Classic American Pilsner

[Good Ed]

This is a very nice beer, and is a style of beer brewed pre prohibition in the USA. Aleman introduced it to me HERE :thumb: and I'm planning this for the weekend. This is the 3rd time brewing it and I can highly recommend it, a nice clean, crisp lager with some malty and corn flavour.

I'm using cornmeal, so you have to do a cereal mash, which is simply adding the cornmeal to 20% of the main malt and mashing this to rest at 65C for 15mins and then boil for 30mins before adding to the main mash.

So for 23L based on 75% efficiency on Brewmate

4378g Weyermann Premier Pilsner (76%)
1382g Cornmeal (Island Sun Coarse Cornmeal form Tesco)

18g Saaz 3.1%AA FWH
30g Cluster 7.3%AA 60mins
14g Saaz 3.1%AA 15mins

Main mash at 64C then when adding the cereal mash temp should come up to 68C where it stays for the remainder of 90mins
Boil 90mins

OG 1058; FG 1015; ABV 5.7%; EBC 6.7; IBU (Rager) 35.3

WLP833 fermented at 10C; ~500bn cells (1 vial of yeast with 2L starter, stepped up with 4.5L starter)

CaCO3 to 30ppm; Ca to 150ppm with CaCl

 

[phettebs]

Looks great Ed! This is a style I love to brew and drink. Definitely +1 to this. :thumb:

 

[RobWalker]

assuming cornmeal is the same as polenta, it might be worth a trip to a wholefoods place to pick some up. our local place sells it for pennies compared to the supermarkets! it also makes a super fast mashed potato substitute if you're short of time and want some bangers. :lol:

looks great, similar to what I usually brew for these sorts of styles to be honest. I may just take you up on this recipe...shame I just threw my cluster in the bin...

 

[Baldbrewer]

So is this kinda like a decoction then? Or just a separate partial mash added in?

 

[Good Ed]

assuming cornmeal is the same as polenta, it might be worth a trip to a wholefoods place to pick some up. our local place sells it for pennies compared to the supermarkets!

If you use polenta you definitely only want to use the unprocessed uncooked floury stuff, also if using cornmeal it has to be degermed, and some of the stuff sold in shops loose might not be. You can also use flaked maize which you can get from the MM and others. I just have used cornmeal because its handy to pick up from Tescos, they sell the Island Sun brand.

So is this kinda like a decoction then? Or just a separate partial mash added in?

Well it's not a really a decoction, if you don't do a cereal mash you get a gloopy sticky mash. Also the 30min boil breaks down the starch molecules forming long chains of amylopectin which make it accessible to mash enzymes. Historically the beer was made with 6 row malt and the reason that corn (maize) was added was to dilute the nitrogen component from the 6 row, reducing chill haze.

All this I have copied from Aleman's previous information on the style, so I take no credit for it, and hope I have it right. The recipe is certainly right as it tastes great :thumb:

 

[Good Ed]

not very inspiring, but cereal rest at 65C



cereal rest boil

 

[Good Ed]

I've got an really slow sparge going on with the cornmeal, I'm just going to have to be patient

 

[Good Ed]

hour and a half sparge and still have a poor pre boil OG, I might boil some extra time

 

[Good Ed]

Well that was a bit of a barmy one. So really slow sparge and got pre boil volume of 30.6L at 1040 (or so I thought) which was going to give me 23L at 1053 instead of 1058 as planned. So I boiled an extra 20 mins hoping to get 22L at 1058, but ended up with 21L at 1070 :shock: :shock: checked the hydrometer in water and it's fine. So a refractometer is now on my Christmas list. Anyway liquored back to 24L at 1061 and it's now in the fridge and will pitch at 10C