Pilsner/CTZ SMaSH Recipe

Hey all,

I'm getting less and less time to brew these days, so the next time I brew, I'll be doing a 10 gallon batch (or as much as my 40qt BK will allow). The issue is that I haven't ever brewed this recipe, so I wanted to let you guys give a quick critique. Let me know what you think.

I wanted to do a SMaSH just because I have a ton of CTZ and Pilsner malt and have never done one before. I wanted to do 100% hop-bursting to mellow out the bitterness and to get a ton of hop flavor and aroma.

I designed this as a 6-gallon batch, but will scale up as needed.

Est. OG: 1.053
Est. FG: 1.011
ABV: 5.5%
SRM: 5.2
IBU: 49

Mash at 152F
12.5# Pilsner malt

Boil for 60 min
14g CTZ (12.8% AA) @ 20 min (8.7 IBU)
21g CTZ (12.8% AA) @ 15 min (10.4 IBU)
28g CTZ (12.8% AA) @ 10 min (10.4 IBU)
35g CTZ (12.8% AA) @ 5 min (10.8 IBU)
42g CTZ (12.8% AA) @ 0 min, whirlpool for 20min (~8.7 IBU)

Ferment @ 68F with US-05

56g CTZ (12.8% AA) dry hop for 5 days

I'm open to other yeast strains as well. What do you think? Worth a 10g batch?

Looked perfect to me too.

Aaaaaaand, I kegged and dry-hopped last night. Smelled great, tasted great. Looking forward to it. It's super light in color...

Cool. I've been wondering what an all-Pilsner ale would taste like. Keep us posted.

Update: I made this recipe as a 6 gallon batch. It is amazing. It ended up being about 60 IBU but is so mellow and has no sharp bitterness at all. The CTZ flavors and aromas are wonderful. This is the first time I've 100% hopburst a recipe and I'll definitely be doing it again.

any thoughts on 2row or MO? i am going to have a ton of columbus at harvest and i was thinking of doing a smash to show it off

The pilsner makes it a very light refreshing beer that's reinforced by the smooth bitterness. I think 2-row will give similar results to the pilsner but provide even less malt presence, which may make it less balanced. I think using the MO will benefit the beer the most. It's got a much greater malt presence than pilsner that would nicely round out the flavors. definitely report back with your findings!