant look, a wonderful floral aroma a delicate soft palate, combining subtle malt and a thirst-quenching bitter finish. It’s certainly the closest version I’ve seen to Pilsner Urquell, the original. Why wouldn’t it be? With the amount of care that goes into this beer’s production, the Bohemian influence, soft waters, and German purity law, the result is something other brewers around the world should take note of.
Availability
The beers received from the Michael Jackson Real Beer Tour are otherwise unavailable in the USA. You don’t have to be a member but it’s cheaper that way. Check out the website (from mine) at:
http://worldofbrews.tripod.com/clubs
Hopefully the beers will make it into stores here sometime soon as the brewer was talking about the USA market at the time of Michael Jackson’s documentary back in 1989.
Ratings
Appearance: 4/5, Aroma: 8/10, Palate: 5/5, Taste: 10/10, Overall 18/20
Score: 4.5
As a final note, I recommend that any lager drinkers seek out some of the beers that pay better testament to the original pilsner style. Most obvious is Pilsner Urquell, but other versions that are widely available include Bitburger, Budweiser Budvar, St. Pauli Girl, Warsteiner, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, or even Bohemia. Also July is American beer month, so look out for pilsners brewed by decent micros that will often come up with good interpretations, e.g. North Coast Scrimshaw.
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Member: Andrew Smith
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