Experiences with Premium Pilsner

[Glynn Foster]

So, quick query. The last batch I brewed was a SMASH

5kg Weyermann Premium Pilsner
20g Amarillo @ 60
20g Amarillo @ 30
50g Amarillo @ 0
S-23

Mashed in at 64C, boiled for 60-90mins, kept fermentation temps low and lagered for 4 weeks. Unfortunately my records for the OG and FG are lost, but seem to recall OG being 1.050+

What I got was pretty bland. Even the hop bitterness or aroma didn't come through and I'm quite disappointed - I wonder if the fermentation wasn't finished though it got at least 10 days? I've not used pilsner malt before, so perhaps isn't so good on its own, and curious to hear what the typical uses for the malt should be. Suggestions?

[Simon David kelly]

The following would do a nice Pils.

For 20lt batch.

Mash 4.4kg Premium Pilsner aim to get 22.5lt wort (I loose 2 on the boil and 1/2 at the bottom of the boil pot)

30g Amarillo @ 60mins
20g Amarillo @ 20mins
50g Amarillo @ heat off

For a little extra nose, I'd rack to secondary fermentation after 5 - 7 days on to an extra 20g Amarillo.

Bottle at 1.013, with 300 - 350 grams priming sugar

2 weeks @ 20 °C,
6 plus weeks at 0 - 2 °C.

[James P]

300 - 350 grams priming sugar... dextrose, table sugar or dried malt extract?

That seems a lot of dextrose, probably 120 ~ 170 grams more than recommended for 2.9 volumes of CO2.

I mash in 5 kg of Pils with Riwaka at the same additions and get a beautiful pils/lager after 3 weeks @ 12C and 4 weeks a 0-2C. I kegged the last couple though...

[JackoNZ]

Good to know James, that's my next recipe planned too, 5kg pils + Riwaka Hops. What temp are you mashing at? I was gonna go 90mins at 64.

[James P]

Hey JackoNZ, my normal pilsner mashing is 50C for 30, 65~66C for 40, 75C for 10. Granted it is not as light as it should be, but I do like it!

I have also tried a single infusion @ 65C for 60 which was nice using US05 fermented at 16C, the hops were probably a little more pronounced in the ale.

[Simon David kelly]

You're right, got the calculation a little bit wrong there.

Think I've managed to double the number somewhere.

[Glynn Foster]

I had wondered if that was the case, thanks for the tip crabbey. Had wondered if the residual sweetness (and it's not much at all) was basically overpowering the hops, but now that you mention it, there's not a lot of body about this beer either. I've mashed at 67 or so for pretty much all of the rest of my beers and they've turned out relatively ok.

[Brendon]

Being a fan of drier beers I would encourage you to keep that low mash temp but each to their own (although 64 degrees is probably only just in the saccharification range). You might want to consider addition of gypsum to help accentuate the bitterness. The lack of hop flavour and aroma is puzzling though.... that's a decent enough addition for that style of beer! The only thing I can think of is that S23 might be good at scrubbing out the hop flavour/aroma.
Wellington tap water is on the soft side so consider making come salt adjustments.

[JoKing]

I'd tend to agree here - and after reading your thread, I think you might still need a little bit of closure.

s-23 is crap. It makes beer - but thats about it. I would do this recipe again with a single infusion at 65 degrees and use some bohemian pilsner yeast from your friendly LHBS

Remember that pitching the correct amount of yeast is so important with Pilsners so check out the Mr Malty website, and make a suitable size starter that suits your system. Things that make life easy in this department are things like Coopers Lager kits and 10L Jerry Cans - especially if you dont have a stirplate.

I can say that WyEast 2124 is one of the most reliable Lager strains you can get your mits on. It doesn't alter your hop profile too much, and the attenuative properties leave the beer with some great malt flavours.

Don't let shit yeast strains put you off brewing great beers.

If you dont have any Amarillo left over, I might be able to spare a wee bit from my nuclear bunker full of hops.

Cheers.

[Glynn Foster]

I don't think incorrect rates of yeast were the problem, as I pitched with a pretty healthy yeast starter (which is now my default method), but you could be correct with S-23. I'm just about weened off using dried yeast, and starting to build up a bank of resources from Tony's mail order. Next time I try brewing this, will make sure to match with a good yeast.

Not sure I want to start playing with water properties just yet Brendon, but thanks for the tip. Stu, given you're in my area, have you done any analysis of the water this side of the city?

[Glynn Foster]

BTW, does anyone have an update on what quanties of hops MAF will let into the country. Have another trip to the US next month, and pondering bringing some hops home.

[JoKing]

You can bring back as much as you can afford mate! It pays to keep the quantity down to a dollar value less than the minimum taxable amount though. 3 - 5 kgs should serve you about right.

[Mike Neilson]

About half your airline luggage limit and the other half of the luggage limit should be used for bringing back hard to source US beers.