How dark a beer can you get using only Pilsener Malt?

I was wondering this to myself while driving to work the other day, and since I don't exactly have the equipment capabilities to see it through, I thought I'd throw it to you guys.

So how dark can you get using only Pilsner Malt, and what type of malt profile would you get from heaps and heaps of only Pilsner Malt? I was thinking like 25 pounds worth in a five gallon batch. The BrewersFriend calculator has this coming out to less than 6 SRM, but in my experience beers always come out much darker than the calculators say...what do you guys think?

Beersmith shows 7.2(25lbs in 5gal) for German pilsner with a 1gal to 1 lb SRM of 2.

What if you did two mashes? Mashing the second mash with the wort from the first (I forget what this technique is called). Plus a strong boil for maximum kettle carmelization. How much darker could this get you?

you could roast the grain in your oven, and get it as dark as you want

It wouldn't really be Pilsen Malt then though would it?

You're not really going to get much darker by mashing more grain. BUT, if you do a regular 10 gallon batch and boil that down to 5 gallons, then you're on to something.

You might be able to tease out some color from multiple decoctions.

pcollins has it right. That's how I make my Barleywine, which comes out at 18 SRM using nothing but Marris Otter and a really, really long boil. It's kind of like making a giant batch of wort caramel.

Black.

I've made a barleywine darker than BeerLogic's, even - it was black, with a deeply tan head. Nothing but pilsner malt extract (because I didn't have a mash tun big enough for the amount I wanted if it were AG) and a little white sugar (and water, of course!), boiled seven hours, recharging the water when it got low.

teucer said:

Black.

I've made a barleywine darker than BeerLogic's, even - it was black, with a deeply tan head. Nothing but pilsner malt extract (because I didn't have a mash tun big enough for the amount I wanted if it were AG) and a little white sugar (and water, of course!), boiled seven hours, recharging the water when it got low.

Click to expand...

I would like to see this recipe if you are willing to share

CGish said:

I would like to see this recipe if you are willing to share

Click to expand...

18lb pilsner LME
1lb white sugar
Water to 5 gallons

Boil 7 hours, adding water periodically to keep it around three gallons rather than boiling dry. (I'd planned to do six, but my timer ran out and I realized I'd never added my hops, so I added another hour.)

Boil additions:

4oz Cluster hops (~7%AA) 60'.

Yeast: Wyeast 1762 (Belgian Abbey II). Ferment two weeks at ale temperatures, then rack, adding:

4oz Centennial hops (dry).

Ferment until it's done, which is most of a month.

I got under 60% attenuation, so a very sweet finish but still so strong it couldn't be sold as beer in my state, and with hops to balance it. I get more requests to make that beer again than anything else I have ever brewed, though I personally can't drink a full 12oz bottle of it in one sitting unless I'm having some very hearty food to go with it. (So far I've told the people making the requests that it is unlikely to happen, because seriously, that's a damn long time to spend on one batch of extract beer.)

That sounds awesome! This was the kind of thing I was thinking of when I started this thread. But your right, 7 hours! That is a "damn long time" for an extract haha!