Pilsner Malt In IPA?

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Radobrewer

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I've got a bunch of pilsner malt but I want to brew an IPA. Can I use this instead of 2 row? Was hoping to use Cali Ale yeast and Warrior, Columbus, Centennial and Amarillo hops. Can I use Crystal 40 with pils malt? I have a few pounds of 2 row...can it be combined with the pils malt and Crystal 40?

Thanks in advance for helpin' a noob. :confused:
 
You can, but it depends on how much you like pils. I believe that Stone used pils as their base in their 17th anniversary IPA and, personally, I wasn't a huge fan of it. It was different and definitely drinkable, but I prefer less contribution from my malt. I felt that it took away from the hops.
 
Yes you can use the Pilsner malt in an IPA. Yes you can combine a pilsner and two row malt in an IPA. Smuttynose finest kind IPA uses a pils malt base. You will want to do a 90 minute boil when using pils malt. Hop choices and yeast seems great. Make a starter and hop burst late. Bitter with warrior and use the other three hops later on. Focus primarily on the dry hop. Don't overdo with the crystal malt. 4-5% should work. I'd also add some corn sugar.
 
I really like pilsner malt for IPAs, IIPAs and pale ales. You might also!

American 2-row IMHO is only decent as a base malt because it is less expensive. I prefer European pilsner or Maris Otter or most often a combination of these.

Steve da sleeve
 
Thanks to all for the input. How does this recipe look?

11 lb. Pilsner malt
0.5 lb. Crystal 40
1 oz Warrior @ 60
1 oz Columbus @ 15
1 oz Centennial @ 15
2 oz Amarillo @ 0
2 oz Amarillo dry hop 1 week
Yeast: WLP001
Mash @ 152
90 min. boil
 
pils malt is more common than you'd think in IPA type beers. the light malt allows hop flavors to shine a bit more.

bobbrews is right on the 90 minute boil. pils malt makes diacetyl pretty easily. you can defeat this by doing a longer boil. i would also recommend making your beer exceptionally bitter. that would cover any buttery popcorn flavors you might end up with.

if you're going this direction i would suggest fruity hop combinations. you can really get the most out of citra, amarillo, summit and other fruity cones if you add them super late in the boil on a pils base beer. maybe a little vienna or munich to balance out a bigger beer. stay away from caramel malts though as the light base malts will also push caramel flavors forward. unless you want that sort of thing.

I like to mix base malts in order to develop a nice malty flavor under a beer. i've cut 2row with maris otter, done a pils/vienna/munich beer in equal ratios and a few others based on the notion. i've noticed that cutting a base grain with pils really lets the other base grains shine. just like making a hoppy pils based lager lets hop flavors shine.
 
Radobrewer said:
Thanks to all for the input. How does this recipe look?

11 lb. Pilsner malt
0.5 lb. Crystal 40
1 oz Warrior @ 60
1 oz Columbus @ 15
1 oz Centennial @ 15
2 oz Amarillo @ 0
2 oz Amarillo dry hop 1 week
Yeast: WLP001
Mash @ 152
90 min. boil
Click to expand...

That will make an excellent beer. I'd toss the centennial in at 5 min though.
 
I do have 4 or 5 pounds of 2 row. What would be the effect of replacing some of the pils malt with this?
 
Swapping out some of the pilsner malt for 2 row would be fine. I'd add an additional 1/2 lb. of the crystal 40 mainly for more color and definitely move the Centennial to a 5 minute addition.
Assuming this is five gallon batch, you would end up even still on the low side of color for and American IPA at 7.0 SRM if you swapped out the 5 lbs of Pilsner for 2-row.
Would be an awesome brew I would think.

Type: All Grain Date: 9/23/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.64 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: 5 Gallon Batch
End of Boil Volume 6.14 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 85.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM) Grain 1 50.0 %
5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 41.7 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.3 %
1.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 48.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 22.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Aroma Steep 5.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 8 -

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.063 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.6 %
Bitterness: 71.2 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 7.0 SRM
 
Dig it- I'm trying it. It is a 5 gallon batch. Thanks for running my numbers through mblanks2. I haven't purchased any software yet.
 
mblanks2 said:
Swapping out some of the pilsner malt for 2 row would be fine. I'd add an additional 1/2 lb. of the crystal 40 mainly for more color and definitely move the Centennial to a 5 minute addition.
Assuming this is five gallon batch, you would end up even still on the low side of color for and American IPA at 7.0 SRM if you swapped out the 5 lbs of Pilsner for 2-row.
Would be an awesome brew I would think.

Type: All Grain Date: 9/23/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.64 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: 5 Gallon Batch
End of Boil Volume 6.14 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 85.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM) Grain 1 50.0 %
5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 41.7 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.3 %
1.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 48.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 22.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Aroma Steep 5.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 8 -

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.063 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.6 %
Bitterness: 71.2 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 7.0 SRM
Click to expand...

I'm reviving this thread because I want to know, did anyone ever try brewing this? It looks good and I have some pils and 2-row laying around.
 
I usually use some pils malt in my IPAs and APAs. I came across the idea listening to something Tasty McDole said on some Brewing Network show. He was experimenting with replacing some of the 2-row with Pils because it gave more of a "beery" flavor as he put it. I've since been trying it and it definitely changes the malt profile. You'll have to experiment yourself until you hit a balance that it suited to your palate.
 
I'm going back on my previous post. Usually I add 25-50% pils , the rest of the base malt is MO. Recently I did all pils in an IPA and I did not like it at all.
 
mblanks2 said:
Swapping out some of the pilsner malt for 2 row would be fine. I'd add an additional 1/2 lb. of the crystal 40 mainly for more color and definitely move the Centennial to a 5 minute addition.
Assuming this is five gallon batch, you would end up even still on the low side of color for and American IPA at 7.0 SRM if you swapped out the 5 lbs of Pilsner for 2-row.
Would be an awesome brew I would think.

Type: All Grain Date: 9/23/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.64 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: 5 Gallon Batch
End of Boil Volume 6.14 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 85.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.0 SRM) Grain 1 50.0 %
5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 41.7 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.3 %
1.00 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 48.7 IBUs
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 22.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Aroma Steep 5.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [35.49 ml] Yeast 8 -

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.063 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.6 %
Bitterness: 71.2 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 7.0 SRM
Click to expand...

I do something similar with pils to 80% with a little pale malt in my IPA and APA's. I like the lighter color and body when doing a summer APA or IPA. I bump up the pale malt and use a higher L crystal in fall and winter.
 
My house IPA recipe is about 40ish-40ish pils/pale, rest is wheat, some caramel and munich. Because it's pilsner-malt doesn't mean it will end up anywhere near a pilsner. I count the pils/pale/wheat as the base malt combo, and add caramel and munich for just a hint "extra" and for color. But an IPA should be about the hops, the malt is just the canvas, sort of.
 
Pilsner is my house base malt. I use it for hoppy beers, Belgian beers, and everything in between.
 
Smellyglove said:
My house IPA recipe is about 40ish-40ish pils/pale, rest is wheat, some caramel and munich. Because it's pilsner-malt doesn't mean it will end up anywhere near a pilsner.
Click to expand...

If don't have any Pale malt, I use a mix of Pils and Munich for IPAs and bitter, with 20-30% of Munich in the grist
 
I did a pils/simcoe smash IPA and found it was too "sweet" (flavor, not FG since that was 1.014) for what I think and IPA should be. The next time I used pils, 2row, and MO and it was a lot more what I wanted. I personally would combine up to 50% pils with MO or light Munich or something "breadier".
 
Made this earlier this year and it turned out so well that I am going to start making more IPA's that have a pilsner malt base. In this specific instance, I used Wyermann Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner. It costs about 10-15% more than their regular, but I think the flavor difference was noticeable and better.

95% Pilsner malt
5% carapils

Mash at 152F. Boil 90 minutes.

20g Columbus @ 60 min
13g Simcoe @ 45 min
13g Columbus @ 30 min
56g Amarillo @ 0 min/whirlpool
56g Simcoe @ 0 min/whirlpool

28g Simcoe dry hop approx 10 days
28g Amarillo dry hop approx 10 days
28g Columbus dry hop approx 5 days
56g Amarillo dry hop approx 5 days
56g Simcoe dry hop approx 5 days

I used American Ale yeast but whatever your favorite is. My OG was 1.069, FG a little low at 1.008 (was aiming for more like 1.012). Treated my water to a light colored, hoppy profile.
 
Hey guys, figured I'd give my input on this since I just saw it. I just brewed a 100% Pilsner malt DIPA last week (19 lbs of Pilsner grain). I hopped it with Galaxy and Mosaic hops, will let you know how it turns out to answer your question!
 
TMH2O said:
Hey guys, figured I'd give my input on this since I just saw it. I just brewed a 100% Pilsner malt DIPA last week (19 lbs of Pilsner grain). I hopped it with Galaxy and Mosaic hops, will let you know how it turns out to answer your question!
Click to expand...

i'd love to hear your results. coincidentally, i practically brewed the same thing as you a couple days back (Pils and galaxy/mosaic combo). and just so i wouldn't be completely ripping off of you, i added chinook, oats (16% of grist), and a small bit of C10.

no but seriously, this is the first time i'm seeing your post.

:mug:
 
So I've brewed a bunch of IPA kits with pils malt extract and all were 1 hr boil. Is that because it's not all grain method?
 
More and more people dont bother wth 90min boil on pilsner malt. Comes down to the type of pilsner malt, some I guess doesnt have a dms issue as in the past. Think it was a older beersmith podcast wth gordon strong where he was talking about 75min boil.
 
I usually do 60 minute boils with MFB brand pilsner malt, even for lightly-hopped beers. Never had a DMS problem but maybe I've been lucky so far.
 
I just picked up a 25 KG bag of Swaen Pilsner malt at a great price, and I will be trying it as the base malt for my next several brews. One of which will be my first NE IPA. I initially intend to continue the practice of a 60 minute boil. Time will tell as to the outcome. I've never used Swaen Pilsner malt (or any other Swaen malts) before. Does anyone have enough experience with this Pilsner malt to convince me to go with a 90 minute boil?
 
I had a similar situation...picked up 100lbs of Pilsner at 50% off at a LHBS close out and been trying to se it up. The beer was good I'm not ready to give up 2row but I drank the beer and pee'd a lot ... winner

I did get lower eff with the pils malt over a few batches. This was from a Michigan malt house so maybe it was just my pils but I lost at least 5% eff vs similar malt bills with 2row. You might want to add an extra pond of pils...up to you
 

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