Pilsner Malt is a type of pale lager malt made from two-row spring barley that is always highly modified (i.e., good protein degradation) during malting and is kilned to an exceptionally blonde color value of no more than 2.5 to 4 European Brewery Convention (EBC; approx. 1.5° to 2.1° Lovibond). Pale ale malts, by comparison, tend to have a color rating of about 5 to 7 EBC (approximately 2° to 3° Lovibond). Pilsner malt is named after the world’s first blonde lager, the pilsner, developed in the Bohemian city of Pilsen in 1842. See pilsen (plzeň). The base malt of that original Pilsner was made from Haná (also spelled Hanna or Hannah), a common barley variety then grown in Bohemia and Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic). Many of the best modern brewing barley varieties cultivated around the world, including those for pilsner malt, are genetic descendants of the old Haná strain. See haná (barley). In the brewhouse, good pilsner malt should have excellent processing characteristics, including favorable total protein and glucan levels, outstanding enzymatic strength for the conversion of unfermentable grain starches into fermentable malt sugars, excellent lautering properties, and high extract yields. See lautering. Because pilsner malt provides the finished beer with a delicate maltiness, a substantial body and mouthfeel, as well as good foam development and head retention, it is a versatile base malt that is popular not only in traditional pilsner beers and their modern variations but also in low-alcohol beers, light beers, and many blonde Belgian beers, both ales and lagers. See base malt

and mouthfeel. In finished beer, the flavor of pilsner malt tends to be soft, round, direct, and sweetly malty, where pale ale malts will give more color along with toasty, biscuity notes.