# My First All Grain



## Archie (8/5/06)

Gday Everyone, 
Well I am about to take the plunge and start my first all grain beer
preety damn excited actually haha

I have this recipe for a German Pilsner
Can anyone give me any direction on the recipe
here is what i have

Single Infusion
4.5Kg of Pilsner Grain 
with 13 litres of water for the mash tun
making 23lt of wort
Add 24g of Hallertau Hops after wort has boiled for bittering 60 minutes
Add another 24g 10 minutes before the end of boil
Add 24g of Saaz hops 1 minute before the end


Does this sound okay 
Any advice would be awesome


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## Duff (8/5/06)

All depends on the AA% of the hops Archie. With 23L of 4.5kg grain, 75% efficiency will give you around 1.045 OG. So your hop bitterness should be around 25 - 30 IBU for a German Pilsner style. If you don't have it, download the free trial version of Promash or Beersmith and plug in the numbers there to see if the bitterness balances the malt well. Hallertau and Saaz are good choices.

Cheers.


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## Archie (8/5/06)

okay i have downloaded the trial version of promash and playing with the figures now looks a little confusing at first glance might have to pick your brain haha

Cheers


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## Archie (8/5/06)

Hey Duff I just plugged the number into Promash, this is what it came up with for me,
a starting gravity of 1.052
29.2 IBU's
I'm not too sure how to set up the mash schedule though anyway looks like a great program


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## Tony (8/5/06)

hey archie.

in promash, go to the print button when your in your recipe and select the "copy to clipboard" option. unchech everything else and then do a paste into the post on here

we can all see exactly what your doing then.

im not sure if the trial versoin will let you do it. Dont stuff around, just buy the full versoin, you will never regret it.


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## Tony (8/5/06)

use the help files mate

they are east to folloow and explain EVERYTHING really well

cheers again


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## tangent (8/5/06)

Promash to me, it's like doing your tax return Archie, so you're not alone.
Looks like you need another hop addition at 30mins or more at 60. IBUs are too low. (calculating 5%aa for hallerau and 3% for Saaz)
What yeast are you planning on?
I'd almost up the pilsner to 5kg, but i like a 5% beer. Seems about spot on.


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## Archie (8/5/06)

Okay I just lashed out my 24.95 and bought a copy of promash just waiting for the email now. Thanks for the info Tangent I also like a %5 beer. 
I am planning on using a Saflager S-23 yeast 
Okay if i add another 24g of hallertau at 30 minutes this will bring my IBU up to 39.5 thats with 5kg of Grain

so i have hop addition after the wort boils then more at 30 minutes more at the 50 minutes then the finishing at 59 minutes

Sound about right??

Cheers all


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## Screwtop (8/5/06)

Would like to see your mash schedule. What is your water to grain ratio and is your mash infusion or direct heat. How much water do you need and what is your target volume into the fermenter. Don't want to scare you just save you some of the pitfalls.


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## Tony (8/5/06)

that sounds better. It should be a dryish, bitter beer but not quite as bitter as a bohemien pils.

Ide go with sonething in the line of w34/70 or WLP830 german lager over the s23. its a bit fruity.

have a look at the BJCP style guideline at http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/

its the other thing to know off by heart.

I have printed coppies of the whole thing to read over when im planning something.

here is what it says for a german pils. It doesnt give you recipe specifics, thats up to you, it just tells you what the beer should be like.

cheers

2A. German Pilsner (Pils)
Aroma: Typically features a light grainy malt character (sometimes Graham cracker-like) and distinctive flowery or spicy noble hops. Clean, no fruity esters, no diacetyl. May have an initial sulfury aroma (from water and/or yeast) and a low background note of DMS (from pils malt). 

Appearance: Straw to light gold, brilliant to very clear, with a creamy, long-lasting white head. 

Flavor: Crisp and bitter, with a dry to medium-dry finish. Moderate to moderately-low yet well attenuated maltiness, although some grainy flavors and slight malt sweetness are acceptable. Hop bitterness dominates taste and continues through the finish and lingers into the aftertaste. Hop flavor can range from low to high but should only be derived from German noble hops. Clean, no fruity esters, no diacetyl. 

Mouthfeel: Medium-light body, medium to high carbonation. 

Overall Impression: Crisp, clean, refreshing beer that prominently features noble German hop bitterness accentuated by sulfates in the water. 

History: A copy of Bohemian Pilsener adapted to brewing conditions in Germany. 

Comments: Drier and crisper than a Bohemian Pilsener with a bitterness that tends to linger more in the aftertaste due to higher attenuation and higher-sulfate water. Lighter in body and color, and with higher carbonation than a Bohemian Pilsener. Modern examples of German pilsners tend to become paler in color, drier in finish, and more bitter as you move from South to North in Germany. 

Ingredients: Pilsner malt, German hop varieties (especially noble varieties such as Hallertauer, Tettnanger and Spalt for taste and aroma), medium sulfate water, German lager yeast. 

Vital Statistics:OG FG IBUs SRM ABV 
1.044 - 1.050 1.008 - 1.013 25 - 45 2 - 5 4.4 - 5.2% 


so acording to this a 1.050 40 IBU beer brewed with a dry finishing german lager yeast and using nothing but german hops would be perfect.

Id loose the saaz and go all hallertau for something authentic for sure.

tetnanger is a great hop to try too.

cheers


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## Archie (8/5/06)

Hiya Screwtop, 
my water to grain ratio will be 2.09 litres and i will be using the single infusion method. the amount of water i need is 46.9litres my target volume in fermenter is 23 litres.

Still looking into my mash schedule?

Cheers 
Archie


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## Archie (8/5/06)

Cheers for all the info Tony a great link for beer types.
Also any help with a Mash schedule would be great I am going of another link for this its http://cruisenews.net/brewing/infusion/page1.php

Any ideas and thoughts would be awesome 
cant wait to start this on the weekend 
will be sure to let everyone know how i go

Archie


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## tangent (8/5/06)

don't get all tied up in numbers and stuff Archie
it's your first AG, use 4.5-5kg of pilsner malt, single infusion.
hop at 60, 30, 15, 5 (I'm a hophead-carpet bomb approach) and use your software to hit your ibu's target. (what's the obsession with 24gms? try 12gms at 30mins)
you might get way off your target efficiency, ibu's, volume etc, but that's why you've got to do your 1st AG. 
Forget the extra pressure of BJCP unless you're planning on putting your first AG beer in a competition. Just look at the style. Feel the force Luke. It's light, pale, a clean bitter with floral hops, a subdued yeast character and cold conditioned within an inch of it's life 
Even if it's way off, it'll ROCK compared to a can of goo and and packet of "wtf"?


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## Screwtop (9/5/06)

Seems like a lot of water Archie, would think total water for 4.5 Kg malt would be more around the 35-36L to result in 23L into the fermenter.


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## Archie (9/5/06)

Okay here is what i have come up with please feel free to pick it to pieces would love any info to help me out

Cheers

Archie All Mash Pilsner

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 23.00 Wort Size (L): 23.00
Total Grain (kg): 5.00
Anticipated OG: 1.048 Plato: 11.82
Anticipated SRM: 3.1
Anticipated IBU: 31.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
100.0 5.00 kg. Pilsener Germany 1.035 2

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
24.00 g. Hallertauer Tradition Pellet 6.00 20.6 60 min.
12.00 g. Hallertauer Tradition Pellet 6.00 5.2 30 min.
24.00 g. Hallertauer Tradition Pellet 6.00 4.1 10 min.
12.00 g. Hallertauer Tradition Pellet 6.00 1.7 5 min.


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP380 Hefeweizen IV Ale




Does it all look okay or do you think i need to bring the ibu's up


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## jayse (9/5/06)

Archie said:


> snipped>
> 
> Yeast
> -----
> ...



everything looks pretty good at first glance except for the weizen yeast.
Jayse


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## Archie (9/5/06)

Should I change this to Saflager


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## AndrewQLD (9/5/06)

yep, that's a lager recipe, not a wheat beer. Go with the saf lager 34/70(?) great lager yeast
andrew


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## Archie (9/5/06)

Cheers Guys I will adjust my recipe as needed
do you think there are enough hops in there


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## tangent (9/5/06)

it won't be REALLY hoppy but i think you'll have a very drinkable beer

edit- you'll also have a real feel for what Pilsner malt is like and what Hallertauer is like (nice choice) It's good to get a taste of each ingredient instead of stuffing everything in there and then not knowing which flavour and aroma comes from where.


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## mje1980 (9/5/06)

Might be a bit late, but try beertools.com. Its a beer program for dummies. I cant understand promash at all, too many variables. I've been using beertools for 2 years now with my all grains and love it. SOOOOOOOO easy to use.


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## Archie (9/5/06)

Thanks for all the info guys yeah a little late mje1980 but it still looks pretty good


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## Jazman (9/5/06)

i would go for about 35 ibu at least with the pils and tettnager or saaz is better as in daniels doent really think hallertua should be in a german pills


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## tangent (9/5/06)

35 would be more to style but this is a 1st AG, it'll sh!t over any tin and packet


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