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Saint Arnold Icon Red - Bohemian Pils

Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Houston, Texas
Beer style: Pilsener / Pils / Pilsner
Ref: ratebeer.com May2024

Common descriptors are
This beer starts with the distinctive Saaz hop nose, then a pleasant maltiness for such a light beer followed by a floral, spicy and earthy hop flavor that closes with a focused bitter finish. Very refreshing. The inspiration for this beer comes from hop buying trips to the Czech Republic. The unfiltered, unpasteurized pilsners that you find there at the birthplace of the style gave the idea of recreating that same beer, but with an increased emphasis on the flavor and aromatic qualities of the hops. We used one malt (pils) and one hop (Saaz) in brewing the beer. The maltiness is derived from the decoction mash, a traditional and rarely used method for heating the mash by removing a portion of the mash, boiling it, and then mixing it back in. The boiling causing caramelization that deepens the beers color and lowers the fermentability of the sugars resulting in a slightly richer bodied beer. Saaz hops are the only hop used in brewing that have never been hybridized, dating back to when hops were first used in brewing hundreds of years ago. This beer is best enjoyed at 40° to 55°F.