SpanishCastleAle
Well-Known Member
Congrats! Well done! Please post pics of the trip!
Let's make the next time at your brewery, a year from now!!! :rockin:
Hey Ppj, Congrats dude! I was sitting in the crowd and shell-shocked was definitely the way to describe your reaction!
Do you mind posting a bit more details? What kind of yeast did you use? I'm assuming a traditional lagering temperature?
Congrats again!
Let's make the next time at your brewery, a year from now!!! :rockin:
Ok, some notes for you DC and Chicago folks. My wife and I made it safely home and are having some of my beer and mentally comparing it to what we had last night. Like I said earlier, the stuff we were drinking was definitely different from what we were used to. A little darker, a little fuller bodied, very smooth and a long lingering bitterness. I thought I was making all these tweaks to set it apart from what "I knew" PU to taste like and I now realize that it ended up a lot closer to what we were drinking at Hospoda that I had thought. The stuff we were drinking is probably pretty darn close to what they drink in the Czech Republic. I think they may have made some changes to their shipping and the contest is part of an advertizing push about this. I was just lucky that my tweaks to my impression of the standard imported version made it more like the stuff you get in the Old World. The original is better than mine - more refined. The mouthfeel is very similar. The bitterness in mine is actually a little smoother, probably a few less IBUs, but the real stuff is a little creamier. Mine has some subtle notes of iced tea and the original had just the slightest hints of some toastyness - pretty similar, but slightly different. My wife thinks my water was still a little too hard, and I think she may be right. It was 1/2 distilled.
Rhoobarb said:You guys are really making me look forward to this. I don't think my Pils has an ice cube's chance in hell of winning, but I think it'll be a great experience. My wife and I will be there tomorrow night.
Big congrats to you both! Damn fine job.
Lilrascal said:My wife an I will be there. Not only is this my first pilsner, it will be my first Lager. I don't feel like I have much chance either. Mine could use more bitterness.
Wish I didn't have to work the next day, so I could stay overnight and not have to drive back to Wisconsin the same night.
I'm glad you folks did so well! I guess it proves what a great site this is. Congrats y'all!
Well I still can't believe it, but I got 3rd. :rockin: I am pretty happy considering this competition was my first attempt at ever even making a lager. Like I said before, I knew mine was a real clean good pilsner, just lacked some of that hop character of the real Pilsner Urquell. I got a little nervous when I saw the judges tasting them next to PU to compare. They said competition was close and they had narrowed it down to 8. Couldn't believe it when my name was called.
Got to talk to judges afterwards, and they confirmed my thoughts, about needing just a little more hops. One judge said there were a clear top 4. Another said he had mine in 2nd. Although disappointed in not getting the trip to Prague, I way exceeded my expectations.
Here I am on the left standing next to Vaclav Berka, Pilsner Urquells Brewmaster. Winner in the middle, with second on the right.
That was you Rascal? Congratulations! My wife and I were sittting at the table up front by you. I was wearing a black and blue checkered shirt and congratulated you and the others upon your winning.
Chris
I sure hope they decide to do it again next year. Though I am sure intrest will be higher next year making it hard to get one of those 50 spots. Maybe the top 3 will automatically get invited back.
Congrats lilrascal - great stuff! Did you try any unique tweaks to the standard bohemian pils recipes? This was my first real pilsner, and decoction too. I added some munich to kick up the malt profile and added a whirlpool addition of saaz to enhance the aroma a bit.
That's me on the right, I took second. I don't post here anymore but friend linked me to this thread and it's cool to read other peoples experiences.Here I am on the left standing next to Vaclav Berka, Pilsner Urquells Brewmaster. Winner in the middle, with second on the right.
That's me on the right, I took second. I don't post here anymore but friend linked me to this thread and it's cool to read other peoples experiences.
This is one of my favorite styles to brew but this is the first time I've brewed any beer specifically for a competition and was very happy with how it turned out. Even though I didn't win, it was a great comp since it was free and on the way to the Great Taste of the Midwest, so I didn't really have anything invested in it. I would have stuck around and talked to the judges but I was with a large group of people who probably didn't feel like waiting plus we had reservations at The Publican.
I would be very interested to know what yeast everyone who entered used.
You too, and that is especially impressive since you are new to lager brewing.It was nice to meet you. I did stop by to speak with some of the judges. They were real complimentary, and confirmed my suspicions on what I could have done to improve on it slightly. I went with Wyeast 2001 Urquell yeast.
I would be very interested to know what yeast everyone who entered used.
For me it finished at 1.010 and had peerless clarity after 2-3 weeks of lagering. 802 is supposedly the Budvar strain, so very much Czech in origin but you are right it's not the Urquell strain. I've heard several sources say PU use a blend of around 7 strains, one of which is 2001, but in the book they gave us at the comp they said they still use the same single strain Joseph Groll brought from Bavaria...so who knows. I like 2001 a lot but as I said I figured a lot of people would use it since it's labeled as the Urquell strain so I figured I would give 802 a shot to make my beer stand out. As much as I love 2001, I think 801 might be my new go to for Bohemian lagers. I have a U Fleku clone fermenting right now, so we will see how it does in dark beers.I dont know what happened to the WL802, but it was really hazy while the WL800 was perfectly clear. Also the 802 had a slight fruitiness that Kyle mentioned. Oh, FWIW, Mark claims to have some PU yeast and said there is no way in h*ll that the WL802 is their proprietary strain.
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