Pilsner is an unsung hero in the beer industry. We can thank the style for some of the world’s most dominant beers and breweries. In fact, many American macrobreweries, including Anheuser-Busch, formed when German brewers brought the Bavarian barley grain haná and its corresponding beermaking technique to the U.S., according to Nick Gislason, co-founder and head brewer of Hanabi Lager Co. in Napa Valley.
Years of breeding the crop — to maximize yield and, of course, profit — led to mutations in the modern-day grain. The version common today is quite different from the variety Josef Groll used to make the world’s first pilsner in 1842. Less than 180 years later, Gislason estimates all of the world’s haná plots amount to just 500 acres of land. And Hanabi Lager Co., which specializes in crafting beers from heirloom grain varieties, claims to be the only brewery to regularly use haná, which Hanabi purchases from a small producer in Norfolk, England. Just a few others in the world craft pilsners from haná, and they only do so on occasion.
“It’s very uncommon,” Gislason says. “All of the macrobrewers, those are nominally pilsner-style beers. The founding barley for what became the most popular style in the world is all but extinct. It’s nuts.”
Gislason says his decision to work with haná and other heirloom grains was a conscious effort to step away from commercially grown strains. He still recognizes their importance in the beer industry: Mass-produced grains have strategic benefits like high yield, shelf stability, and disease resistance. But prioritizing those goals often means sacrificing flavor.
“The way I frame it when introducing it to people is: ‘This is going to be the most flavorful pilsner-style beer you’ve ever tasted,’” Gislason says.
He likens haná-made pilsner to Chardonnay. Yellow fruit dominates the flavor, and its weighty, long-finished texture sits at the middle of the palate. Haná also contains healthy soluble fibers, which macrobrewers actively tried to minimize when breeding barleys as they slow fermentation in the brew house.
Though there are flavor, texture, and health benefits, using haná does come with downsides. For instance, the corns on each stalk aren’t uniform, and their size diversity makes milling more complex. Other qualities of the grain, such as its sturdiness, prolong almost every other step in brewing far more than with modern-day barley.
“It takes a lot longer to mature after you brew it,” Gislason explains. “For a young ferment of anything, whether it’s wine, beer, or cider, its flavors are rough. You have to wait and let the flavors start to marry and polish up. Haná takes a lot longer for that process. Call it two and a half months to three months for that grain, and finally, everything falls into harmony.”
But Gislason thinks the trickiness and patience are worth it. In wine, some grapes need time to develop their most pleasant flavors even after bottling. Gislason says it’s the same case with grains and beer. “You almost always have to wait for the flavors to resolve themselves in a barrel,” he says. “Haná is just like that.”
The article This Napa Brewery Uses the Same Grain as the World’s First Pilsner appeared first on VinePair.