Cloning Bent Paddle Venture Pils (Pilsener Lager)

[itsgus]

I need help finishing a clone recipe!

This link should take you to Bent Paddle's list of flagship beers, the top one being Venture Pils.

The ingredients listed are:

• ABV: 5.0%
• IBU: 38
• Malts: Pilsener, 2-Row, Carafoam
• Hops: Sterling, Saaz, German Tradition

Knowing this information, I've started putting together a recipe, but there are some gaps I could use some help with.

For a 5 gallon batch, I've got:

• 9 lbs Pilsner Malt
• 8.0 oz Carafoam
• 1.00 oz Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 30.7 IBUs
• 1.00 oz Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7.6 IBUs
• 1.00 oz German Tradition [6.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 1.1 IBUs
• German Lager (White Labs #WLP830)

For water, 50/50 mix of distilled and tap.

My questions are:

1. Malt. How is the 2-row used in the process? A lot of pilsner recipes use just 100% pilsner malt. Some use 90% pilsner malt with a little munich or vienna for slightly more toasty/maltiness. Is that what they're doing with the 2-row?
2. Hops. The list mentions sterling, saaz, german tradition in that order. If we were to use that as a hint, I'd guess sterling is used for bittering. Between saaz and german tradition, how do you suppose those are used for flavor/aroma near the end of the boil?
3. Yeast. Not listed on the site. I considered saflager 34/70 because venture pils is so clean, but at the store I decided to go with WLP830. Thoughts?

 

[Juno_Malone]

My thoughts:

If they mention Pilsner malt and 2-row, my guess is it's something like 80% Pilsner and 20% 2-row. So I'd go maybe 7lb Pilsner malt, 2lb 2-row.

As far as yeasts - if they don't give any hints about yeast, I'd stick to something close to the style. Wyeast 2007 American Pilsen Lager, Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager, or Wyeast 2278 Czech Pilsen. The WhiteLabs equivalents to those are WLP840, WLP830, and unsure what equates to 2278, respectively. I'd say 2124/830 is your best bet out of these.

Hops - I agree, Sterling is likely the bittering hop. If you are doing a 90-minute boil (which I recommend for lagers/pilsners), I'd add them at 70 minutes. If you are doing a 60-minute boil, add them at 60. As far as when to add Saaz/German Tradition, your guess is as good as mine. I'd go with Saaz @ 15, GT @ 5. Tweak all of the amounts based on the AA% to hit your desired 38 IBU (the majority of which should be coming from your Sterling addition)

 

[giraffe]

+1

I havent had the beer, but Ill assume the two row is used to cut the pilsner malt as a cost saving measure. While two row would be a tiny bit more toasty, I think they are just using it to keep costs down.

Both saaz and tradition are fine finishing hops, id mix them half and half for each flavor/aroma addition. Though it would be likely fine in any combination. Sterling is a domestic higher AA saaz substitute. Its probably for bittering.

Isnt 830 the same strain as 34/70? Either way, it will be fine. its a clean strain, with good attenuation.