Czech Pilsner extract - steeping grains

[liammiller]

I previously did some AG brews with a mash tun borrowed from a friend which I have sadly had to return. I'll be getting another one sorted at some point but in the meantime I'm going to do some extract brewing to tide me over. I am going to brew an extract czech pilsner and on top of the light DME I want to use some steeping grains.

Which grains would be good for this style and what amount of grains should I use? I'm brewing a 8L batch so am going be using 1.2kg of light DME.

Also, what is a normal value for the efficiency of steeping grains?

 

[MyQul]

When you say steeping grains I take it you mean your going use some base malt to boost/add to the ABV? Which in that case you mean you going to mash some grain rather than steep (with extract brewing you usually steep specialty malts to add to the flavours of the base malts). So you'll be doing a mini mash.
This all depends on ABV% that you want (and as you have surmised efficiency). I now mill my own but if I remember correctly pre-crushed grain usually gets you around 70%-72% efficiency. However 1.2kg of DME for an 8L brew will give you and ABV% of 5.5 so unless you particularly want a strong brew you wont need to add any grain

 

[liammiller]

My original post must not have been clear but I am intending to steep speciality grains.

Is the efficiency of steeped speciality grain of importance? I understand that steeping crystal malts will add sugars to the wort but what effect will this have on ABV?

 

[MyQul]

I've never been a extract brewer as I went straight from kits to AG, so I'm not entirely sure, but at a guess I'd say no the efficiency isn't important as you're not mashing. But as you say it may add some sugars that boost the ABV%

You OP threw me a bit as Pilsners normally dont have anything other than Pilsner malt in them

 

[liammiller]

I can't get hold of Pilsner DME or LME unfortunately so I was planning to use light DME. I might just BIAB it instead and maintain the mash temperature by sitting my little 11 litre pot in the oven at ~68c for an hour. How would I calculate my grain bill in order to hit my target OG if I plan to mash and then dilute to my desired preboil volume? I want my little pot to be as full as possible before boiling!

 

[Ciaran12s]

Brewers friend has a wort dilution calculator. Stick your numbers in there and it'll tell you how much to dilute by.

 

[Simonh82]

If you go down the extract plus steeping grains route I think Brewer's Friend suggests 35% efficiency for the steeping grains alone. As Myqal says, pilsner wouldn't really have any speciality grains in usually. Most of them are just 100% pilsner malt. Your best bet if you can't get pilsner malt is extra light DME, or light DME if that isn't available.

I think it is a tricky style to brew with extract because there is nowhere to hide flaws. It is a very simple malt/malt extract base, relatively low hops and clean lager yeast.