Pilsner vs Munich for a German IPA

Gonna try this out. Because of having a dad born in Germany I like to brew w/German or German style malts, hops, and yeast.

So I've been wondering the difference in taste between Pilsner and Munich malts. Just picked up 4 lbs of each and gonna do two 1.75 gallon brews of a German IPA. The only difference will be the single malt I use. Here is the recipie:

4 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 100.0 %
0.45 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 68.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 5.0 mins)
0.75 oz Perle [8.00 %] - Aroma Steep 10.0 min 0.0 IBUs
0.74 oz Perle [8.00 %] - Aroma Steep 5.0 min 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafAle German Ale (DCL/Fermentis #K-97)

Each should produce about 16 bottles. Will let you know what happens in about 7 weeks.

I like the idea and am interested to hear how it turns out.

Mb2658 said:

I like the idea and am interested to hear how it turns out.

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Me too. I can read about the different tastes and even nibble on the grain at the LHBS, but still not sure about what the beer will be like other than good.

I remember that you were one of the first people to comment on one of my posts when I joined over a year ago. It was my Dampfbier post. It turned out to be a great recipe btw. :cheers:

Why the maltodextrin?

I made a dunkel with 97% munich (bit of carafa to darken it). Tastey, mine was more chocolaty roasty than malty. My notes say I liked it.

Lots of commercial dunkels available. They are probably made with all munich, or nearly so.

Mb2658 said:

I remember that you were one of the first people to comment on one of my posts when I joined over a year ago. It was my Dampfbier post. It turned out to be a great recipe btw. :cheers:

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I wasn't crazy about either of my two brews. I think the one w/the Munich yeast was better. The other was to sour for me, but other folks liked it. Glad your's was great.

Denny said:

Why the maltodextrin?

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NOt sure, pretty much put some in all brews. Guess it should be mostly used on porters and stouts?

C-Rider said:

NOt sure, pretty much put some in all brews. Guess it should be mostly used on porters and stouts?

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You can add it wherever you like, but you should have a reason for adding and an expectation of the result. Don't add anything without having an idea of what it will bring to the beer and if the beer needs it.

isn't Pilsner malt almost exclusively responsible (or most prominently so) for DMS flavor in beer? I would think that would be a fault in an IPA.

Jakeintoledo said:

isn't Pilsner malt almost exclusively responsible (or most prominently so) for DMS flavor in beer? I would think that would be a fault in an IPA.

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Nope. It can be, but I make a lot of all pils malt bers and have no DMS issues. Some pils malt is more prone to it than others. A 90 min. boil will drive off DMS precursors. And there are other ways to get DMS than pils malt.

Denny said:

You can add it wherever you like, but you should have a reason for adding and an expectation of the result. Don't add anything without having an idea of what it will bring to the beer and if the beer needs it.

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Is it not for mouth feel? Making the beer a little bit "thicker"?

C-Rider said:

Is it not for mouth feel? Making the beer a little bit "thicker"?

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Yeah, but do you want that in every beer you make? For the last 10 years I've been on a quest to make LESS dextrinous, more easy to drink beers. Now, that's not appropriate for every beer. My pointnwas that you need to think through a recipe and justify every ingredient in it in terms of what it adds to the beer.

Denny said:

Yeah, but do you want that in every beer you make? For the last 10 years I've been on a quest to make LESS dextrinous, more easy to drink beers. Now, that's not appropriate for every beer. My pointnwas that you need to think through a recipe and justify every ingredient in it in terms of what it adds to the beer.

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Many thanks for your thoughts. What do you mean by "easy to drink"? To me that would be less ABV. But I guess it might be also less malty.

Make sure you boil the pilsner version for 90 minutes to avoid DMS.

I'm no expert, but there's a huge difference in taste between the two malts. I suggest munching on some of the grain to learn how it tastes.

Pilsner is very grainy, Munich is much "maltier," but not in a sweet way. Think bread crust (melanoidins).

Tons of commercial styles to help you taste the two. A German pils should be 100% pilsner malt, and Munich-heavy styles include oktoberfest/marzen, dunkel, bock, alt, etc. A legit German oktoberfest will be malty as hell but not sweet, that's my favorite way to taste Munich malt.

I would definititely read Ray Daniels' Book, Designing Great Beers.

C-Rider said:

Many thanks for your thoughts. What do you mean by "easy to drink"? To me that would be less ABV. But I guess it might be also less malty.

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Not even less malty. I love dunkels, for instance, and they're extremely malty, but not sweet or thick. I think it's a question of what the Belgian brewers refer to as "digestibility".

Tasted the Munich IPA yesterday. Hmmmm not all that good. Main thing coming thru is the hop bitterness. Not much taste to this brew. Glad there are only 15 more. If the Pilsner isnt much better I may open one of each and mix them. LOL

the pilsner is def going to need a 90 mil boil, as denny said I would eliminate the malto unless its giving you something you want(most ipa's are supposed to be dry-semi sweet, easy drinking beers, not think and heavy) if you are looking for some body or "german" flavor try adding 1/2 of aromatic malt as that will give your beer a little bit more of a malty backbone

C-Rider said:

Tasted the Munich IPA yesterday. Hmmmm not all that good. Main thing coming thru is the hop bitterness. Not much taste to this brew. Glad there are only 15 more. If the Pilsner isnt much better I may open one of each and mix them. LOL

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obviously my first post of advise was a little too late but anyways

C-Rider said:

0.45 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 68.3 IBUs

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If you were looking for a beer less bitter the ibus should have been measured more towards 45-60 total max thats where the bitterness comes from

I dropped the Malto-Dex as suggested. This was mainly a test to see the difference in taste/flavor between Munich and Pilsner. I have no intentions of brewing a "real" beer w/only one or the other. Thanks for all the comments.