Pilsner Help Please

[Maltster]

Hey Folks.

I'm new to this game, I have my first all grain fermenting (IPA:smells ok but OÄž a little low).

So my wife says she'll give it a go if I can make a Pilsner.
I have bought:

Pilsner Malt
Flaked barley
Hersbrucker Hops as they had no Saaz.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a simple recipe please?

 

[MyQul]

Before we get onto reciepe's, quick couple of Q's.

1) Have you got a brew/lagering fridge? Lager's ideally need to be fermented at about 12C then conditioned at 3C for 4-6 weeks

2) What's your tap water like, hard or soft as Pilsners normally (not always though) use soft water.

As a new AG brewer I'm guessing you haven't got a brewfridge so I would suggest you do a pseudo lager. Coicidently enough I made my first one today.

For yeast I would suggest you either use nottingham yeast (which you can get at wilko under the name of gervin ale yeast) and ferment as cool as your able too or Magrove Jacks Calafornian Lager yeast which is a lager yeast that can be fermented at ale temps. For conditioning, after leaving the bottles at room temp to carb up for a couple of weeks, use your domestic fridge (as your missus seems to be quite receptive to you brewing) and 'batch lager' for two weeks at a time i.e put as many in the fridge as the misuss will let you (but not in the door though as you'll disturb the sediment every time you open and close the door, which defeat's one of the objects of lagering) and leave them there for at least 2 weeks. Drink the first lot then put another lot in there for two weeks.

If you haven't got soft water then use Asda Eden Falls or there's on from waitrose that is soft too but I'm not sure of the name

 

[GlentoranMark]

As someone pointed out to me on my thread, the temperature is to stay low for foreseeable future (10 days). On my weather app, it's to get no higher than 10 degrees for the next 10 days without freezing so I think you'll be OK if you cover it and insulate slightly.

I had created a simple SMASH.

4kg Pilsner Malt

60g Saaz 60 minutes
10g Saaz 10 min
10g Saaz 1 min

20L batch. I use the Wort App for Android to create. Substitute your Hops for Saaz but be careful to change the alphas of whatever your using.

 

[mike77]

As mentioned don't try to use a typical lager yeast at room temperature.

Wyeast 2112 Californian Lager is another option for room temperature lager fermenting. Works between 14c to 20c. Technically it would be a steam beer. I've used it a few times with good results.

 

[mike77]

What AA% (alpha acids) have the hersbrucker hops got?

Checking the style guides you should be looking to bitter a pilsner between 30 to 45 IBUs. Your hops look to be very low alpha acid which means you would need to use a lot to get the desired bittering level. You would perhaps be best using them in combination with a dedicated bittering hop such as magnum which will have much higher alpha acids.

Basically you could use a much smaller amount of magnum to bitter your beer at the 60 minute boil then start start adding the hersbrucker hops later into the boil to provide flavour and aroma.

 

[Maltster]

Thanks very much guys.

I have a basement that may be just below 10 degrees. I also have a spare fridge down there!
We have hard water but would this make much difference?
Acid Alphas are 2.2. I also have some Goldings and Fuggles in the freezer.
I have Gervin yeast.
I only have 1kg of grain so only a smaller batch.

As I'm pretty new to this I think I might just give it a go.
Last questions, how much can I make do you think with 1kg of grain?
How much flaked barley should I use?
Do I need to add brewing sugar?
Mash temperature?

Should I buy a book? Answer is yes ha!

 

[Maltster]

And.... If 1 kg isn't enough for 2 gallons, can I use some pale malt?
PS I just amazoned and got the Greg Hughes book.

 

[mike77]

Very rough guess is that you'll want about 2.3 kg to hit around 5% (depending on efficiency). Assuming 2 gallons = 9 L.

Personally I would be fine with mixing pilsner and pale malt especially as you are not following a recipe.

If you google IBU calculator use that to help build your recipe. Start with an OG of 1.050 and 9L batch size. You could use whatever is the highest alpha acid hops you have at hand for a 60 min boil additon aiming for say 30 IBUs then add hersbrucker at 15, 10, 5 and zero min additions perhaps aiming for another 5 or so IBUs.

 

[Twostage]

Thanks very much guys.

I have a basement that may be just below 10 degrees. I also have a spare fridge down there!
We have hard water but would this make much difference?
Acid Alphas are 2.2. I also have some Goldings and Fuggles in the freezer.
I have Gervin yeast.
I only have 1kg of grain so only a smaller batch.

As I'm pretty new to this I think I might just give it a go.
Last questions, how much can I make do you think with 1kg of grain?
How much flaked barley should I use?
Do I need to add brewing sugar?
Mash temperature?

Should I buy a book? Answer is yes ha!

1kg of grain on its own will give you about 4% abv on its own in a 5 litre batch. Flaked barley you can use upto 50% but I'd keep it lower than that.
Mash low, 65-66 as you are not looking for lots of unfermentables, lager tends to be 'thin'.

Hard water is not ideal for a lager, if you can be bothered go and get some supermarket bottled water which is soft. I swear by Lidl bottled water, its very soft and 17p for 2 litres.

Get more than one book :-)

 

[mike77]

http://www.brewersfriend.com/ibu-calculator/

Here is the IBU calculator I use

 

[mike77]

Just checked. Goldings and fuggles are both low AA hops. Consider buying a dedicated bittering hop. I use magnum hops pretty much exclusively for my bittering charge as it's relativly high AA and produces smooth bittering that is not harsh. You'll only need a small amount so you could keep the rest in the freezer. Over a number of brews 100g of magnum will save you 100s of grams of other low AA hops and litres of beer that will be lost in the soaked up in the waste hops.

 

[Maltster]

Ok, I'm brewing:

1kg Pilsner Malt
1kg Pale Malt
250g Flaked barley

24g at 60
6g at 30
4g at 15
2g at 0.

I'll ferment as close to 10degress as I can and then refrigerate. In 4 weeks I guess I'll have some sort of hybrid. Maltsters Mixed Up Lager Hybrid!

Ian

 

[Twostage]

Ok, I'm brewing:

1kg Pilsner Malt
1kg Pale Malt
250g Flaked barley

24g at 60
6g at 30
4g at 15
2g at 0.

I'll ferment as close to 10degress as I can and then refrigerate. In 4 weeks I guess I'll have some sort of hybrid. Maltsters Mixed Up Lager Hybrid!

Ian

Gervin isn't going to ferment that cold. It will need to be at least 17.

 

[MyQul]

If your fermenting at 10C you'll be fine using a true lager yeast. You'll need to bring it up to 18C-20C for two days before you start to lager/cold condition

Couple of points:
-If your conditioning at 10C you'll need twic as much yeast (two packets of dried)
- At 10C things (yeast metabolism happens much more slowly so I doubt you'll be done in 4 weeks. You'll need 3 weeks or so for fermentation then some conditioning time. Even regular ales need at least two weeks conditioning. So if your going to batch lager in the fridge you'll need a minimum of two weeks. So at the minimum you'll need 5 weeks.

 

[Maltster]

Hi and Thanks.

So can you confirm that the gervin yeast won't work at 10 degrees?

I only have about 7-8 litres and used the whole sachet so hopefully will be OK at 17.

 

[Twostage]

If it works it will be very slow, taking weeks rather than days as alluded to by MyQul

 

[Leon103]

Now that I have a brew fridge my next brew is going to be a Pilsner. Doing a bohemian Pilsner with true bohemian Pilsner yeast so a low temperature fermentation.

My question is after fermention do I leave in the fv and drop the temperature right down for a few weeks or do I bottle then lager?

 

[Maltster]

I'll keep it inside and then refrigerate for a few weeks. Wont be a true lager but shouldn't be too hoppy so my wife may still drink it. At least it will still be beer!

Cheers for your help.
I'll be able to fire into my IPA while I wait for it!

 

[Leon103]

Now that I have a brew fridge my next brew is going to be a Pilsner. Doing a bohemian Pilsner with true bohemian Pilsner yeast so a low temperature fermentation.

My question is after fermention do I leave in the fv and drop the temperature right down for a few weeks or do I bottle then lager?

Anyone????

 

[Twostage]

Anyone????

My general process is ferment, ramp the temp up for a diacetyl rest (this stage is quicker at higher temps and as fermentation is over there is no risk of off flavours), then cold crash to 3c for at least a few days (the longer the clearer it will be), then bottle and let it carbonate warm. Then back down to 3 or less for a few weeks.