Next brew: Pilsner

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

@BackOffMyBrew Welcome

[BackOffMyBrew Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BackOffMyBrew]

Plenty of people around from all over. You left AVF?

So to speak . I was co-founder but subsequently banned for over-criticizing fellow admins lol.

- - - Updated - - -

@BackOffMyBrew Welcome

Thankyouverymuch!

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

Alright, so last night this thing was STILL going. Slowing down drastically thought and I'll check on it a bit during the day, and then see where it's at. I would ideally want to bottle this weekend, because I want to work in a next batch (Vienna lager, on the yeast cake).

It's smelling fantastic though. The krauzen is now breaking down and subsiding. It had this thick, rich, creamy krauzen on top for more than a week. I pitched the yeast I think on the 23rd, so today is something like Day 11 which you guys can imagine is hard for me. I think it's going to be worth it though. This smells like a really clean beer. I have refrained from tasting it too much (apart from once, about halfway through) but what I'm getting from the airlock's exit end is very positive. I can't wait for this one...

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

Just to update this thread for myself as well, this brew is going well. Fermentation is done and I'll do a gravity reading sometime over the coming weekend. Colour seems a TAD darker than I expected it'll be, but I'm happy with that. Krauzen has completely dropped and I fined it with gelatin on Friday afternoon. It's clearing up well and I'm keeping it as close to 1°C as possible. During the cold crash the airlock actually froze up, so that's a funny thing.

[Dewald Posthumus Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dewald Posthumus]

That is good to hear, I am also brewing a pilsner this weekend, so keeping a good eye on this thread.

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

From what I've read up about Pilsners, I've learned it's a "sensitive" beer. It's very quick to point out issues and there's literally nothing to hide behind. I would recommend the following:

1. Pay close attention to your grain bill. I added a little bit of CaraMunich I for a tiny bit of colour (I think it was 4.3%) and I'm really happy that I did that. The beer otherwise I believe would have been maybe a bit TOO "light" for my tastes.

2. Mash low. As I have it, a Pils should be quite dry when done, and you're only going to get this with a good mash temp. I calculated my strike temp and actually measured the grain temp as well and managed to nail my 62°C mash temp perfectly (after doughing in my temperature was 62.4° and it dropped to 62°C in about 15 minutes, where it stayed for the rest of the mash). I also sparged lower than I usually do to get the most wort and it worked like a charm. Also sparged a bit longer, and overshot my gravity, but that turned out fine (I diluted the wort in fermenter).

3. Use the right hops. Seriously. I've been using "whatever I have around" hops for bittering additions on all kinds of beers over the past year or so. That included Vienna lagers, a light IPA I made, stouts, etc. etc. It worked fine, because with a 60 minute boil most of the hop aroma and flavour is gone and only bitterness remains. So for this I did the same. I added Admiral hops (because I have it and I wanted to finish it off) for 60 mins and Saaz for the flavour/aroma addition at 5 mins. I didn't expect the Admiral to show, but I think because it's such a transparent beer, I can actually pick it up in the current beer. I expect it'll subside a bit in the carbonated/bottled/chilled beer in the end, like all my other Admiral beers have, but I was very surprised to taste 12g of Admiral at 60 mins between a 18g Saaz at 5 mins addition. It's subtle, but it's there.

So what I would have done differently in this beer:

1. I would have used different bittering hops. Definitely.
2. I would let it properly lager for a bit. I'm not going to lager this one, because I'm out of beer and that's not good. I'm going to make another one though, and that one I'm planning on making a bit stronger (closer to 5.5% ABV) and after ferment I want to cube it and place it in the bottom of the fridge and forget about it for a month or three. Do a true Pilsner.

Otherwise, it's a great beer. I wouldn't recommend it for a newbie, but if you've done a brew or three, yeah, sure, go for it! It's been my most rewarding brew to date, and it's not even done yet.

[Dewald Posthumus Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dewald Posthumus]

Thanks for the info, I will be sure to mash low.

I am using African Queen as my hops as I prefer to use only SA hops in my beers - something of a 'why not use local hops only' approach.

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

Thanks for the info, I will be sure to mash low.

I am using African Queen as my hops as I prefer to use only SA hops in my beers - something of a 'why not use local hops only' approach.

To fruity for a Pilsner i would think ?

[BeerHolic Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BeerHolic]

Thanks for the info, I will be sure to mash low.

I am using African Queen as my hops as I prefer to use only SA hops in my beers - something of a 'why not use local hops only' approach.

Agree with JIGSAW, if using SA hops in my opinion use Southern Aroma.

[Dewald Posthumus Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dewald Posthumus]

Thanks guys, will revert to Southern Aroma.

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

Bottled my Pils over the weekend. Beer fermented down to 1.009 which is exactly where I wanted it when I mashed low. Puts it at a very nice 4.9% ABV in the bottle.

On to the beer itself. Colour is a rich golden colour. A little bit darker than I expected it would turn out, but that's great. I did fine it with gelatin and left it ice cold for 9 days, but for some reason it still came out quite cloudy. It'll clear up in the bottle I know, but it was just interesting to see.

On to the flavour. It's great. Possibly one of the easiest drinking beers I've made to date. However, I'm not 100% sure that I'm totally sold on the Saaz hop thing. It's quite herbal and earthy. I did the bittering with Admiral which worked great (bitterness is smooth and spot on, if you ask me), and then added a bunch of Saaz at 5mins. If you ask me, the Saaz shines and hits you pretty up front. However, like I said, I'm not 100% sure it's "my thing", so to speak. Maybe it's the winter talking, but I like a more floral note, and less earthy. I'll see how it tastes in a few weeks.

On the yeast cake itself, I swirled the fermenter properly to dissolve the yeast cake, and then dumped half of it into a mason jar, sealed it and stuck it in the fridge. The other half I left in the fermenter and dumped in a cube of Vienna lager I made on Saturday. My current process is damn efficient, and I hit an 88% efficiency again resulting in a 1.052 OG for this brew. Now, usually I would water down the brew to hit my desired OG (usually around the 1.046 mark), but this time I decided to let it be. Hoping for a beer over 5% ABV this time, just because I don't think I've done it before.

[JIGSAW Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JIGSAW]

+1 I dont like Saaz as a late addition hop. For Pilsners/Lagers I use it as a bittering hop with zero other hop additions for the rest of the boil.

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

Yeah I bought a 50g packet of Saaz, and made 3 beers with it. Two pilsners, one for me and one for a friend, and also the Vienna lager I dumped on the yeast cake yesterday. I think perhaps the pilsner was maybe a bit light for the Saaz, but I hope the Vienna malt will cover up a little bit of the earthy notes.

I want to look into the sweeter hops sometime. Maybe something like Golding. Want to see how that'll turn out in a beer. I need to experiment more, it's fun!

[Toxxyc Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Toxxyc]

OK so you know how I said I am not a fan of Saaz? I retract that statement. Over the weekend I opened one of these brews. Obviously still a bit low on the carbonation as it's only a week old, but I couldn't wait. Poured, sipped, and I didn't even a get pic. Beer is clearing up nicely already, so I'm super excited. Anyway, the beer...

I gave one to my father in law. He loved it. One to his wife, and she loved it. Then I gave one to a buddy and he loved it. And then I kinda proceeded to kill 12 of them over the course of the weekend. 1/4 of my stock gone, just like that. I'm going to force myself to leave the rest alone for a while to see how they clear up and carbonate.

The beer is GREAT. It still tastes quite "green", as can be expected, and I don't mind the resinous note from the Admiral hops at all. I'll do it with Admiral again, it WORKS with the Saaz. There is very little to no malt sweetness, yet the beer isn't anywhere as crisp or dry as I expected it would be. I'm guessing it's either hiding behind the strong Saaz flavour, or it still has to come with age.

The main point though is the Saaz. It's Saaz from the first sip all the way to the finish. It smelled weird in the packet, weird in the fermenter and the tasters during fermentation made it taste "different" to how it does now. It's a nice beer. Super glad I didn't stick up the IBUs like I planned to though. I'm starting to like the lower IBU beers with more hop flavour and aroma.

Also, this recipe gave me some serious first-hand insight into how the malt and hops play together in a light coloured beer with little to hide behind. It's made me determined to find a nice hop profile that'll rival the commercial giants, because that's what it seems the beer comes down to. Not the grain bill all that much, not the IBUs, not the colour, but it looks to me like the finishing hops is where it's made.

[Dewald Posthumus Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dewald Posthumus]

Aha, I too suffer from 'last 6 beers' syndrome....I start drinking the beers way before they are ready and when I'm down to the last 6, they taste amazing! I bottled an Amber Ale on Tuesday and started drinking them on Friday..

Exactly the reason why I doubled my brewing capacity to 42 liter batches.