Thinking about an IPL

[Beernik]

I’m thinking about brewing an IPL/hoppy Pilsner for Memorial Day and seeking a little advice.

I’ve been thinking about starting off with a Bitburger base because there is a personal nostalgia factor. It used Perle & Hallertau hops. But I’m open to American or NZ hops.

To start with, I’m thinking:
5 gallon
IBU = 38, ABV = 4.5%.

I’m considering taking the IBUs as low as 30 and ABV as high as 5.5%.

Grains: 100% German Pilsner

Yeast: Wyeast 2007 (Pilsen Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) yeast

For hops, I want to stay away from anything that might become too catty over time. I don’t drink beer as fast as I used to.

 

[Jag75]

I brewed a rakau pilsner once . Turned out pretty good . Thinking about moteuka next.

 

[dmtaylor]

So brew it. Sounds tasty to me.

 

[Beernik]

I was trolling around Yakama Direct’s webpage and started thinking about Aramis for bittering. It looks like a higher AA version of Strisselspalt with some fruitiness. I was thinking pairing it with a red-fruity hop red like Belma & HBC 630.

@Jag75, I’ve had good luck with Moteuka in the past. I like its lemon-lime flavor. I could go with a refreshing citrus bomb along the lines of Moteuka, El Dorado, Sabro & Cashmere. They would complement Perle as a bittering hop.

 

[Beernik]

I’m working on a recipe using Aramis, Belma, and HBC-630. When I’ve got it, I’ll work on a Perle, Moteuka, & something recipe and make my decision.

Here’s a question I never thought I’d ask:

Would whirlpool hops be pointless since I’m lagering? Should I just hit it with late boil additions and a bunch of dry hops instead?

EDIT: Maybe a more practical reason to avoid whirlpool if is Pilsen’s DMS issues.

 

[Jag75]

I don't think dms would be caused by a whirlpool. That is driven off during the boil. Think of it like this , the wort has to get from boiling temp to pitching temp. 170f is in between those points . Your just adding hops for aroma and flavor on the way to pitching temp.

I think it comes down to what you want . Do you want that big hop profile you get from whirlpooling or do you want to smell that pilsner with the hop aroma in the background?

 

[madscientist451]

I’m thinking about brewing an IPL/hoppy Pilsner for Memorial Day and seeking a little advice.



For hops, I want to stay away from anything that might become too catty over time. I don’t drink beer as fast as I used to.

I just brewed an experimental seltzer/beer hybrid with Saaz and Meridian. 8grams each per gallon. Came out way better than I thought it would.
I was just using up extra hops I had laying around, and was surprised at the results.
My 2 cents: Split your 5 gallon batch (or stretch it out and make 6 gallons) into 3 smaller fermenters and try different approaches depending what you are looking for. I've had some commercial IPL and wasn't all that impressed, but you can take some inspiration from what others have done with the style. If you go overboard on the hops you likely won't notice the flavors of the German pilsner malt. Years ago at Tired Hands Brewery in Philly I had a nice low ABV beer that had Citra, Motueka and Nelson Sauvin. I think that combination would work great in an IPL.
No point in re-inventing the wheel, there is plenty of literature about IPL, Craft Beer And brewing has at least 3 articles and there are many more:
https://beerandbrewing.com/embrace-hoppy-lager-by-whatever-name/

 

[Beernik]

@madscientist451, but I love reinventing the wheel. I’ve been modifying recipes since the second one I brewed, 17ish years ago.
The problem with a double brew day is my system isn’t really geared for doing less than 4 gallons at a time and at my current imbibe-rate, 8 gallons will take two years to drink.

I’ve been on a serious whiskey sour kick for the last 7 years and it’s dramatically cut back my beer brewing & drinking rate. It’s psychological. These long northern Washington winter nights have me craving light & fruity drinks.

This recipe is an attempt to try to get more of that in a beer. I’ve done it in Saison, but right now I’ve also got a thing for Pilsner going on.

I’m staying away from Citra because I don’t want grapefruit. I did consider Nelson. If I use it, I’ll sub it for Belma.

I found hoppy Pils recipe in a book my wife gave me last year and think I’m closing in on a couple recipe drafts.

I’m going to risk killing some-to-all of the Pilsen flavor. It’s more about getting the mouthfeel & crispness of the style & lager yeast without the extreme dryness of a saison.

 

[Beernik]

Here’s what I got for both recipes:
Grains: 12lbs Pilsen
Yeast: WPL830 - German Lager
Mash: 120F - 10 minutes, 140F - 15 minutes, 150F - 45 minutes
90 minute boil

Est OG 1.057
Est FG 1.013
Est ABV 5.8%
IBU: 40

For the fruity:
2oz Aramis for 30 minutes
1oz Belma at flameout
1oz HBC-630 at flamout
1oz Belma dry hop 7 days
1oz HBC-630 dry hop 7 days

For the lemon-lime:
2oz Perle for 30 minutes
1oz Moteuka at flameout
1oz Cashmere at flameout
1oz Moteuka dry hop 7 days
1oz Cashmere dry hop 7 days


I’m not 100% sold on the mash schedule. That’s what I’ve seen for a Bitburger clone. I should have another clone recipe for it somewhere but it might be extract based.

Mostly, I need to decide if I want to be safe with the citrus version because I’m confident I know what it tastes like and that I’ll like it because I’ve brewed many times with Perle and once with Moteuka.

Or do I want to be adventurous and try three hops I’ve never brewed with before.

 

[Beernik]

Update:
The choice was made for me. The LHBS only had the citrus hops. Brew day is tomorrow.

Correction: brew day is Monday. I’m going to half-ass a starter

 

[Beernik]

I’m hoping the slow fermentation takeoff on this beer is because I overshot my set temperature and the wort spent a day between 45F & 50F.

It’s now merrily popping away at 51F.

 

[Beernik]

The airlock started slowing down last night. 8 to 10 days is reasonably standard for my lager fermenting time. I raised the temp up to 56F (high end for this strain). I’ll let it sit here for a two days and then raise it 1.5C/day for a diacetyl rest (just to be sure) and then cold crash it.

 

[Jag75]

You think 56f is high enough for a diacetyl rest? I thought it needs to be at least low to mid 60's.

 

[Beernik]

Sorry, I got a work call while I was finalizing my post. I put the phone down and it posted itself unfinished.

I meant to say raising it 1C/day until I get it to 66F.

 

[Beernik]

I think I’m going to give it one more week (4 total) to carbonate before re-lagering it.

It’s darker than I expected for a 100% Pilsen beer. That probably has a lot to do with burning my bag to the bottom of the kettle.

The flavor is good: lemon-lime with a little bit of herbal plus something like grapefruit or pineapple. There is also a slight menthol-ish bite. It might be the Perle hops or maybe its hot side oxidation.

The texture is creamy & drinks more like a lawnmower beer than a 6.3% beer.

It’s good but when I try it again, I might drop the Perle and increase the IBUs into the 50 - 60 range and up the dry hopping rate. I wanted more there.

I’ll give it a 7 out of 10. Successful but needs more work.