Brew day yesterday. A (pseudo) Czech Pilsner. For some reason my efficiency was down from 80% to 75% on this brew but that doesn’t really bother me.
I didn’t get the wort to pitching temp with the chiller though. It was taking ages because of the outside temperature (28 degrees). I’d used nearly 100 litres of water through the immersion chiller and is was still at 30 degrees so I stopped, let it settle for half and hour before transferring it to the FV and into the brew fridge set to 19 degrees. Perhaps time to consider a counter flow?! I set an alarm for two hours time thinking I’d pitch the yeast then but it was only down to 24 degrees! I eventually pitched at 19 degrees at 10.00pm.
The adjusted recipe reflecting my true BHE and OG is below.
HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Czech Pilsner
Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Czech Pale Lager
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 23 liters (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 27.3 liters
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.042
Final Gravity: 1.008
ABV (standard): 4.47%
IBU (tinseth): 30.8
SRM (morey): 2.99
Mash pH: 5.6
FERMENTABLES:
3.7 kg - Minch Malt Lager Malt (91.4%)
200 g - Munich Malt (4.9%)
150 g - Torrified Wheat (3.7%)
HOPS:
40 g - Saaz (3.5 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 4.7, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 23.38
35 g - Saaz (3.5 AA), Type: Pellet, AA: 4.7, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 7.42
MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Strike, Temp: 64 C, Time: 60 min, Amount: 17.9 L
2) Sparge, Temp: 76 C, Time: 15 min, Amount: 12.6 L
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
0.25 each - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
3 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Mash
0.5 each - Protafloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil
0.25 each - Campden Tablets, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
1 ml - Lactic acid, Time: 0 min, Type: Water Agt, Use: Sparge
YEAST:
Mangrove Jack - Californian Lager M54
Starter: No
Form: Dry
Attenuation (avg): 79.5%
Flocculation: Med-High
Optimum Temp: 17.78 - 20 C
Fermentation Temp: 19 C
TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: 75% RO
Ca2: 30
Mg2: 2
Na: 13
Cl: 20
SO4: 28
HCO3: 0.2