Recipe Help

[Gavin]

Hello All

Recently have begun home brewing, and loving it. Have brewed 4 batches so far, with the expected mixed results … well, all drinkable, two very good, the others just a little meh, ordinary.

In the long run I am planning to have a couple of reliable, tasty, our style brews to make ongoing, as our basic drinking. Then I am planning to experiment with smaller batches (Say 11 or 12 Litres or so) of a wide variety of styles, for fun and for experimentation.

I am currently an extract brewer, and will stay that way for a little while, as I learn more, and then decide on the extra equipment I will need for all grain, temperature controlled etc brewing.

We love a European style Pilsner Lager, say Czech style, think Budvar, think Pilsner Urquell, even enjoy the easy drinking of a Mythos or real Peroni.

Please advise, happy to add and use hops, dry hopping or at the start for bittering, does anyone have a recipe or recipes that would make a reliable and tasty beer of this style, that could become our ‘everyday’ beer ongoing?

Value any advice, and if too basic, understand those too busy with their own brews!

 

[bradmcm]

Do you use extract kits or do you get unhopped dry or liquid malt and boil that with hops?
Pale lagers are some of the more difficult beers to do with extract but it can be done and it can be done very well.
European lagers, especially good German and Czech lagers are more difficult due to the way they are mashed. To get some of that grainy flavour I would recommend you try a mini-mash of pilsner or vienna malt to supplement your extract.
As for hops, use German or Czech hops for bittering and flavour. No dry hopping. In fact no late hopping closer than 15 minutes before the end of the boil.
The key is a good yeast strain, a good yeast count when pitching and steady fermentation temperature. If you can't ferment at a steady 10-13C, I recommend using Novalager at up to 23C for a good lager characteristic.

 

[Drubbing]

We love a European style Pilsner Lager, say Czech style, think Budvar, think Pilsner Urquell, even enjoy the easy drinking of a Mythos or real Peroni.

Near impossible to do without temp control. Even with my efforts were pretty meh - easier to buy a 6er when you feel like one, they do it better.

Pils/lagers are fermented at 12-15C. A Coopers Cerveza or Blonde kit with the supplied yeast will give you a ok lager-ish beer.

 

[TwoCrows]

Quality yeast and hops.
Temp control using a fridge or glycol.
Pressure fermenter will help the yeast if you cannot regulate ferment temps.
Step grains to add to your malt extract.
You can buy wort ready in a cube, easy way to all grain. You could add extract and extra water to increase the finished volume or alc %.
You tube is great place to" how to do".
Brewing software, link is at the top of home page.
Search button on top of home page for 20 years of info on this site.
Brew in a bag is easy with a water urn or digiboil.

 

[golfandbrew]

+1 on the fresh wort kits over canned extract.
+1 on good yeast and lots of it for lager
+1 temp control.

 

[Gavin]

Near impossible to do without temp control. Even with my efforts were pretty meh - easier to buy a 6er when you feel like one, they do it better.

Pils/lagers are fermented at 12-15C. A Coopers Cerveza or Blonde kit with the supplied yeast will give you a ok lager-ish beer.

Thanks, but my first was brewed at 12 Degrees C.

We have an old stone building on our property, and in winter this stays inside at about 12 to maybe 14 degrees C, so in this case, it wasn't that.

Proper temperature control is on the long term plan, along with moving towards full grain brewing, but that is lots of time learning, and quite a bit more equipment!

 

[Gavin]

Do you use extract kits or do you get unhopped dry or liquid malt and boil that with hops?
Pale lagers are some of the more difficult beers to do with extract but it can be done and it can be done very well.
European lagers, especially good German and Czech lagers are more difficult due to the way they are mashed. To get some of that grainy flavour I would recommend you try a mini-mash of pilsner or vienna malt to supplement your extract.
As for hops, use German or Czech hops for bittering and flavour. No dry hopping. In fact no late hopping closer than 15 minutes before the end of the boil.
The key is a good yeast strain, a good yeast count when pitching and steady fermentation temperature. If you can't ferment at a steady 10-13C, I recommend using Novalager at up to 23C for a good lager characteristic.

Thanks for the comprehensive advice, its really appreciated.

I have tended to start with an 'extract' already produced, and perhaps hopped already. However, I will be doing partial grain steeping, and have done hops additions at ferment, and also later dry hopping.

I have used, and am happy to use, unhopped malts, both dry and liquid, as gives the best result, and am used to using Lager yeasts, say Saflager W-34/70 and others.

Am very happy to learn, experiment with grain steeping, varying types of extract, boil times, differing hops use and more to make a really reliable enjoyable Pils style.

Of course, given time, will probably move into all grain brewing, but little steps at this stage and am looking for a reliable recipe using

Extracts, dry or liquid
Malts of grains for steeping and adding
Hops use

etc.

If anyone has one, I'd really be interested!

Gavin

 

[Vini2ton]

All of the above. I've found, when bottling lagers, stash them away and don't touch for at least 3 months. It makes a big difference.

 

[golfandbrew]

Here is a recipe to try.

German-Style Pilsener​

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.055 FG = 1.012
IBU = 40 SRM = 4 ABV = 5.8%

Ingredients
7 lbs. (3.2 kg) Pilsen liquid malt extract
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) Weyermann Carafoam® malt (2 °L) (optional)
6 AAU Tettnang hops (80 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 4% alpha acids)
5.2 AAU Spalt hops (30 min.) (1.3 oz./37 g at 4% alpha acids)
2.6 AAU Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops (5 min.) (0.6 oz./17 g at 4.25% alpha acids)
White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) or Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Crush and steep the optional Carafoam® in a nylon or muslin bag for about 30 minutes in approximately 2 qts. (~2 L) of water, at roughly 160 °F (70 °C). Raise and rinse the bag with 2 cups (~0.5 L) of cold water. Do not squeeze the bag. Dissolve about 7 lbs. (3.2 kg) of liquid malt extract in the steeping liquid plus enough water to bring the OG of the mix to approximately 1.042, assuming a 1.5 gallons (5.7 L) evaporation rate during a 90-minute boil. Bring to a boil.
Boil for 90 minutes. Bitter hop at 10 minutes into the boil; flavor hop at 60 minutes; aroma hop at 85 minutes. After the boil, verify OG in kettle.

Add water if too much evaporation occurred. Chill the wort down to the top of the selected yeast’s temper-ature range. Aerate the wort thoroughly. Maintain transfer temperature until primary fermentation is vigorous. Pull temperature down slowly to the bottom of the selected yeast’s tem-perature range. Rack at terminal gravity. Reduce temperature to about 34 °F (1 °C), or lower. Lager at least eight weeks (12 weeks is better). Prime the beer with a total of 4 oz. (112 g) of corn sugar. Technically, this is the equivalent of 2.5 volumes of CO2 (5 grams of CO2 per liter), measured at 50 °F (10 °C). Then package the brew.