Style Of The Week 7/6/06 - German Pilsner

[Kai]

Out of curiosity, why do so many of the recipes here include carapils? I thought German Pils was supposed to be fairly dry.

 

[wee stu]

why do so many of the recipes here include carapils?

Magic foam bullets?

 

[Kai]

I find even just 100% pils works well enough for that... if you leave it long enough to carb up.

 

[wee stu]

I find even just 100% pils works well enough for that... if you leave it long enough to carb up.

Maybe they have been reading Miller's Continental Pilsner in the Classic Beer Style Series.

He reckons "Probably the most useful speciality malt for Pilsener(sic) beers is CaraPils ... It enhances body or "mouthfeel" of a beer and also enhances foam stability. It does not affect color (not even worth a (sic) ) or aroma"

Not a beer I brew Kai, but I am with you on this one. I reckon a pure malt bill will have the foam stability index soaring without additional help.

Mind you this is from a brewer who has difficulty raising foam on a wheat beer h34r:

 

[WillM]

Here's the last one I did, not sure how much to style it is, but it tasted great. The hopping had a nice lemony tang in the last few bottles.




Wecks
Brew Type: All Grain Date: 28/02/2006
Style: German Pilsner (Pils) Brewer: Will
Batch Size: 22.50 L Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 29.49 L Boil Time: 75 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 % Equipment: Esky - 40l Warrior Boiler
Actual Efficiency: 67.0 %


Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 kg Pilsner (Powells) (3.0 EBC) Grain 90.9 %
0.50 kg Rice, Flaked (2.0 EBC) Grain 9.1 %
12.00 gm Northern Brewer [10.00%] (60 min) Hops 13.4 IBU
20.00 gm Hallertauer, New Zealand [5.20%] (20 min) Hops 7.0 IBU
5.00 gm Hallertauer, New Zealand [5.20%] (75 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 3.3 IBU
10.00 gm Hallertauer, New Zealand [5.20%] (5 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
0.59 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Gelatin (Secondary 0.0 hours) Misc
1 Pkgs Southern German Lager (White Labs #WLP838) [Starter 600 ml] [Cultured] Yeast-Lager

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.052 SG (1.044-1.050 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.008-1.013 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Color: 6.3 EBC (3.9-9.9 EBC) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 25.0 IBU (25.0-45.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 1.5 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.0 % (4.4-5.2 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 5.0 %
Actual Calories: 468 cal/l


Mash Profile Name: 64-70 Decoction - Dry Mash Tun Weight: 2.00 kg
Mash Grain Weight: 5.50 kg Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 20.0 C Sparge Temperature: 75.0 C
Sparge Water: 18.50 L Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Low Saccharification Add 16.50 L of water at 70.8 C 64.0 C 30 min
High Saccharification Decoct 3.43 L of mash and boil it 70.0 C 60 min


Mash Notes
Lazy, single decocotion. Should give a dry Pils style

Decocotion (35 mins):
- 5 mins boil to 70C
- 10 mins rest at 70C
- 10 mins to the boil
- 10 minute boil



Notes
Apporox 5kg - used the bathroom scales to measure, so it could have been any from 4.5 - 5.5kg - experimineted with hopping schedule
Racked 13/3/6 - lagered at 0C-2C
Bottled 5/4/6

 

[Tony]

Firstly..... smashed jaffa.

You are stuck with what it says till you hit 500 posts, then you can change it.

Keep posting

My "strawberry fields" pils post was cut short by a network crash at work that happens at lunchtime every day when everyone gets on the net.

Here it the whole story.

Hops and all.

cheers

German Pils

A ProMash Recipe Report

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

Batch Size (L): 52.00 Wort Size (L): 52.00
Total Grain (kg): 10.60
Anticipated OG: 1.048 Plato: 11.80
Anticipated EBC: 6.3
Anticipated IBU: 38.1
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 75 Minutes


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
84.9 9.00 kg. JWM Export Pilsner Australia 1.037 3
5.7 0.60 kg. JWM Wheat Malt Australia 1.040 4
9.4 1.00 kg. Weyermann Vienna Germany 1.038 7

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
100.00 g. Hallertauer Tradition Pellet 4.60 27.8 First WH
40.00 g. Hallertauer Tradition Pellet 4.60 6.1 20 min.
40.00 g. Hallertau Hersbrucker Pellet 3.10 4.1 20 min.
40.00 g. Hallertau Hersbrucker Pellet 3.10 0.0 0 min.
40.00 g. Hallertauer Tradition Pellet 4.60 0.0 0 min.


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP833 German Bock

 

[timmy]

Is it just me or does anyone else have difficulty getting any malt flavour out of powells pilsner malt?
I've done a double and single decoction, single step at 66 and 68, used WLP830 and 838 and still no real Euro malt.
I'm putting it down to the malt itself.

 

[Tony]

JW pils is great. I have used Hoepfner pils and the weyermann bohemien pils (yuk) and the JW is a great product.

Try adding some munich or vienna and a decoction mash with 50, 66 and 76 deg temp steps.

Very nice.

Some people say to use melanoiden but i find it a bit "false" in flavor. You cant beat good malt decoction mashed.

cheers

 

[WillM]

I've made a lot of straight 5kg powells beers, pretty low effectiency but they ahve always tasted clean and crisp

Not a big malt taste, but subtle. Guess it comes down to personal taste

 

[Darren]

I have used Hoepfner pils and the weyermann bohemien pils (yuk) and the JW is a great product.


cheers

Hey Tony,

Why do you say that? I have a bag of it but haven't used it yet.


cheers

Darren

 

[Tony]

Well i guess i should have elaborated on that a bit more hey.

Sorry.

I made a couple of Light pils type beers with it and didnt like the results.

On the other hand i made a schwarzbier and an Ameriucan Brown Ale with it and found it was nice in the darker beer.

I think it needs a bit more time to age now that i think about it. I also made my Belgian tripple with it and its mice now that its a year old. It has won a few medals for me too.

Guess the yuk came from me thinking of using it in a pale beer but thats just me......... I dont like cascade !!!!!!

We all have different tastes.

I did find it had a brittle husk and endosperm (is that how you spell it )

It tended to smash up easilly into powder on settings that produces a perfect grist on JW and other base malts. Try running a bit through the mill forst to see if it needs opening up a tad.

cheers

 

[Darren]

Cheers,
I really can't wait to try it.

Darren

 

[Tony]

one other thing.

I found in the pale beers it gave me bad chill haze.

I never gave it a good protein rest though.

cheers and enjoy

 

[Foz]

1x DrinkArt "Original Bravarian Pilsner"

1x Kilo of Dextrose

Saf37/70?

In bottles atm (until 20th of June) but just cracked one - not much of a beer taste tester but very sweet at the minute. Still has a lot of potential! Can't wait til the two weeks (minimum) is up!

Sorry its not AG but hey, i thought i'd add it for the K&K brewers out there!

 

[Trough Lolly]

...Anyway, I was probbaly just gonna go for 95% JW pils, 5% carapils, and all hallertauer. My main question was going to be, do I HAVE to do a triple decoction (never attempted one before), or can I feasably get away with a step mash (50C-66C-75C mashout)? That said, will a single infusion at 66C be good enough with JW pils, as I am assuming it is pretty well modified. If going for a single infusion, will it be malty enough?

A single infusion mash with JW pils should be fine - that said, you can get more melanoidins and a darker lager if you do a decoction, but a triple decoction whilst making the brewday challenging and fun, is not essential!

Another question I was discussing with Chilled this arvo regards cold break. Does cold break affect the flavour of the beer at all, being as there is nowhere for bad flavours to hide? I use a CFC, and wondered if it wouldnt be smarter to chill and then leave overnight in the fridge at 8.5C, and then rack off break material into the fermenter, aerate and pitch? Or is it fine to leave the cold break in the beer and pitch straight away (I can get my CFC output down to about 8C).

Without going into total beergeek mode, I don't believe that having cold break (flocculated protein, polyphenol molecules and carbohydrates / beta glucans) is such a bad thing to have in the fermenter - proteolytic enzymes hydrolise the protein molecules into their constituent amino acids (aka Proteolysis, not to be confused with Autolysis!). Amino Acids are a major nutrient for yeast, and as we know, the key to a good lager, other than patience, is plenty of healthy, viable yeast.
So, don't sweat cold break - sure, you might get a brighter beer if you rack off the cold break, after it's settled, but I lose enough wort during transfers without leaving more wort behind in order to keep the cold break out of the fermenter. And the longer you leave your wort to chill down, before racking off the cold break, the greater the risk of bacterial infection whilst the wort is in such a particularly vulnerable state.

EDIT - As far as diacetyl rest goes, if I raise it to ambient when it is 3/4 attenuated, and leave it for 2-3 days, will that be enough? And do I even NEED a diacetyl rest if I start and keep my ferment and 8-9C?

This very issue was the subject of some discussion on an earlier thread - here...
Cheers,
TL

 

[AndrewQLD]

I'll throw my recipe in, all Powells malt with a touch of Powells caramalt to up the maltiness a bit. I find withh all the hops and using just <100% pilsner malt I don't need any carapils to give foam stability, I get heaps of foam as it is.

Cheers
Andrew

Style: German Pilsner (Pils)
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Boil Size: 29.95 L
Estimated OG: 1.049 SG
Estimated Color: 7.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 39.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 kg Pilsner Malt Powells (3.0 EBC) Grain 95.2 %
0.25 kg Caramalt Powells (30.0 EBC) Grain 4.8 %
40.00 gm Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00%] (60 min) Hops 17.8 IBU
25.00 gm Hallertauer [5.80%] (60 min) Hops 14.6 IBU
30.00 gm Tettnang [4.50%] (15 min) Hops 7.5 IBU
15.00 gm Tettnang [4.50%] (5 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)Hops -
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124) [StarterYeast-Lager


Mash Schedule: Batch Sparge light body
Total Grain Weight: 5.25 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 13.12 L of water at 76.0 C 67.0 C 60 min

 

[sluggerdog]

Probably the style I brew most so I'll add my 2 cents in.

I When I first started brewing german pils brews I was using JW malts so my grain was very simple either 100% pilsner malt or 95% pilsner malt and 5% carapils.

Now for the last year I suppose I have been using powells and I find it lacks the malty flavour of JW (having never used Hoepfner or weyermann but I would guess these would be even better).

Anyway my basic recipe using powells is:

80% Powells Pilsner
15% Powells Vienna or Munich (whatever I have on hand at the time)
5% JW Carapils

Hops

Either Tettang or Halleratu (both from germany only)
IBU to 30 with only 2 additions, the second at 15 mins left
being only 15 grams the rest at 60 mins to make up the 30 IBU brew.

Yeast

I find danish lager best or budvar is also good.

Usually ferment at around 10C for 7 days, rest for 3 days at 18C, into a cube for 2 weeks, after 1 week in the cube I add gelatine, at the end of 2 weeks, into a keg gas and try, normally I need to leave the keg in the fridge for a few more weeks to crisp up but sometimes I feel it's really not needed.

Pretty simple and works for me, I'd brew this style probably atleast once a month, I like to always have 1 keg of this on tap at all times as my non homebrew mates will drink it.

 

[tangent]

great thread guys - these style threads are a good way of getting an overall feel and tips for the style.
i'm in relatively new territory with this being my 1st winter having a decent go at lagers.
Not really my favourite style but it's a new challenge and a heap more to learn.
I've been spoiled by using Weyermann Pils and Bo-Pils as my first try with Pilsner malts. I'm getting a great malty flavour (as much as I'd need for the style). If you want more, go the Vienna. It's a fantastic smelling malt. Maybe wait for the Oktoberfest thread on that one.
I should add that grinding the grain just before dough-in keeps my mash smelling really good. I don't know what it'd be like brewing this style of beer without the fresh crush.

cheers

 

[WillM]

It's certainly my favourite style. Really simple pils malt with Hallertau flavour. I think of it like a good Becks, with a bit more hops. I haven't been fortunate enough to try better examples.

Will

 

[timmy]

As I said with the Powell's, I could never get the same malt flavour i did with the JW. I didn't elaborate on any rercipes but they all contained either light munich or melanoiden or both.

I have a nice big sack of Weyermann pils which I'll be doing 100% with the hallertau and tettnang from the bulk buy to 30IBU.