Noble Pils

Just brewed my first all grain beer! I decided to use the Sam Adams noble pils recipe from the zymurgy magazine.

7.2 lb 2-row
2.4 lb pils

2 oz hallertau 4.6%aa (60 min)
.5 oz saaz 4%aa (5 min)
.25 oz tettnang 4%aa (5 min)
.8 oz tettnang (dryhop)
.6 oz saaz (dryhop)
.4 oz spalt (dryhop)
.2 oz hersbrucker (dryhop)

lager yeast (Wyeast 2206)

OG 1.049
FG 1.012
IBU 24
SRM 5
Eff 70%

Mash in at 122 degrees for 10 min, raise to 154 degrees for 15 min, then raise to mash off of 170 degrees.

60 min boil
Ferment at 50 degrees until complete
Rack and lager at 32 degrees for 4 weeks

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Pitched the yeast into a 1/2 quart starter @ 50F 1.040 gravity. Then added a 1/2 quart more for 4 days in row. Afterwards I put it in the refrigerator for 1 day before decanting.

Step mashed the grain at 122 for 10 minutes, then 154 for 45 minutes, and 15 minute mashout at 170. I did this on the stove top. Used my hard water for this brew. For some reason the pH level did not come down low enough, so I added 2 teaspoons of calcium carbonate to get it down to high 5's which was close enough for me.





Through the tun..




Afterwords..



During the boil..




Ended up with a gravity reading spot on at 1.049.

Fermenting happily right now at 50F


I don't know if this is normal, but it seems very dark for SRM 5...?


After it it is done fermenting I plan to rack per the recipe and lager 4 weeks at 30F. Then keg and dry hop.

Looks pretty normal in color to me. It usually looks a good bit darker when you're looking at 5 gallons of it in a carboy than it will be in a pint glass. How big is that carboy?

Looks normal to me......remember that it looks darker in bulk..the color will be lighter by the glass

LOL.....dude above beat me by milliseconds...enjoy your brew!!

6.5 gal carboy. thanks guys! I hope it turns out !!

I am going to brew this recipe Sunday.
I typically use a BIAB method. I can start and 122* and heat it up from there but I am curious what the point of that is? What would be the difference in the beer if I just mashed in at 154*?

I made this recipe today. I did a double decoction, my first ever decoction attempt. My gravity was 1.056 instead of the 1.049 I was expecting. I've read that decoctions lend a higher gravity and it looks like that was the case for me. I made 10 gallons and split it in two fermenters. I pitched Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) in one and Wyeast 2112 (California Lager) in the other. I'm looking forward to the results!

If I were doing a single infusion, I would skip the 122F step. The malts should be modified well enough to do an infusion at 154F and get good results. Next time I make a Bohemian pilsner, I'm going to skip the decoction and add a bit of melanoidin malt.

Rookie question. With the pilsner in there shouldn't you do a 90 minute boil to eliminate DMS?

wittmania said:

Rookie question. With the pilsner in there shouldn't you do a 90 minute boil to eliminate DMS?

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I would (did). I switched the pilsner and 2-row proportions so I did the 90 minute boil specifically for that reason.

tochsner said:

I am going to brew this recipe Sunday.
I typically use a BIAB method. I can start and 122* and heat it up from there but I am curious what the point of that is? What would be the difference in the beer if I just mashed in at 154*?

Click to expand...

Last night I was reading How To Brew, and this very topic stuck in my head. Most malted grains are well modified, but there are a few such as pilsner malt and oat malt that are only moderately modified. In order to order to maximize mash efficiency, these grains can be held at a protein rest at about 122* for about 20 minutes before being brought up to the mash temperature.