Light Bohemian Lager

My goal for this recipe was to picture what BMC would do to mass produce, market, and sell Pilsner Urquell in America.

5# German Pilsner Malt
2# Flaked Corn
1# Cara Pils Dextrin
1# Flaked Rice

1 oz Hallertau 4.6% 60 min
1 oz Hersbrucker 2.4% 10 Min

Wyeast (Forgot the number) Bohemian Lager Yeast

Calculated OG 1.042
Calculated FG 1.012
Calculated IBU's 22
Estimated Color 3.3 SRM
4% ABV

I went with a lower IBU:Gravity ratio that with Style guidelines call for because I don't have soft water and I'm told part of the reason PU can have its 35 or so IBU's is that the soft water makes the bitterness more pallatable.

The rice and corn went in because.... well, that just seems like what BMC would do. Has anyone mashed with Corn, rice, and pilsner malt? Is there a potential clash of flavor?

This is the first time I'm doing a lager with fermentation temperature control.

Has anyone used this yeast? I wanted to ferment around 45. What have you fermented at and how low can you go with this yeast without making them dorment?

Your help is awesome!

gregpio85 said:

My goal for this recipe was to picture what BMC would do to mass produce, market, and sell Pilsner Urquell in America.

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Ummm...

From: http://didyouknow.org/anheuser/
Budweiser beer
In 1876, Busch and his friend Carl Conrad, a liquor importer, developed a “Bohemian-style” lager, inspired after a trip to the region. Brewers in Bohemia generally named a beer after their town with the suffix “er.” Beers produced in the town of Plzen, for example, were called Plzners, or Pilsners. Busch and Conrad had visited another town, only 104 km (65 miles) south of Plzenalso, known for its breweries: Bömische Budweis, which became Ceske Budejovice in 1918. Beer has been brewed in Ceske Budejovice since it was founded as Budiwoyz by king Premys II Otakar in 1245. The German name for the town is Budweis. The name “Budweiser” is a locative, meaning “of Budweis.”

That sounds a bit like a light version of a classic american pilsner with fancier base malt
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style02.php#1c

I made a beer this weekend with 5.5 lbs of Pils malt, 1.5 lbs of flaked corn and .5 lbs cara helles. Conversion was excellent (actually better then expected). I normally add some 6-row to help out, but I didn't have any on hand. 1.053 OG for 5 gal.

I too have hard water and have to be careful with the bittering hops. I treat my water to reduce the alkalinity. When I brew a bohemian lager, I mix my treated water with distilled to reduce it even further.

I've never used rice, so I can't comment on that

RCCOLA said:

Ummm...

From: http://didyouknow.org/anheuser/
Budweiser beer
In 1876, Busch and his friend Carl Conrad, a liquor importer, developed a “Bohemian-style” lager, inspired after a trip to the region. Brewers in Bohemia generally named a beer after their town with the suffix “er.” Beers produced in the town of Plzen, for example, were called Plzners, or Pilsners. Busch and Conrad had visited another town, only 104 km (65 miles) south of Plzenalso, known for its breweries: Bömische Budweis, which became Ceske Budejovice in 1918. Beer has been brewed in Ceske Budejovice since it was founded as Budiwoyz by king Premys II Otakar in 1245. The German name for the town is Budweis. The name “Budweiser” is a locative, meaning “of Budweis.”

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That's crazy. So budweiser started as a bohemian pilsner? Who knew.

I brewed this and had my bag tear so I'm not expecting much from this beer.

Let us know how it turns out! Every time I brew a similar recipe it turns out pretty nasty. I'm a loser though, your recipe looks pretty rockin'! Might have to try this myself.

gregpio85 said:

That's crazy. So budweiser started as a bohemian pilsner? Who knew.

Click to expand...

You can buy Budvar most anywhere other than the US (where it is called Czechvar). I'd recommend getting it in Czech as the version here isn't even close to as good.