Recipe check - German Pilsner

[Blinky]

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/629755/czech-pilsner

How does the above recipe look? Am following a recipe from Greg Hughes book but dont want to use liquid yeast due to the cost! Will use 2 packs of the dry yeast though

 

[jceg316]

I think it looks like a solid recipe. Depending how stylistically correct you want to be, there may be too many flavour hops. But as I say, still looks like a good recipe. I don't think I've used that yeast before, I have used the Bohemian wheat which is good. My favourite lager yeast is W-34/70. It's very a very robust and clear yeast and my beers taste great with it.

 

[ITMA]

+1 looks solid. I have used the Mangrove Jacks Bohemian and to be honest the batch didn't turn out well, but that may have been due to other problems - but it took an age and a half to get started. I too have switched to w-34/70 and it's excellent (can't buy it from my LHBS however).

 

[Blinky]

Thanks guys - the brewshop is showing 2 packs of 34/70 in stock, will try for that then...... Will maybe drop the flamout addition as well?

 

[jceg316]

Thanks guys - the brewshop is showing 2 packs of 34/70 in stock, will try for that then...... Will maybe drop the flamout addition as well?

With the FO addition you'll get a lot more Saaz flavour character into the beer, which will add a herby/spice flavour, maybe a hint of lemon as well. Without it the beer will be a nice malt balanced with bitterness (which is more in line of the German pils style) and the hop flavour will be in the background more. I think both sound like great beers, I love German style lagers and wheats.

 

[Blinky]

Going for a 60/30/10 addition of Saaz and was also looking to increase the mash temp to 68 to get a little more body? I got the last 2 packs of W34/70 but sticking this yeast into brewersfriend and mashing purely pilsner at 65 gives me a FG of 1.006. Upping it to 68 gives a FG of 1.008, which is still pretty dry! The IBU I have upped slightly to 30 IBU's and its expected to come out around 4.7/4.8%

Does this all still sound OK? Just a little worries about machine at 68, since I always try for 65/66!

 

[jceg316]

What temp are you fermenting at?

I often find the FGs calculated by brewing software is lower than usual. But it's all sounding good still!

 

[Blinky]

Not sure what temp to ferment at - need to look at the packet and see

 

[BeerCat]

Going for a 60/30/10 addition of Saaz and was also looking to increase the mash temp to 68 to get a little more body? I got the last 2 packs of W34/70 but sticking this yeast into brewersfriend and mashing purely pilsner at 65 gives me a FG of 1.006. Upping it to 68 gives a FG of 1.008, which is still pretty dry! The IBU I have upped slightly to 30 IBU's and its expected to come out around 4.7/4.8%

Does this all still sound OK? Just a little worries about machine at 68, since I always try for 65/66!

Sometimes i mash in at 62c for 45mins then go up to 68c for 45mins before mashing out. I got this info from a David Heath video. I have honestly never mashed a lager at 68c as i am always trying to get higher attenuation and i like mine crisp. Often they don't get below 1010 using wlp800 which i think is the same as w34/70.

 

[Blinky]

OK then, lets go with 66 for the mash! WHat about fermentation temp? Was originally thinking of around 12c but just read an article ion Brulosophy where they could not tell the difference between one at 10c and one brewed at 20c! Also I was not going to rehydrate but simply sprinkle 2 packets over the wort as I usually do but the instructions say the wort needs to be above 20c.... So should I chill to 20c, sprinkle the yeast then stick it in my temp controlled fridge at around 13c?

 

[BeerCat]

Never tried doing one at 20c so i cant advise although i have read the brulosophy experiments and they say you cant tell the difference. If it was me i would ignore the pack and pitch as cold as possible. I have just done a kolsch fermented at 14c with 2 packs of yeast sprinkled on. I pitched at around 5c and let it rise gradually. That way i know its going to taste clean. Since i have been doing this i have not had any bad batches. Also make sure you get plenty of oxygen into the wort. I pour mine from a height and get lots of froth on the top.

 

[jceg316]

One of the reasons I use W 34/70 is because it's so robust and produces a clean beer at a range of temperatures. Before I could control my fermenting temp I would get consistent beers with this yeast and S-23. When I could control fermentation temps, I did one batch at ~14 and another at 20, no difference.

For yeast I usually use one pack rehydrated and pour into my wort. I have a Grainfather with counterflow chiller and the wort comes out around 20 or lower, and pour the rehydrated yeast into that. From the counterflow the beer drops from a height into the fv so it's nice and aerated.

To rehydrate the sachet I boil ~100ml of water and pour into a sanitised kilner type jar (one that can withstand boiling water). I cover the top and wait for the water to get to 30 deg and sprinkle on the yeast. After 5 mins I give it a stir. It's a good idea to wait another 5 mins or so then pitch.