German Pils recipe

[weiht]

hey, wat about fermenting and lagering schedules? Im currently into my 2nd week of primary at 10c, and planning to leave it there at least 18 days before i rest it for 2 days at about 15c then rack and keep 3-4 weeks at 3c before carbonating and mature for another 2 weeks. Its my first time brewing a lager, so im just trying out this "traditional" method. I read some rack it when its about 3/4 reaching terminal gravity...

Anyone add gelatin to clear the beer? I didnt care about clarity when brewing my ales, but i wld prefer my pilsner to be clear n bright.

[Whorst]

Here's my last lager, a Helles, that was fined with gelatin and lagered for almost six weeks.

[mysterio]

Bosium, yes I was tempted by the Ayinger strain but I went for the Southern German just on a whim really. There was a couple of quirks I didn't like about the particular czech strain I had on closer inspection. The beers turned into diacetyl bombs when i bottled from the keg (oxygen pick up maybe).

55 IBUs is just the predicted wort IBUs by the way, I know for sure the final beer won't be that bitter. I did my czech pils at christmas (yes I was drinking czech pils with my turkey) with 40 IBUs according to the software but it was pretty sweet.

Weiht, what you're doing is perfect, pretty much what I do. Ferment at 10 C, wait 'til it's done, taste her, if it's good I keg it then drop the temperature down cold.

Whorst, what a great looking pint. Gelatin works very well but I find it does pull out some bitterness so I will probably just rely on lagering for this particular one.

FINALLY, I will get a chance to brew this tomorrow. I had my final exam today so i'm finished uni now. Had an Anchor Liberty ale and a Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA as soon as I got home.

[Barley Water]

Well first of all, nice looking beer there Whorst, I wish I hadn't seen that at work. Anyhow, my experience with lagers is that they get really clear on their own due to sitting around at very cold temperatures so I have never bothered with fining agents of any kind. It looks like I will not be brewing any Pilsner until next weekend, both my daughters are graduating this year so being the dutiful father, I have been attending yearend school events. In another couple of months, my youngest will be going away to college and then I may really be in trouble. My wife will have nobody to manage then and I am living in fear that she may try to turn her gun on me. I am really not interested in self improvement so it could get ugly at my house.

By the way Mr. Mysterio, how did you like the Torpedo, pretty agressive tasting stuff don't you think?

[mysterio]

Congrats on your daughters graduating.

Actually the Torpedo wasn't very aggressive tasting, I'm sure it used to be but I bet it has been sitting there for a few months before it reached my pint glass. It was just a nice caramel-y amber ale by the time I got it. It was beautifully fermented though. It underlined for me that you can't just throw in some US-05 and have it turn out as smooth and well fermented as their beers are. The closest I got was when I re-pitched but I'm going to try out lower ferment temps, too.

I remember the liberty ale being a lot hoppier, too, this one was a bit on the weak side.

[196osh]

Thats uber high hopping rates. Awsome.

I would like to try that man.

[Whorst]

I was going to brew a pils this Saturday, but my good lady friend wants pale, hoppy, ale. I'm definitely going to do a pils here soon.

[bosium]

Oh alright, you talked me into it - i'll make one too..

[mysterio]

Here we go, this is mashing right now. I'm going with the recipe as posted with no dry hops.

Nice thick layer of yeast



250g Hallertau M.

[mysterio]

First wort hops



Cream ale... couldn't resist

[Barley Water]

Looks like you are having good fun there. I really wish you guys would stop posting pictures of glasses of beer, I am having a real hard time getting any work done. It's a shame that both IPAs from our side of the pond don't come off as being that hoppy. Surely, the brewers don't dumb the stuff down for the UK market, do they? I know in years past, many brews we got from Europe were not the same formulations that the locals were drinking, they were reformulated to more closely match what was preceived as the Amercian taste, maybe that same concept is now working in reverse. Of course, all this just serves to prove the point that if you want something done right, you need to do it yourself.

[mysterio]

No it's the same stuff, B.W. I think it just spends a while on the shelf/in transit. Some are fresh, some aren't.

I had to pitch this warm because I was heading out for the weekend and the ground water wasn't cold enough.... Chiller set to 10 degrees now though and it should have been down there by about 11pm last night.

[Invalid Stout]

I'm sure they don't dumb it down for the UK. I trust Sierra Nevada not to do that, but even if I didn't, they sell so little beer here that it really wouldn't be worth the effort.

[weiht]

My lager is exactly 2 weeks in the FV and is now at 1012. As this is my first time brewing a lager, what FG shld i be expecting or aiming for? Im planning for a D rest maybe on friday at 15 degrees, before racking n lagering come sunday evening.

I did a taste test, it is really gd. Im pleasantly surprised since its my first time, n im getting a nice balanced taste from the malt n hops. Its really clean n slightly dry, mouthful n taste is more on the lighter side of things but by no means a weak beer, think along the lines of san miguel or a perfect thirst quencher. But i would have prefered it to be more bitter n a little complexed, be maybe it will change its profile during the lagering process.

[mysterio]

Just whatever it ends up with, go with that. There is no answer as it depends on a million different things. Give it a taste after the d-rest and if it tastes good, lager it.

As for complexity, lager can be very complex and bitter if you want it to but that's a recipe issue. This beer had half a pound of hops in at the end of the boil, it felt like I was emptying the lawnmower of lawn clippings with the amount of greenery going in. I've been taking samples from the FV while this has been fermenting and it tastes great, and surprisingly not particularly bitter.