King Pilsner

Asim Ozses · Post by **Asim Ozses** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 6:17 pm

I need opinions on this new beer from King Township Brewery if anyone's tried it. I had a long chat with the fellow from the brewery and he dropped me off some samples. It is a true Czech style Pils. Brewmaster is formerly of True North(Magnotta's Brewery). I think it's good, I just don't know if your getting value at "Import Pricing".

Jon Walker · Post by **Jon Walker** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 7:17 pm

Hey all from L.A. Half way through my road trip...full report upon my return.

I was very underwhelmed with the King pilsner that I tried at the recent Beer fest at the Royal York. I was told by the brewery staff that it was a domestic as good as Pilsner Urquell which I just didn't agree with. Others who tried it that night said they thought it was good so perhaps it's just me. If you're paying "imported" prices for it then I for one would certainly suggest you look elsewhere for decent draft pilsner. As Pilsner Urquell is about the only beer of the style that I regularly drink I'd suggest someone else here might be able to offer a better and more affordable option.

joey_capps · Post by **joey_capps** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 7:48 pm

I liked the King Pilsner, and, for the most part, I think it is on par with Urquell, though I have not been overly impressed Urquell in a long while. The King Pilsner was quite fresh and tasty at the C'est What? festival, but not quite as good at the Royal York. There have been suggestions, I can't remember exactly where, here perhaps, that the beer has not bottled particularly well.

King seems to be one of the better Ontario micros, and only Creemore comes to mind as a better lager brewery in this province. I'm a little confused by what you mean by "import pricing." Would that be more or the same as other Ontario micros?

Cheers, Joe.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jcappadocia on 2003-02-12 19:50 ]</font>

Asim Ozses · Post by **Asim Ozses** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 8:41 am

I don't mean "domestic premium" pricing such as Creemore or Brick or Upper Canada, I mean "import pricing" as Guinnes, Fullers, Hacker Pschorr. While domestic premiums run for around $180 for 58.8L kegs($3.05/L), King has it at $206 for 50L kegs($4.12L).
That's a whopping 35% more. Imports cost more mainly because of shipping and Duty they have to pay at the border, and they are not import pricing in their own countries.

Josh Oakes · Post by **Josh Oakes** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 11:05 am

It's a nice product, but that seems a little steep. IMO, the Brick and Sleeman stuff shouldn't be priced at a premium to anything, so the only price I like there is Creemore. I don't run the King brewery, but among the many factors in Creemore's success is that you don't feel ripped off when you buy one. The quality/price ratio is important to some of us.

Immotius · Post by **Immotius** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 3:49 pm

I'm in agreement with Josh. I tried the Czech style King Pils at the Royal York, and it was underwhelming.

I don't drink a lot of pilsner, and when I do, I'm not going to pay import prices for that.

I think it's on tap at the Hunt Pub. I wonder if it sells well there. If it doesn't sell there, it's not going to sell somewhere else.

Biers4all · Post by **Biers4all** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:00 pm

When I had it on tap at my last job I pulled off Steamwhistle. The sales were no different for the 6 month period. I was pricing them the same as well but I can't remember if my cost was the same at that time. My philosophy was to price new offerings and microbrews at very reasonable levels. As for the taste. I found it to be much better than both the bottle and can version of Pilsner Urquel. I had not tried the draft when it was here last. I even got to try the sample batch before the brewery was complete and was impressed enough to give them space on my taps at that early stage. From what I saw, the owners care about delivering good beer and pleasing their customers. They also had no attitude, which was a godsend. The only negative thing I could come up with was that they had very little market presence as compared with Steamwhistle. But due to the fact that they had just opened the Brewery, I gave them the benefit of the doubt.