Pils recipe

[dantzerman]

Hi, I am getting ready to make my version of a Bohemian Pilsner and enter it in a contest. I plan to make a 10-13 gal batch and I have a 26 gal cooking kettle. I used Beer Smith software to scale my recipe and help with water volumes. I wanted to try a process modification and was wondering if there are any reasons against it. This will be my largest batch ever.

Specifically, during boiling I wanted to boil for the standard 90 min, add the bittering hops after 15 min and the aroma hops after 60 min, removing all hops after 75 min and then add irish moss to boil for 15 min. The reason is that I was thinking the irish moss may get tied up in the hops bags. I was going to add 10 percent extra hops to my recipe to compensate for the last 15 min of boil without hops. I also like using hop cones that swell alot rather than the pellets.
Thank you for you comments and please drink a beer for me.

 

[botigol]

I don't have any comment specific to the process, but would like to interject that since you are brewing this specifically for competition, that it seems like you should stick with a process with which you are familiar.

 

[VladOfTrub]

It is the biggest batch, ever. Probably, your first time brewing Pils and you are entering the product in a contest. OK.... I like your exuberance and hope you do well in your endeavor.
You are making syrup or powder beer, right? You mention a 26 gallon kettle, but not any tuns.

"The reason is that I was thinking the irish moss may get tied up in the hops bags."

What lead you to think that finings added into the boiler will get tied up in hop bags? There is only hops in the hop bag, no wort?

Boil the wort past the hot break before adding the bittering hops. When 50 minutes goes by, toss in the moss and finish out the 60 minute boil. Turn off the fire and toss in the finishing hops. Boom, done.
With a 26 gallon kettle, why are you using hop bags with leaf? Throw the hops in the kettle, loose. The hops will fall to the bottom of the kettle and will provide a filter as the wort is drawn out of the boiler. Some kind of hop blocker will be needed.

Start out by reading Noonan's book on brewing Lager.

 

[dantzerman]

Hi, i have made pils before and use pretty much the same techniques that I use for ales except for type of yeast, cooler fermentation temp and a secondary fermentation (lagering) at even cooler temp. I use all grain. I have a 50 L ice chest with filtered bottom for a lautering tun but will need to use a second bucket lautering tun as this recipe will be too large. I use a small pump to circulate the beer through the grains as well as through an electric heated tun to maintain lautering temperature.

I have been amazed to see the effects of the irish moss tying up the proteins and making a gluey mass on the bottom of my kettle which hold together and does not get to go to my fermentation container.

If I had a false bottom on my kettle or blocker I could throw the hops in as you suggested. You make it sound so simple. Boom done. I guess you are not worried (as I am) about sterilizing those finishing hops.

My kettle is modified with a large hole and valve for dumping the grains into my lautering tun as well as a small hole and valve for slow removal of my beer after boil.

Thanks for the book suggestion. I do not have that one. I will need to order it from Amazon. It was not available in my beer shop.

I already bought the grains and will brew within a few days so Noonan's book will have to wait. The competition winner gets their beer made by my wife's company for the companies 150 year anniversary. The beer wîll be picked on June 28th. Any other suggestions or comments are most welcome. Any recipe improvements? Right now I am using see attachment. It is going to be summer so I was wondering about adding orange peel.

Thanks

 

[wobdee]

That recipe is too dark for a Pils, I'd drop the caramunich, buiscut and crystal. I like my Pils with 95% Pils malt and a touch of Munich and carapils.

 

[dantzerman]

That is an interesting comment because I need to be more focussed on the preferred flavor of the people who will be drinking the beer rather than my own preferred tastes. That would then become a blond or Golden colored.

Bill's Golden Pils Beer. (my name is Bill) Thanks

 

[Yooper]

Remember that removing the hops won't decrease the bitterness. What happens is when you boil the hops, it's the oils in the hops that are isomerized and create bittering. Removing the vegetal matter (the hops themselves) won't remove the oils that are 'loose' in the wort, so I don't see the point at all in removing them but it shouldn't do any harm to the beer. There is no need to 'sterilize' hops, as I even dryhop with them (no boil at all).

I love Bohemian pilsner! The water is really the most important part here- using soft water with no alkalinity (like RO or distilled water) is one of the keys to the flavor and texture of a good one.

I would hate to have orange peel or something added to a nice BoPils, as I think most people who are drinking BoPils are expecting something like Pilsner Urquell which is the classic and most well known BoPils.

The best BoPils I ever made was 100% RO water with a double decoction of nearly 100% continental pilsner malt and some acidulated malt for pH adjustment. Simpler is best, usually!

If you've already mixed and crushed the grain, of course, the recipe is set in stone but I'd adjust it if possible.

I've never had a problem with using whirlfloc or Irish moss, but if it's making a gluey mass, maybe it's not proteins but instead a starch issue? You could check conversion with iodine if that is a possibility.

 

[dantzerman]

Nope, I won't grind for another 3 days as I am getting my equipment ready.

Here is a photo of my coagulation (gluey mass) I was referring to.

Thanks

 

[dantzerman]

I just realized Beer smith used Noonan's book in their decoction mash, triple, Lager instructions and quotes it in their Mash notes. Here is possibly my final recipe. Many thanks to BeerSmith and Homebrewtalk!

 

[dantzerman]

Here is how the brew day went

photo

1 milling
2 Mashing; removed for decoctions
3 Mashing; electical heating decoction
4 Starch Test early mash
5 Starch Test end of mash
6 Lautering; recirculating through electric heater and two lautering tuns
7 Lautering; used small electric food grade "beer pump"
8 Lautering; and transfer into kettle
9 Boiling Wort with hops gas heat
10 Cooling water passed through ice water bath

and continued on next reply

 

[dantzerman]

and

photo

11 Cooling wort
12 Aerating and transfer wort
13 Left over trub and irish moss
14 Density measurement
15 Fermentor filled

The yeast started producing alcohol without delay

 

[dantzerman]

Beer is bottled and ready for the contest. Off to design a new recipe.

 

[kh54s10]

You have this beer bottled for a contest after 14 days?? What about lagering your Bohemian Pilsner? IMO, this beer should not be ready to be bottled for at least 2 more weeks.

My profile for my Bohemian lager will be 2 weeks at 50, 2 days at 60 (diacetyl rest), 2-3 weeks lowering from 50 degrees to 34 degrees. Then packaging.

 

[dantzerman]

Thank you for your comment. I do not have temp control. My garage has been reaching 59 degrees F. I would be interested in hearing inexpensive ways to cool 50 L volumes of fermenting beer. I can also search around on this site for other post on cooling.

 

[madscientist451]

A cheap temperature control unit is a cardboard box lined with 1 " insulation board, seal the inside corners and joints with duct tape.
Freeze 1 and 2 liter bottles of water and put them in with your fermentor.
The number and size of bottles will vary with your ambient temp.
You'll need extra frozen bottles and will have to change them out 12-24 hrs.
If you are going to brew pilsner beers for competition, you need some type of temperature control or the right ambient temperature to have beer that will be competitive.
I've used the methods described at the Brulosophy site with good results:

http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/

 

[dantzerman]

my journey to understanding yeast has started!

 

[dfhar]

Corn in a bopils?

 

[LLBrewer]

Corn in a bopils?

Even more perplexing is a lager attempt with no way to control temperature