DryHoppinMad
Member
I recently finished off a keg of Stella Artois clone that had a certain fog and character to it that puzzles me. I've had it happen before in a Helles and Kolsch. Got to scratchin my chin, checked all three recipes and confirmed that all three used a base malt of German Pilsner. Seemed too much to be just coincidence. I have brewed several other lagers, including an American light, several Pre-Prohibitions, NB's World Wide Lager, etc. with great success. None of these had the 'fog'. Not only that, but the finished beers using this malt were not nearly as distinct as they should be, all were rather flat and bland in flavor, tasted almost identical. It may be a very fine chill haze, but much finer than what I've seen in any other beer. So I wonder, is there some technique or special treatment this malt needs that's different from the rest? I conducted a diacetyl rest on the 2 lagers, protein rest ~122. Traditional beta-alpha-mashout with the Helles and single infusion @149 with the Stella. I attribute it to the malt, but not sure why. I use a chiller, but it is not quite as efficient as I'd like, chills to upper 70's in 25-30 minutes. Does GPM benefit more so than other malts from a very rapid chill/break? Thanks!
I am certain it's linked to the malt though--60-70 AG batches, 3 with German Pilsner for a base, only those 3 brews with this issue.
