My first Pilsner

[Lennart]

Hi guys,

I'm know roughly 2 months in the brewing. It's an exciting hobby. I started with Extract Brewing (2 batches in total) and went then over to the Brew-In-A-Bag Method. The next step is obviously the All-Grain Method.
A few weeks back I came up with a Pilsner recipe which I want to share with you guys and possible to get some feedback.
I already brewed a half batch of it - I should've gone for a full one tbh - which is currently in the lagering process.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/557023/lennart-s-pilsner

What do you guys think? It smells amazing, but I haven't tried it yet. The Amarillo Hops are bringing in a nice fruity/bloomy/floral smell and hopefully flavor to it. I know that they are not typical for a Pilsner, but I my plan was to give the Pilsner a nice IPAish twist.

I'm looking forward to your feedback.

Cheers,
Lennart

 

[GFHomebrew]

Hi guys,

I'm know roughly 2 months in the brewing. It's an exciting hobby. I started with Extract Brewing (2 batches in total) and went then over to the Brew-In-A-Bag Method. The next step is obviously the All-Grain Method.
A few weeks back I came up with a Pilsner recipe which I want to share with you guys and possible to get some feedback.
I already brewed a half batch of it - I should've gone for a full one tbh - which is currently in the lagering process.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/557023/lennart-s-pilsner

What do you guys think? It smells amazing, but I haven't tried it yet. The Amarillo Hops are bringing in a nice fruity/bloomy/floral smell and hopefully flavor to it. I know that they are not typical for a Pilsner, but I my plan was to give the Pilsner a nice IPAish twist.

I'm looking forward to your feedback.

Cheers,
Lennart

I bet it smells amazing. The grist looks good to me except the rice hulls . If you BIAB ya don't need em because the bag is your filter the grainbed not so much. The hops ain't too far of Pilsen style I use sazz as my go to hop for Pilsner I've tried Tettnan in Marzen style I found it more spicey than floral I'm sure the floral is coming from the sazz hops and probably Amarillo now that hops is probably more less traditional but then again I don't think your going the traditional route here.

I'd brew it! You'll sure get some good strong bitterness at 40Ibu and plenty floral flavour maybe some citrus there too. Another Brewer on here @CRUNK is trying out some IPL's ATM too he might have some constructive inPut. Enjoy your brewing

 

[Lennart]

I bet it smells amazing. The grist looks good to me except the rice hulls . If you BIAB ya don't need em because the bag is your filter the grainbed not so much.

Thanks, I originally planed to brew it All-Grain, but then I went BIAB first to save some money, as I don't have all the equipment yet.

The hops ain't too far of Pilsen style I use sazz as my go to hop for Pilsner I've tried Tettnan in Marzen style I found it more spicey than floral I'm sure the floral is coming from the sazz hops and probably Amarillo now that hops is probably more less traditional but then again I don't think your going the traditional route here.

Yes, I'm originally from Germany, so I had plenty of traditional Pilsner in my life and wanted to try something different.

 

[CRUNK]

Being that you're from Germany and you have tasted many German lagers it would be tough for me to give you a German lager recipe that's going to impress you

I currently am working on an IPL which I made from my house helles recipe I myself am not running 40 ibus mine are more around 30 ibus for my IPL my normal helles and Oktoberfest are roughly around 23 to 24 ibus

I was stationed in Germany for several years with the military and I loved the German beer specifically stuttgarter Hofbrau however I have not been able to duplicate that particular beer but I'm very very close and it really comes down to the type of grain that you use I recommend using barke malts for any German beer that you make. I would give my right arm to have a rack of Stuttgart or Hofbrau so that I can refresh my memory of the exact flavors and I believe at that point I could duplicate it or get it so close that it wouldn't matter

I have also gotten so detailed and driven to make authentic German lager that I even use sauergut as biological acidification and the beers that I currently make are reinheitsgebot compliant.

My best advice to you is to determine what flavor you want from your beer what aromatic notes you expect to pick up from your beer then build your recipe with those in mind as a Target finish the beer and give it the sensory analysis taste and smell and then adjust your recipes based upon your analysis and personal preference

I am more than happy to help you build those recipes if that's what you're looking for and give you my opinion but it sounds like you have it pretty well underway

I know a lot of people have seen this picture already but I'm going to give you some beer porn this is my house helles

 

[CRUNK]

I looked over the recipe you have my recommendation would be to drop the rice holes and the carapils replace both of them with carahell.

the yeast should be fine, on my pilsner I prefer to use 34/70, but that's just my own personal preference plus I've been farming it and I have ungodly amounts of 34/70, I started with a sample that was shipped to me from the hefebank in Germany so I have the original strain from weihenstephan, it cost me a good chunk of change but it was well worth it.

 

[CRUNK]

As for hops I pretty much stick to the German Noble Hops I use a lot of German Magnum hallertau mittlefruh, but those are typical for authentic German lagers which you're not targeting so I don't really have advice in that Department that's really determined by your preference.

 

[thunderwagn]

I can't help much in the pils department, but will say BIAB is all grain brewing so you're there already! If it works for you, there's no need to change really. About the only reason I changed from BIAB is because I got tired of hoisting a hot, heavy, and sometimes sticky and messy grain bag.

 

[BoomerBrian]

I can't help much in the pils department, but will say BIAB is all grain brewing so you're there already! If it works for you, there's no need to change really. About the only reason I changed from BIAB is because I got tired of hoisting a hot, heavy, and sometimes sticky and messy grain bag.

This is spot on. BIAB is all grain. I wouldn't change unless you had a good reason.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Ya cant get more grain than all grain.

 

[J A]

he next step is obviously the All-Grain Method.

Only difference in BIAB and all-grain is in the methodology and equipment. Traditional all-grain set up will involve a mash tun with false bottom to facilitate the capability of sparging other than by dunking. I use a converted brew pot as a recirculating mash tun equipped with a false bottom, but I still use a bag in it. That way I get the best of both worlds...I can lift the bag to relieve a stuck sparge when needed but when I go to the mash-out and a (relatively) slow fly sparge, I get a nice settled grain bed to clear the wort. When it's all drained through I can lift the bag out of the tun and squeeze the crap out of it and get another couple quarts of high-gravity wort to add to the kettle.

 

[Lennart]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I actually though there is much more of a difference in the end result between BIAB and Mashing etc.

I looked over the recipe you have my recommendation would be to drop the rice holes and the carapils replace both of them with carahell.

Yeah, I think dropping the Rice Hulls is a good idea. Thanks for the idea with the Carahell.
Is there any notable taste difference between the Pilsner Base Malt I've used and the Bohemian Pilsner Base Malt?

 

[GFHomebrew]

pilsners I've done have been with bohemian floor malted Pilsner malt from weyermann Its a little less modified so suits a step mash and or a decoction style mash. It's a very flavourful malt I've even got some honey type notes from it. I don't add any specialty malts just the bo pils. Step mash it favour of course the beta amelase range and you'll have yourself I nice rich traditional style Pilsner. I've tried the weinstephan Pil and I'm almost 100 % they use nothing more than bohimian pils and Sazz. Keep those yeasts happy and that water profile crisp (sulphate) and you'll have a great beer.

 

[CRUNK]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I actually though there is much more of a difference in the end result between BIAB and Mashing etc.



Yeah, I think dropping the Rice Hulls is a good idea. Thanks for the idea with the Carahell.
Is there any notable taste difference between the Pilsner Base Malt I've used and the Bohemian Pilsner Base Malt?

If your looking to make an ipl from a traditional German lager, I would use barke pilsner. As trialben mentioned floor malted is a better malt for decoction I perform a step mash and I found barke is the best. I just taste tested my latest ipl this afternoon, I can tell you, I'll be surprised if it lasts another 2 weeks. But it could use more hops, as it is more on the side of a pilsner as opposed to an ipl I'm going 35 ibus next time.