Experimental Beer Imperial Pilsner

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sirsloop

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Messages
2,587
Reaction score
26
Location
South River, NJ
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Czech Budejovice Lager (White Labs #WLP802)
Yeast Starter
2L
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.092
Final Gravity
1.022
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
62.4
Color
6
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
90
Tasting Notes
AMAZING.
Just racked an Imperial Pils into a cornie... man... it tasted sooooo damn good. I didn't really think I would enjoy this beer all that much, but I gotta say its damn good. So well balanced, full bodied, aromatic, smooth... man... its beautiful!! I'm def making another one of these!!! Flat right outta the primary is was ridiculously delicious.

69 - Imperial Pils
German Pilsner (Pils)
Type: All Grain Date: 3/9/2010
Batch Size: 5.50 gal Brewer: JD
Boil Size: 7.30 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00

Ingredients
20.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 95.24 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
1.75 oz Sterling [6.00 %] (75 min) Hops 28.2 IBU
1.75 oz Sterling [6.00 %] (30 min) Hops 20.8 IBU
1.75 oz Sterling [6.00 %] (15 min) Hops 13.4 IBU
1.75 oz Sterling [6.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 items Servomyces Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 min)
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)
2L Czech Budejovice Lager (White Labs #WLP802)

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.092 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.092 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.019 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.022 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.53%
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 9.17 %
Bitterness: 62.4 IBU Calories: 418 cal/pint
Est Color: 6.0 SRM

Mash Profile
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Mash In: Add 21.00 qt of water at 164.2 F
75 min - Hold mash at 150.0 F for 75 min
-- Batch Sparge Round 1: Sparge with 1.05 gal of 168.0 F water.
-- Batch Sparge Round 2: Sparge with 3.78 gal of 168.0 F water.
-- Add water to achieve boil volume of 7.30 gal
-- Estimated Pre-boil Gravity is: 1.072 SG with all grains/extracts added

Fermented at 52F for 14 days
Rested at 62F for 3 days
Lager at 35F - until time to serve (3-6mo?)

Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2)
Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 21.6 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 35.0F
Age for: 90.0 days
Storage Temperature: 35.0 F
 
I can vouch that it was ridiculously delicious and I think I got a taste the first day it was in the keg. Can't wait to see what it's like with some age on it.

:mug:
 
Yeah, I'm leaning towards it... Want to add more hops though, I was thinking Hallertau. I'm also afraid I may hit 75ish efficiency though... Why you only hit 65%?
 
Batch sparging imperial beers typically result in lower efficiency. If you fly sparge you should be able to up that a little bit. Instead of doing that I just up the grain bill and call it a day. No extra parts, pumps, etc, and its much faster than fly sparging.

I'm tellin ya man, the amount of hops is dead on... its well balanced as is. If you want an Imperial Pils IPA you can add more ;)
 
Okay, that makes sense... I have only done one AG before :) I will take your suggestion on this receipe... I must admit I want to try to clone the Sam Adam's Imperial Pilsner that calls for on their website:
Their website has most of the details:

2-row Harrington & Metcalf
OG 21 P (1.088)
8.8% ABV
(which means the FG is around 1.021, ~76% AA)
Hallertau Mittelfrueh - 12 pounds per barrel (~1.9 lbs in 5 gallons, make sure to account for wort loss to the hops)
Lager Yeast

I wish someone would try to make this... Or had any idea how they did it.
 
That's a wacky recipe. Is 2-row Harrington & Metcalf even a Pilsner malt? The OG is on par with mine, the AA is slightly higher, but the amount of hops is just ridiculous. I think the most I've ever put in a full blown 100+ AA 1.100+ American Imperial IPA is like 10 ounces... using THREE TIMES that amount in a 1.088 Pils is nuts.

Ahh... I see... its listed in the "EXTREME" category. This is not extreme beer...its like a super full bodied pils. If you wanna make extreme pils with insane amounts of low AA hops you can base it off my recipe. I don't know what will happen with that much hop material in a brew. I would shoot for like a 6.5 gallon batch and hope to get 5 gallons of wort. Certainly use pellet hops or you'll end up with a fermenter full of nothing but whole leaf hops. The even crazier thing is, as you get larger and larger in scale your hops become more utilized. Its not a linear ramp up from 5 gallons to 10, to 20, to 100, 200, etc. If they make a 1000 gal batch they would use MUCH less hops per barrel compared to what we would need to make only 5 gallons, ratio wise.
 
Yeah, that's what I was thinking... Your's looked pretty close, thats why I asked if you have tried it yet and how would you compare the two :) I'm still undecided on what I will do... I think If I do it, that I will call it a day with 16oz's...
 
So how long exactly did you let this lager for? I'm looking to make this as my first lager, and it sounds great. Also this might be a dumb question, but do you rack to secondary right before the lager step?

Thanks,

Adam
 
I fermented at 52F for 14 days, then warmed it up to 65ish for 2 days, then racked it into a keg and dropped the temp down to like 33F. Its still lagering today... I pulled a glass off last night and its looking pretty clear. I figure it'll be ready to drink in like 4-6 weeks from now.
 
Sounds good, are you going to serve out of the same keg that you're lagering in? Are you just setting your kegorator a bit cooler and using that to lager in?
 
oh... on another note... I did go looking for Sam Adams Imerial Pils last night and came up empty handed. I did get a bomber of Rogue Imperial pils for comparison though.

-Both beers had the same golden yellow color and thick white head. Mine just a touch darker, maybe 1SRM? Could be cause its still a touch cloudy.
-The Rogue version had a much different hops aroma than mine. Its Floral and Lemony. Mine is loaded with sterling hops which smells minty. Both beers have great amounts of aroma though.
-Mouth feel is comparable, full bodied and coats your mouth with plentiful carbonation and malty flavor.
-Hop balance is on the heavier side with Rogue. I think its slightly over hopped, where mine is just right in the IBU department. The Rogue one has a little hoppy IPA-like harshness to it. It could come from the hop variety? Mine is certainly a smoother hopped beer.
-Flavor is a different. I pick up a small amount of fruity esters in mine, which may subside over time as the beer lagers. Its still young. Rogue has a peppery and citrus flavor to it I think from the hops. Both are very full bodies and refreshing though!

Overall both are great beers. If Rogue pulled back on the bittering hops a little theirs would be perfect.
 
Sounds good, are you going to serve out of the same keg that you're lagering in? Are you just setting your kegorator a bit cooler and using that to lager in?

I have a Sanyo fridge for my keggerator that's set to like 45ish. I have another fridge in my basement on a temp controller that I can dial in precisely. I'm going to serve outta the same lagering keg in my sanyo keggerator. I'll pull a few beers of it before it goes upstairs to get some of the yeast up off the bottom.
 
Just made a variant similar to this one, but wow, this has to be one of the better beers I've made. I used WLP810 cause I couldn't ferment below 60F. But it still turned out great full body, and with a wonderful hop aroma and a light citrus taste from this hops too.
 
Hallertau Mittelfrueh - 12 pounds per barrel (~1.9 lbs in 5 gallons, make sure to account for wort loss to the hops)
Lager Yeast

Woah! 1.9 pounds of hops in a pilsner!?!? That can't be right. One thing is for sure, the extended lagering phase will have the yeast scrubbing all of the hop aroma and flavor out of the beer. I would go with 6 oz. at most.

Good luck!
 
Making this recipe today! Mashing as we speak... I am using the Safelager w34/70 yeast and I am adding 1oz of Czeck Saaz hops at the end of the boil. Just a couple little tweaks otherwise all the same! Only problem is it's not going to be done until November/December? :( I have a strong scotch ale in the secondary that won't be done until the end of August! I need some beer, quick!
 
A couple of questions...

I am ready to do the rest at 65 deg... Do I do that in the primary?

After the three day rest, can I transfer to a corny keg and lager? Do I need an airlock?

Thanks... First time lagering a beer in my kegerator!

Thanks!
 
Yeah, rest at 65-68 F for 2-4 days (some people rest for up to 7), then drop it down to 34 F for a couple of days to help clear it some more, then you can transfer to the keg to lager for a month.

Good luck!
 
So I rested this bad boy and put it in the keg to lager. I tested my ABV and I am at 10.37% Woo Hoo! This will definitely pack a wallop! Not sure I can wait 3-6 months for this!
 
Going to get this brew going in the next week or so to have ready when my son is born in May! Figure theres nothing like a 9% lager to help ease the transition into fatherhood!
 
Just moved mine to 2ndary after 3 day 68F rest. Gravity is down to 1.012 and started at 1.087! Shes going to be a healthy batch! Tastes awesome at the moment. Now to just let it sit for 2 more months.... /cry
 
Brewed this up on MLK day. Chugging away at 48 in my basement (a little cold, but seems within the tolerance for Budejovice). Looking forward to seeing how it turns out! Haven't brewed a lager in years.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
Well, thought it was 48 in the basement, but when I went to take a sample and discovered yeast still going nuts in there, I checked the temp. Turns out that multiple weeks of snow and cold has my basement at around 40. Yeast still seemed very happy, just not done. I moved it to a warmer spot and we'll see. Despite being a mid-fermentation Gravity sample, it was pretty awesome. Looking forward to the final result in a couple months(!).


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
Further update - not sure if it was temperature variation or other something else, but my primary ended up taking a month and a half. Just racked to secondary and am slowly bringing down to lagering temps. Not sure how long that will last, as I don't have temp controlled refrigeration and it's finally warming up in the NE. We'll see how it goes in my garage for a month.
 
If it rested at slightly cooler temps, maybe high 50s, do you think that would hurt the beer? Would love to try this, but not sure I can keep it in the 60s for the rest right now.
 
Not an expert myself, but it seems like the diacetyl rest is of debatable use, like other hoary practices of homebrewing. I did rest this beer, but I couldn't detect any diacetyl before or after the rest. I think you could probably do without it, but others may disagree.
 
Not an expert myself, but it seems like the diacetyl rest is of debatable use, like other hoary practices of homebrewing. I did rest this beer, but I couldn't detect any diacetyl before or after the rest. I think you could probably do without it, but others may disagree.

Please post tasting notes when the time comes. I'm very interested in doing this one. :mug:
 
I'm about four months post-fermentation and it's been in the bottle for a good month and a half. I will preface my tasting notes by saying that I'm pretty much an ale man - I feel like a lot of the subtlety of a lager escapes me. That said, I've traveled in Czech and enjoyed many a good Pilsner. To that end, my version of this beer tastes mostly like a British barley wine. Obviously less of the ale yeast flavor, but similar malty notes, with well-balanced bitterness. It is sitting in my basement for a while and I'll see where it is in a couple months.
 
How would Hallertauer Hops sub in this recipe? I have a lot pils on hand and a full lbs of hallertauer left over that I would like to get rid of.
 
I would say that hallertauer would work great in this recipe. Just shoot for the same IBUs. Maybe 60 and 20 minute additions with 2/3 of the IBUs coming from the 60 minute addition.
 
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