Josef Groll brews the first pilsner beer in the city of Pilsen, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). 

The city of Pilsen had begun brewing in 1295, but most Bohemian beers are top-fermented.

The taste and standards of quality often vary widely, and in 1838, consumers had dumped whole barrels to show their dissatisfaction.

The officials of Pilsen had founded a city-owned brewery in 1839, called Měšťanský pivovar Plzeň (German: Bürger-Brauerei, English: Citizens' Brewery – now Pilsner Urquell), which was to brew beer in the pioneering Bavarian style.

Brewers had begun aging beer made with cool fermenting yeasts in caves (lager, i.e., German: gelagert [stored]), which improved the beer's clarity and shelf-life.

Part of this research benefited from the knowledge already expounded on in a book (printed in German in 1794, in Czech in 1799), written by Czech brewer František Ondřej Poupě (Ger: Franz Andreas Paupie) (1753–1805) from Brno.

The Pilsen brewery recruited the Bavarian brewer Josef Groll (1813–1887) who, using new techniques and paler malts, presented his first batch of pale lager on October 5, 1842.

The combination of brighter malt prepared by English technology, Pilsen's remarkably soft water, local Saaz noble hops from nearby Žatec and Bavarian-style lagering produces a clear, golden beer that is regarded as a sensation.