Home Brew Forum

This is going to be my summer pilsner beer, although to be honest I'll sink a pilsner anytime, any place - doesn't have to be summer! I made a ten gallon batch, so I won't have to go easy on just one keg. I was going to do my usual and use all Saaz hops, but after trying Victory's Prima Pils which uses 4x different noble hops, I thought I'd mix it up a bit.

OG 1.052
IBU 45
EBC 10

Recipe
(All Weyermann malts)
50% Bohemian Pilsner Malt
40% Premium Pilsner Malt
8% Munich II
2% Melanoiden

100g - 18.6 IBU - Tettnanger 3.9% @ 100 min (FWH)
24g - 14.5 IBU - Magnum 15% @ 60 min
65g - 7.1 IBU - Saaz & Hallertauer Mittelfruh (1:1 blend)
65g - 4.6 IBU - Saaz & Hallertauer Mittelfruh (1:1 blend)
80g - 0 IBU - Saaz & Hallertauer Mittelfruh (1:1 blend)

I used Tesco Ashbeck spring water (25ppm bicarbonate content), mashed at 68.9C (156F) for 60 minutes. Mash hit pH 5.2 with 0.25ml lactic 80% added per litre. 90 minute boil with servomyces and protofloc.

Repitch of WLP815 - Belgian Lager, pitched at 8C.
Allowed to rise to 10C and will be held there before raising to 16C for a diacetyl rest near to the end of primary fermentation.

After the cooling and wort recirculation, the wort coming out of the boiler was *crystal* clear, not even a speck of break material. Rob at TMM's boiler and hopstrainer working like a champ with all those hops forming a great filter bed, although I lost 10L of wort to the little sponges..

A few pics:

Tettnanger first wort hops


Crystal clear runoff


Spent hops


FV's in fermentation chamber


OG 1.052

Now that is clear as a bell, the Mrs loves Prima Pils also

Gricey wrote:Now that is clear as a bell, the Mrs loves Prima Pils also

Have you managed to find any for sale here in the UK, Gricey? I get mine from a specialist beer and wine shop in London, but they're £2.25 each

They occasionally have them in The Sheffield Tap, an awesome real ale pub in Sheffield train station. The Mrs is American so she does like her US stuff, esp. when its a chance for her to show off that they can do it as well as us of course

Looks good!

Once I've tried my (now lagering) Oktoberfest I might make a Pils in November/December... I think I'm getting there in my ability to be able to make a pale lager - but time will tell and the proof will be in the drinking!

If it doesnt work out I'll stick to my successfull Pale ales and depending on my Kolsch attempt goes those pseudo-lager cool fermentated ales....

What will your fermentation/lagering schedule look like for this beer?

I gave my Vienna 31 days, which was probably more than it needed the Oktoberfest will get 30-45 days (Mainly due to me being off island on weeks 4 & 5 )

Cheers!
Guy

Looking good some tasty hops in there, I really should try a lager sometime... I just need to get some temp control / fridge bought & setup.

Hi pdtnc!

I did it (got temp control) on the Island where cheap fridges etc are hard to comeby I wire up my own TC10 and now have 2!

I'm about to do my 6th AG, but have done a fair few extract brews including some very drinkable pale ales... So compared to oyur brewing expertise I'm somewhat behind

I really like Tettanang and Hallertau hops - they are my idea of noble hops Spicey and fruity at the same time!
I also love Saaz, but so far the ones I've gotten hold of havent been up to scratch... When I do a PilsI get soem from Rob @ TMM as all the hops I've had from him so far have been spot on!
Cheers!

Guy

Cheers guy, I think making a pilsner isn't that hard. The recipe is easy. Beyond getting the mash / water chemistry right, it's all about conducting the fermentation correctly. I would really recommend repitching healthy yeast slurry and pitching cold to ensure it comes out clean and well-attenuated.

I'll probably lager this for 6 weeks minimum before drinking, hoppy lagers tend to take a long time before they really start drinking well. I find Tettnang tastes very heavy / chewy, and Saaz in particular tastes terrible when it's young, really fruity, but that fades away into lemoney spiceyness that I love with some age. Luckily I have two kegs, so I can let the other lager until I've finished the first

@pdtnc - go for it mate, you know you want to! I did the same as Guy, bought a few cheap 2nd-hand fridges and some TC10's and hey presto!

I've got a HongKong temp controller on my HLT, with a bit of extended probe wiring I could hook it up to a fridge (I'd seldom use both the HLT & Fridge together) I just need to acquire a Larder fridge first. I already have a Freecycle-Freezer solely for my hop-reserves which I want to leave that way.

pdtnc wrote:I already have a Freecycle-Freezer solely for my hop-reserves which I want to leave that way.

Whoah, a freezer solely for your hops? That's awesome, I'm forever fighting my mrs for the bottom drawer of our kitchen fridge/freezer. Btw, do you transfer your hops into airtight containers once the packets are opened, or do you do the ol' rollup and cover in tape to try keep them fresh?

bosium wrote:

pdtnc wrote:I already have a Freecycle-Freezer solely for my hop-reserves which I want to leave that way.

Whoah, a freezer solely for your hops? That's awesome, I'm forever fighting my mrs for the bottom drawer of our kitchen fridge/freezer. Btw, do you transfer your hops into airtight containers once the packets are opened, or do you do the ol' rollup and cover in tape to try keep them fresh?

I have the same issue with my wife... I have a drawer that I use to keep various hops and stuff in... I also use it to chill glasses in if I want my beer from a 'frosted mug'... Sadly the alloted drawer wont hold my litre (glass) stein!



I do want to go for it!

and I probably will once I've got a few more AG's under my belt!

bosium wrote:

pdtnc wrote:I already have a Freecycle-Freezer solely for my hop-reserves which I want to leave that way.

Whoah, a freezer solely for your hops? That's awesome, I'm forever fighting my mrs for the bottom drawer of our kitchen fridge/freezer. Btw, do you transfer your hops into airtight containers once the packets are opened, or do you do the ol' rollup and cover in tape to try keep them fresh?

Its a single-size Chest Freezer, a bit old and a bit battered but does the job. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpbUB_r7PrY
At home I pack back up my open vac-packs as best I can, wrap a rubber band round, then I have big sealy-zip bags that i put them in and squeeze the air out.
At work we fold over the open ends nice and tight and tape up all the folds with duct tape before putting them back in the 10c conditioning room or Chiller.

*Finally* got round to kegging this yesterday, really should have done so two weeks ago but I needed to make keg space, clean the kegs, etc etc, you know how it goes.

Anyway, it tastes pretty damn good! Great colour, nicely hoppy and bitterly balanced, just still ever so slightly raw still but that should mellow with a few weeks lagering. FG was 1.011 in both FV's, despite the really high mash temp.

3.5 weeks on, this is starting to taste really good. It's so hoppy still that it's almost in pale-ale / IPA territory but is starting to mellow nicely. I fined the first keg with PVPP and silica gel, and it's so clear it looks like it's been filtered. I think this is going to be superb in a couple of weeks' time.

Looks cracking matey! I had some sam Adams noble pils while in the states! It's one of their seasonals and it was cracking!