TANSTAAFL Anymore CAP

TANSTAAFL Anymore

Brew Type: All Grain
Style: Classic American Pilsner
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Volume: 7.50 gal Boil Time: 90 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.0 %

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
9 lbs 4.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 77.9 %
2 lbs 6.1 oz Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 20.1 %
3.8 oz Acid Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 2.0 %
2.00 oz Saaz [4.00%] (60 min) Hops 29.9 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00%] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 8.2 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00%] (10 min) Hops 1.5 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00%] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
2 Pkgs SafLager West European Lager (DCL Yeast #S-23)
1.00 items Servomyces

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.059 SG (1.044-1.060 SG)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.015 SG (1.010-1.015 SG)
Estimated Color: 3.7 SRM (3.0-6.0 SRM)
Bitterness: 40.8 IBU (25.0-40.0 IBU)
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.7 %

Mash Profile
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 6.02 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Step Add 14.84 qt of water at 165.3 F 150.0 F 60 min

I plan on using 90% RO or distilled water plus an addition of CaCl2 to hit approximately this water profile.

Ca ppm 61
Mg ppm 9
Na ppm 2
Cl ppm 64
SO4 ppm 89

Which should give me a mash pH of ~5.3-5.4

I'm going to rehydrate the two dry yeast packets, pitch at ~44F and let rise to 48-50F. Oxygenation for 90 seconds with .5 micron stone. Ferment until close to terminal gravity ~80%, check for diacetyl and perform a rest if necessary.

I'm looking for general feedback or possible suggestions. I'm a little nervous even with s-23's rehydration temperature being in the mid to low 70's that it might not reach a low enough temp to cold pitch. There's also the matter of how the adjunct will change the mash pH, I've heard that corn and rice have significantly lower buffering capacity.

I brewed this last night, everything went according to plan aside from aeration, which was done by shaking the carboy for 5 or so minutes. Waited till this morning at 10 AM after I put the beer in the keezer to chill down to pitch, active fermentation was seen at 5:30 this evening, I also had to ramp up the temp a bit to 44 with a fermwrap from a low of 41.

Sorry I didn't see this until now. Your recipe looks good!

I don't think you need worry about lower buffering capacity with adjunct in the 20% range. Did you experience any pH problems?

I recommend performing a diacetyl rest without checking. It's not going to harm anything even if it's not needed, because it'll permit the yeast to clean up other fermentation byproducts even if there's no diacetyl. In my experience, S23 should get a diacetyl rest.

You OG is a little high for my taste in CAP, but with the high IBU to match it should balance.

Cheers!

Bob

Why not 6-row or at least American 2-row? Changing that just makes it a strong Premium American lager.

My last Pre-prohibition pilsner was 1.065 OG, 7.1% ABV and calculated 33 IBU. It did well in the west HBT comp but the judges in Ohio though it was too bitter.

I really like wyeast 2035. I'm using wy2272 next and shooting for 1.052 for more of a Summer drinking beer.

I already had the pilsner malt or I would've used 6-row. With colorphast strips it looked about dead on for pH 5.3, I need to buy a meter at some point but it's not in the budget currently. I'm impressed with the quickness of onset of fermentation with the s-23, my last lager with an appropriately sized starter took a lot longer to start.

I'm just saying that if early immigrant brewers had access to a lot of continental malts and hops this style probably would have never existed. Without American ingredients it's not the classic style but something else.

Malticulous said:

Why not 6-row or at least American 2-row? Changing that just makes it a strong Premium American lager.

My last Pre-prohibition pilsner was 1.065 OG, 7.1% ABV and calculated 33 IBU. It did well in the west HBT comp but the judges in Ohio though it was too bitter.

I really like wyeast 2035. I'm using wy2272 next and shooting for 1.052 for more of a Summer drinking beer.

Click to expand...

What does the P in CAP stand for? Why wouldn't there be pilsner malt in the US?

It cost too much to ship 150 years ago. The 6-row common in the US was too high in protein to brew a pilsener like lager. Adding corn or rice to the grist made the body lighter and added flavor. With the old brewing practices and ingredients the flavor was very close to the beer they had been brewing in Europe.

They also would've probably used cluster for bittering and possibly flavor, I was originally going to brew a BoPils but had previously made the mistake of mentioning a CAP to my wife. She's a bit of a history buff and I was pressured to shoehorn my original ingredients into a modified recipe

This ended up finishing up in about two weeks at 50F, with a 60F diacetyl rest for two days. The final gravity was 1.012 and the sample tasted great, the corn is very subtle at this point.

how is it now?

Gone, I'm not really in love with the s-23 in this if you can find the w-34/70 I'd use that instead. I'd also lower the gravity a bit, this was a bit much once it started heating up here.

2035 is the best CAP yeast I've used. 2272 is more malt forward and dosen't let the hops shine. It made a great dark lager.