# My Holy Grail Of Pilsner Recipe's



## SJW

I have been brewing for a while now and been trying to master a lot of Lager style beers with little personnel satisfaction, especially with the German ones. But thanks to AndrewQLD and Zizzles suggestions this is my standard Pilsner now. It works great for me every time. I love the 60 40 20 hop additions and the mash schedule I think is a winner and covers all bases for me. Here it is. It feels good after all these years to finally have a recipe that I can say I have got down and dusted.

#53 Boh Pilsner 
Bohemian Pilsner 

Type: All Grain
Date: 17/05/2010 
Batch Size: 25.00 L
Brewer: Stephen Wright 
Boil Size: 32.05 L Asst Brewer: 
Boil Time: 75 min Equipment: Keg 
Taste Rating(out of 50): 0.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 
Taste Notes: 

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU 
5000.00 gm Pale Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.9 EBC) Grain 95.24 % 
250.00 gm Melanoidin (Weyermann) (59.1 EBC) Grain 4.76 % 
60.00 gm Saaz [2.50 %] (60 min) Hops 15.3 IBU 
60.00 gm Saaz [2.50 %] (40 min) Hops 13.4 IBU 
60.00 gm Saaz [2.50 %] (20 min) Hops 9.3 IBU 
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc 
1 Pkgs SafLager German Lager (DCL Yeast #S-189) Yeast-Lager 

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 0.000 SG 
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: 0.000 SG 
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.71 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.00 % 
Bitterness: 38.0 IBU Calories: 0 cal/l 
Est Color: 9.8 EBC Color: Color 

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Double Infusion, Light Body Total Grain Weight: 5250.00 gm 
Sparge Water: 12.31 L Grain Temperature: 20.0 C 
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C TunTemperature: 20.0 C 
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.2 PH 

Double Infusion, Light Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 
20 min Protein Rest Add 9.00 L of water at 59.1 C 52.0 C 
30 min Saccrification Add 8.00 L of water at 78.1 C 63.0 C 
30 min Saccrification Add 8.00 L of water at 93.4 C 72.0 C


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## AndrewQLD

Glad your happy with the results, It's not an easy style to get right, hop and malt balance is the key. The S-189 yeast works really well too.

Cheers
Andrew


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## SJW

Thanks mate. The base malt changes depending on what I am using at any one time. I am drinking this at the moment made from half BB Ale and half BB Pale malt. Very nice too.

Steve


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## jimmy01

SJW said:


> Thanks mate. The base malt changes depending on what I am using at any one time. I am drinking this at the moment made from half BB Ale and half BB Pale malt. Very nice too.
> 
> Steve



Hi Steve

congrats on fine tuning your recipe. Pils is one of my favs as well. Getting great flavour but having a bit of trouble with cloudiness and sometimes head retention. I bottle not keg. I use Koppafloc , boil hard. mash pH is fine (5.2). Ferment at low temp and lager. Still have cloudy beer.

I notice that you include a protein rest. I am planning to include this for next brew. Do you find it improves clarity?

Cheers


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## SJW

A little but the biggest difference I have made to clarity was adding a teaspoon of Gelatine to the secondary. But now I keg I just ferment in primary and with the S-189 even at 12 deg C it would be done in a week so I just keg straight from the primary with the gelatine, force carb if I am in a hurry and away we go. I still find it needs a few weeks in the keg to come up to scratch but as for the protein rest it works fine for me as the water in the HLT is warming up it does not hurt to do the extra step. Its a timing thing with a HLT and stepped infusions.

Steve


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## jimmy01

SJW said:


> A little but the biggest difference I have made to clarity was adding a teaspoon of Gelatine to the secondary. But now I keg I just ferment in primary and with the S-189 even at 12 deg C it would be done in a week so I just keg straight from the primary with the gelatine, force carb if I am in a hurry and away we go. I still find it needs a few weeks in the keg to come up to scratch but as for the protein rest it works fine for me as the water in the HLT is warming up it does not hurt to do the extra step. Its a timing thing with a HLT and stepped infusions.
> 
> Steve



Thanks Steve. I havent tried a protein rest as most of the references I have read, state that it is not required with highly modified malts. I'm definitely going to give it a go next time though

I have tried gelatine without too much success. Am going to try polyclar in the batch that is currently fermenting. 

Cheers


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## Trough Lolly

Looks good Steve - have you done this recipe with Weyermann Pils malt? That S-189 is a very nice yeast, isn't it?

Cheers,
TL


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## Steve

I thought BB ale and BB pale were the same thing and that BB Galaxy is for Pilseners? :unsure: 
Cheers
Steve


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## sluggerdog

Looking good/similar SJW, 

After I just finished brewing my 18th House Lager/Pilsner the grain recipe has settled at the following (Hops change though depending on pilsner/lager):

90% Weyermann Pils
5% Wheat
5% Melanoidin 

Sometimes I exchange 10% of the Weyerman for Flaked rice and/or 20% for Galaxy Malt but other then that it doesn't change.

S-189 is a cracker too, while I love the wyeast danish lager, since trying the S-189 I haven't gone back.


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## SJW

> Looks good Steve - have you done this recipe with Weyermann Pils malt? That S-189 is a very nice yeast, isn't it?


No TL, I think my next malt buy will include a bag of either the Weyermanns Pils or the other Weyermanns Undermodified Pils. But I must say that I am very impressed with both BB Ale and Pale malts.



> I thought BB ale and BB pale was the same thing and that BB Galaxy is for Pilseners?
> Cheers


No Steve, Pilsner is a European name for Pale malt and Ale is Ale. Only slightly different specs though. Good stuff too. I will be hard pressed to justify buying Weyermann's all the time now as the price has jumped up.

Steve


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## therook

SJW said:


> No TL, I think my next malt buy will include a bag of either the Weyermanns Pils or the other Weyermanns Undermodified Pils. But I must say that I am very impressed with both BB Ale and Pale malts.
> No Steve, Pilsner is a European name for Pale malt and Ale is Ale. Only slightly different specs though. Good stuff too. I will be hard pressed to justify buying Weyermann's all the time now as the price has jumped up.
> 
> Steve




I agree with the other Steve, i'm led to believe Galaxy is there pilsner malt.....time to investigate

Rook


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## SJW

There we go, straight from Craftbrewers website.

Ale Malt (Barrett Burston)
EBC 5 - 7 (mash required): High quality Australian base malt 
for all your ales. Great flavour profile. 

Pilsner Galaxy Malt (Barrett Burston)
EBC 3 - 4 (mash required): Highly modified pale malt. Its high diastatic 
power makes it the perfect choice for beers containing adjuncts. 

Pilsner Pale Malt (Barrett Burston)
EBC 3 - 4 (mash required): Good quality Australian pilsner malt. 
Suitable for a wide range of ales & lagers.


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## warrenlw63

Steve said:


> I thought BB ale and BB pale were the same thing and that BB Galaxy is for Pilseners? :unsure:
> Cheers
> Steve



BB Pale 100% definitely a Pilsner malt. Galaxy is just a paler pils malt that can also handle a higher adjunct load. Me suspects a lot of it makes it to Asia.

Warren -


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## Trough Lolly

Steve said:


> I thought BB ale and BB pale were the same thing and that BB Galaxy is for Pilseners? :unsure:
> Cheers
> Steve



Hi Steve. I've attached two data sheets - one for BB Pale and one for BB Galaxy.
View attachment BB_Pale.pdf

View attachment Galaxy_Pale.doc


If anyone has a data sheet on "BB Ale" (Ross?) I'd love to see it - my take is that BB Pale / Ale is blended barley (Baudin and Gairdner) and are fine for either Ales or Lagers. The suggestion is that rather than selling BB Ale and BB Pilsener malt, the malt is bagged up and sold simply (more ethically as Kurtz put it) as BB Pale malt...Anyone, please feel free to correct me on this point.

Side by side, the BB Pale and Galaxy malts are very close - the only statistically significant differences is the higher Diastatic Power rating of BB Pale (327) compared to Galaxy (296) and BB Pale's Beta Glucan level (188) is substantially higher than Galaxy's (33)...

I did a batch of APA last weekend with BB Pale and to be honest the wort out of the mashtun looked very lager-like!

Cheers,
TL


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## Steve

Thanks for clearing that up guys. Sorry for the hijack SJW. TL...I know I have asked the same question on our site but kurtz's ramblins confused the crap out of me.
Cheers
Steve


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## Trough Lolly

par for course, I'm afraid!! :lol:


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## SJW

It all good mate. Thats what its all about.


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## Ross

No probs TL - BB ale malt specs here...

View attachment BB414_2024_2__2__BN2698_19.14T_Ale_Malt.doc


cheers Ross


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## Thommo

I gave this Mashing schedule a try with my Blonde Ale today, as I was looking for a cleaner and drier beer.

I found it really easy. I can see me adapting this for my Pilsners as well once I get my brew fridge up and running.

Cheers for posting this.

Thommo.


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## Zwickel

Thommo said:


> I gave this Mashing schedule a try with my Blonde Ale today, as I was looking for a cleaner and drier beer.
> 
> I found it really easy. I can see me adapting this for my Pilsners as well once I get my brew fridge up and running.
> 
> Cheers for posting this.
> 
> Thommo.


Now we are a club already  
Cheers :icon_cheers:


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## Thommo

Thanks for the warm welcome Zwickel. :beer: 

I'll probably start annoying you with PM's once I get everything sorted out for my temp control.


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## andreic

Great topic. I have boh pils down as a style I'd like to do well. My first 2 attempts were single infusions with 100% pilsener malt (JWM, then Weyermann). They were OK for my first 2 attempts... but there is a lot of improvement to go... I may just try your grain bill and mash schedule on my next one, which is due to be brewed next weekend. I will be using the whitelabs WLP802 budejovice yeast though.

cheers, Andrei


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## Zwickel

Thommo said:


> I'll probably start annoying you with PM's once I get everything sorted out for my temp control.


no worries mate, Im standby to help anyone 

@andreic, thats a beautiful yeast.....combined with fine Saazer hops...yum :wub: 

its time for a beer.....


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## blackbock

Lately I have been copying Tony's hopping schedule with the main bittering addition @ 40 mins. I was sceptical but now I am convinced that it makes a difference, especially with plugs or flowers. I read somewhere else that Urquell does their bittering addition at 40 mins also, but maybe that is a load of cr*p. I wouldn't know. Maybe someone else here knows?


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## jonw

SJW said:


> Double Infusion, Light Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp
> 20 min Protein Rest Add 9.00 L of water at 59.1 C 52.0 C
> 30 min Saccrification Add 8.00 L of water at 78.1 C 63.0 C
> 30 min Saccrification Add 8.00 L of water at 93.4 C 72.0 C



As a bit of a newbie, I'm interested in the reasoning for adding the volumes/temperatures shown above. Why not up the initial water:grain ratio, and then achieve the step temperatures by adding (smaller amounts) of boiling water?

On a slightly different note, what temperature adjustments do you make during fermentation? I'm about to pitch a WLP802 Budovice (sp?) starter - I plan to pitch at 18 degrees, let it take off, then slowly (~48 hours) reduce to 11 degrees. At the end of the primary, I'll up that to 16 degrees for a couple of days, rack to the secondary, then reduce to 1 degree to lager for as long as my patience (and current beer stocks) last.

I'll be bottling, so I imagine that, once lagering is finished, I raise the temperature to room temp, bottle, condition and store at room temp.

Cheers,

Jon


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## drsmurto

Having only done this once i use beersmith to adjust the volumes using boiling water which i add slowly and stir like a mad man. Horses for courses i reckon.

As for fermentation i make my starter at ferment temp (i used wyeast 2000 and fermented at 11C), pitch at ferment temp and leave at this temp until fermentation is complete. I then rack and lager without doing a diacetyl rest - altho ppl will argue this one.


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## tangent

> Why not up the initial water:grain ratio, and then achieve the step temperatures by adding (smaller amounts) of boiling water?
> 
> adjust the volumes using boiling water which i add slowly and stir like a mad man.



That's what I do too. Works well. Even easier if I had a stirrer like Zwickel.


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## andreic

andreic said:


> Great topic. I have boh pils down as a style I'd like to do well. My first 2 attempts were single infusions with 100% pilsener malt (JWM, then Weyermann). They were OK for my first 2 attempts... but there is a lot of improvement to go... I may just try your grain bill and mash schedule on my next one, which is due to be brewed next weekend. I will be using the whitelabs WLP802 budejovice yeast though.
> 
> cheers, Andrei



Well... some follow up.

I have made 2 Pilsner's with the mash schedule suggested. Both were OG=1.052, but FG=1.014. Does this seem ok? I was kind of hoping for a lower FG to make it a lighter beer.

The first beer is lagering away and 2nd one goes into the fridge this weekend some time for lagering. The proof will be in the drinking which is some time off yet.


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## devo

From experience I'd have to say that the recipe is a tad Melanoidin heavy because I found 2.7% overly malty. My next revision of a pilsner will be around the 1.5%.


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## andreic

devo said:


> From experience I'd have to say that the recipe is a tad Melanoidin heavy because I found 2.7% overly malty. My next revision of a pilsner will be around the 1.5%.



I'd have to concur. My 2 pilsners with a similar grain bill (ie ~5% melanoidin) were nice enough beers, but I will definitely be cutting the melanoidin down for my next crack at a bo pils. The melanoidin contributed a lot flavour wise that seemed a little over the top for me.


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## daronb

Hi, the Saaz I am using is 6% so adjusted the amounts to 30, 30 and 30grm respectively at the same boil times.

I had a very slow sparge with a lot of residual sugar near the bottom of the mashtun and that was sparging 25L. Unfortunatley smashed my hydrometer so will take a sample 12 hours after and see how it looks.

Am worried about the Melenodin comments tho. Am hoping its not too heavy on Malt driven


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## philistine

i know the last response on this thread is 2 years old now, but just thought id pitch in.
Just used your mashing schedule and was amazed by how well all the proteins and crud seemed to bind together in globs towards the end of the boil. With a bit of a stir and even after 10 mins of cooling (without chiller) the globs had already started to settle out.... WORKS A TREAT!


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## dicko

I tend to agree with the addition of Melanoiden as well.
I feel it brings too much malt to that style at 5%. I keep mine to around 1.5% or leave it out altogether.


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