German Pils Recipe

I was given the following recipe, and I'm wondering if anyone has any comments. In particular, I wondering whether this might be really hoppy. Also curious about OG and FG if anyone can figure that out. This will be my first lager, and fourth batch total.

6 lbs Dry Ex Light Malt Extract

1/2 lb Light German Crystal Malt

1 1/2 oz Hallertau Hops 4.5%(Boiling) 60 mins

1/2 oz Hallertau Hops 4.5% 30 mins

1 oz Hallertau Hops 4.5% 10 mins

1 oz Hallertau Hops 4.5% 2 mins

Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager yeast

For Bottling:

1 1/4 cup Dry Malt Extract Or 3/4 cup Corn sugar

Thanks.

Yea that'll be hoppy. It may not be huge IBU's, but the lighter the body, the more easily hop bitterness is percieved. If your used to American commercial lagers, this will probably shock you a bit. Getting hops in balance with malts and perception comes with time and experience. If you're unsure about brewing and hops I suggest you start with darker ales. These are easier for beginners because they hide mistakes much better than a lighter lager. Pilsner and lager brewing can be very challenging and a bit disheartening to a beginner as there is'nt much there to cover beginner mistakes. Stick with ales to start getting a feel for what works before delving into the world of finesse! It'll get your confidence up!!!

The recipe looks top heavy with the late hops although the basic bittering IBU level seems in the ballpark. I would guess that OG to be in the mid 40s. As to the FG YMMV due to the fermentablity of the extract, yeast activity (Note: Make a large starter) and other factors.

The OG will be 1.053, and if you do a 2.5 gallon sized boil the IBUs are 18.5. I'd not use all those late hops- I'd bitter with 2 ounces of hallertauer, and half the 2 minute addition, I think.

If you're doing a full boil, though, I'd not do that. Let us know what sized boil you plan, so we can help you.

German pilsners tend to be a bit bitter, but balanced with malt and hops aroma, too.

Thanks, that is all very helpful. I plan to boil about 3.75 gallons. Where does that get me with hop quantities?

And RRBBGG27013, I actually don't like american commercial lagers, but do like Bitburger, Stella, St. Pauli, Pilsner Urquell etc (in something like descending order), though I don't like Becks too much for some reason. Mainly though, my wife much prefers these to ales. I realize this is more difficult that ales, but I willing to take the risk.

Good, man! Brave and tenacious!!! Then good luck and Godspeed!!! Cheers!!!

DRM said:

Thanks, that is all very helpful. I plan to boil about 3.75 gallons. Where does that get me with hop quantities?

And RRBBGG27013, I actually don't like american commercial lagers, but do like Bitburger, Stella, St. Pauli, Pilsner Urquell etc (in something like descending order), though I don't like Becks too much for some reason. Mainly though, my wife much prefers these to ales. I realize this is more difficult that ales, but I willing to take the risk.

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3.75 gallons vs 2.5 gallons isn't very different. I'd still do 2 ounces at 60 minutes, and cut the 2 minute hopping in half.

I would probably leave out the crystal malt. If you want something like Buburger, it is very dry so the crystal will be fighting that. Also, I am not sure if you have bought or picked out the extract but short of using a European extract, I would suggest using the Briess Extra Light extract (their Pilsner extract), it is very light and highly fermentable.

On the hops, I made a German Pils last year and my OG was 1.050 and 40IBUs. I thought the bitterness was spot on. I used 0.5oz Hallertau at 15 minutes and 0.5oz Hallertau at 1 minute. I did not think there was enough hop flavor, I am going to bump those to 0.75-1oz next time. But, of course, hop utilization can have a lot to do with process.

So if I were to follow the median here, maybe I should do something like:

1 1/2 oz Hallertau Hops 4.5%(Boiling) 60 mins

.75 oz Hallertau Hops 4.5% 15 mins

.75 oz Hallertau Hops 4.5% 2 mins

Comments welcome...

Short of downloading a beer software application, you can check your numbers on sites like BeerCalculus.

Thanks, that's a cool website.