I know you wernt persomally attacking it......... its just you se that said so often and its plain old false!
POR's specs are no different to a good 50% of the bittering hops out there. I just think POR gets bagged out here in Aus because
1. Its used to make comercial swill that home brewers love to bag out for what ever reason.
2. Its flavour properties are different to most hops in thats earthy, not floral.
It is what it is and i can understand people not liking it as a hop in their beer and thats fine, but saying you cant use more than 20 IBU because you dont like the hop (and using harshness to explain it) is just false information, which im assuming you read somewhere too.
Moving on
The Pilsner was the one of the best beers i have made.
The hop character is more a deep background presence than an upfront hoppiness. more flavour than aroma, and it lasts longer too. Its like its imbeded in the beer and doesnt fade like late additions tend to.
Pilsner Erquelle (spelling?) aparently doesnt use any hops after 40 min (so ive heard) so that gives you an idea of its effect. Shed loads of low alpha SAAZ in the boil gives that rich, deep hop character.
You dont get the same effect with a small amount of a higher alpha hop.
My dad......... who worked for Tooheys for most of my life, loves to argue the point with me, that Becks made in Australia is as good if not better than the Becks you used to get that was imported. He is my most honest critic and always gives me a strait down the line review. He also has a fine Palate.
I handed him a glass of my pilsner and said............. this is what becks here in Austtralia should taste like.
HE commented before tasting "I recon the folks at Becks would have something to say about that"
He smiffed and went....oooooo smells great. HE drank the beer without comment, and on handing the empty glass back he gave me an aprooving nod and said "that was a fantastic beer".
I know for a fact that if he thought it wasnt as good as becks, he would have rubbed it in! So i took the quiet point for a better beer that Becks and left it at that!
Here is the recipe.
German Pils
A ProMash Recipe Report
Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (L): 54.00 Wort Size (L): 54.00
Total Grain (kg): 10.90
Anticipated OG: 1.048 Plato: 11.88
Anticipated EBC: 7.5
Anticipated IBU: 37.1
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes
Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
96.3 10.50 kg. Weyermann Pilsner Germany 1.038 4
2.8 0.30 kg. Weyermann Carahell Germany 1.035 26
0.9 0.10 kg. Weyermann Acidulated Germany 1.035 5
Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.
Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
200.00 g. Hallertauer Mittelfruh Pellet 3.70 35.9 45 min.
30.00 g. Hallertauer Mittelfruh Pellet 3.70 1.2 5 min.
Yeast
-----
S-198
52 deg protein rest for 20 min @ 2l/kg
infuse with boiling water to 65 deg for 60 min @ 3l/kg
mash out at that temp.
batch sparge with 78 deg water (71 deg in the sparge)
2 weeks at 10 deg, 2 weeks at 2 deg.
filtered, gassed and hooked in clear from the first drop
cheers