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I did not attend any brewing schools. But I trust Pilsner Urquell.

The owners of Dovetail Brewing are graduates of the Siebel Institute, and also graduated from a prestigious brewing school in Munich, Germany. The brewery replicates Old World, time proven brewing methods. If open-air fermentation was problematic, they would not employ that method. I watched a...

The industry pros will disagree with you. Dovetail Brewing (Chicago) does all open air fermentation. They claim that the layer of CO2 protects the beer.

My recent introduction to genuine Festbier was in Frankfurt, Germany. Went to a local Paulaner restaurant (in Old Town), and they had Festbier on the menu. I was expecting an Oktoberfest style beer, the caramel colored sweet beer that is so prevalent in the USA. Much to my surprise, the beer...

Total Wine & More gets cases of Weihenstephaner Festbier every fall. Good stuff! Light years different from a Marzen.

Yes.

The bleach was a very weak solution, perhaps a few tablespoons per gallon. It is effective, and not too expensive. But you cannot let it sit long as it will corrode stainless sreel.

We do not use Starsan. Never have. At times simple bleach has been used. Most often One Step No Rinse is used.

Aha! The Republic of Tejas. The Hill Country perhaps, or New Braunfels where "Der Wurst is the Best"? North Texas, actually. 25 miles north of DFW Airport. Fredericksburg has an authentic German brewery, Altstadt. Good Bavarian food there too!

I was aware of the 'Czechvar' issue with Budweiser, but I've never seen Budvar or Czechvar on any shelves in the U.S. I've looked, but never found. That doesn't mean it's not available 'somewhere' 'Stateside. Texas

Do you find Czechvar in local shops? Budvar sells under the name Czechvar in the US due to trademark issues between them and AB InBev with the Budweiser name. Czechvar is easy to find. Thought there was Budvar on the shelf too.

We used Diamond Lager and W-2124 in our Czech Pilsner. They both turned out very good. Authentic ingredients from the Czech Republic, grain and hops.

Pilsner Urquell is in brown glass bottles today. This is a good thing. But due to transportation and age, it is still hard to find a fresh example. I do not think there was ever a requirement for import beers to be in green bottles.

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated!

When my brewing friend (experienced judge) came over for a serious sampling, the first thing he said was "butter". But it was very subtle, and fit in the BJCP style guidelines. I did not taste it at all. As the sample warmed up a bit, Dave did say it was more evident. Now, I do taste it. Yes...

Our lager version turned out very, very good. Clean, lager-like, even at 64 degrees. Nice with a good malt profile. The BJCP judge who attended the meeting yesterday rated my IRA a 35. Which is not that bad, but the comment was too much "buttered toast" (diacetyl). They said not to confuse...

This yeast (S-04) was a first pitch, first generation. It was sluggish to start, with a 48 hour lag time. Once it got working, it chugged along for about a week. And the off flavor seems to be more prominent now, as the beer has been in the keg sitting at 32 degrees. Plan to brew this again...

Just got some feedback on the IRA, from a real BJCP at a local brewing meeting. Turns out the level of “buttered toast” is excessive. In other words, Diacetyl. But it is acceptable in the BJCP profile. The lager version is clean, with no off flavors. Both came from the same batch, fermented at...

Not sure why, but White Labs has been my "avoid" yeast. Wyeast, and a couple dry yeast brands are all we use. And we use Wyeast rarely. Brewed with WL a number of years (decades?) ago. Never went back.

I know there are one or two major breweries in Germany that use it for coloring.