60 minute boil mistake?

[bruhaha]

Hello all. I am tapping my first 5.5G BIAB Pilsner that I designed on BeerSmith. I used 9# German Pils malts and 1# of Cara-pils. 2 total oz hops combo of Hallertau and Saaz at 60/30/15. Total 60 min boil for this 5.5G batch with calculated IBUs of 25.

Fermented with WLP800 from starter @ 49F two weeks, free rise to 65F two days, racked to keg and lagered 33F almost 2 months now. I chilled rapidly with an IC using an ice water bath and submersion pump to get it down quickly before pitching yeast, both at ferm temps.

My beer is awesome and just beautiful. BUT, I tasted my beer heads up against a Paulaner Munich Lager. My beer has a subtle, for the lack of a better word, "fresh grain taste" in comparison to the Paulaner. My grain profile seems to sparkle and shine, where the Paulaner is more subtle or rounded. I know multiple factors can come into play, and I bet the Paulaner was brewed way long ago in comparison. More mature?

With my water adjusted for similar Munich styles, did my boil of only 60 minutes cause my beer to have that fresh grain taste? I have no DMS associated corn taste or off flavors I know to look for. Or is this grain forward taste simply a product of aging and lagering? Or maybe the grain bill in recipe I used? Searching for answers.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Give it time. I've had brews that had a grainy taste that disappeared in a month or two. Keep in mind also that Paulaner may filter their beer. With pilsner malts, I do usually give them a 90 min boil. With modern malts I'm not sure if that is necessary but it certainly can't hurt. Either way, time often helps the flavors meld together so you may find it a non-issue.

 

[bruhaha]

Give it time. I've had brews that had a grainy taste that disappeared in a month or two. Keep in mind also that Paulaner may filter their beer. With pilsner malts, I do usually give them a 90 min boil. With modern malts I'm not sure if that is necessary but it certainly can't hurt. Either way, time often helps the flavors meld together so you may find it a non-issue.

I'm sure you remember "back then" when you did a new beer for the first time you were chomping at the bit to launch into it. I knew going into a Pilsner that is was not a short G2G beer. Good advice to let it ride on out some, plus I'll make tasting notes as it ages.

The beer really works for me, so my strategy is going to brew a couple of 11G batches and just let the kegs lager away. I got the equipment to do this, so all sounds good.

My adjustments, if you agree, will be to increase to a 90 min boil and lager longer. I hope my assessment is accurate in that the beer has a "fresh grain taste" and I'm not mistaking that for a "fresh beer" taste.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I'm not sure you necessarily need to lager it any longer. I will let mine (ales and lagers) sit and condition a while at room temp. But I bottle so I don't have any experience with keg conditioning. Bottom line is that time should smooth things out. With a lot of my brews I will stash a few of them away for a while just to see how the flavor changes over time. Especially with high gravity brews, I usually notice a lot of changes over time.

 

[TX_Brewing]

Also know that many European brewers have grains malted to their specs that we cannot get a hold of.... However I agree with the others let it ride and maybe adjust future batches if needed.

 

[unionrdr]

Is it good & clear? Mine used well modified malts, & still seems to want a 90 minute mash @ like 153F to get better conversion. I never get the grainy taste, just a bit hazy. A Euro lager sort of flavor as well. Maybe the pound of carapils? I never used more than half a pound in my recipes?

 

[bruhaha]

Is it good & clear? Mine used well modified malts, & still seems to want a 90 minute mash @ like 153F to get better conversion. I never get the grainy taste, just a bit hazy. A Euro lager sort of flavor as well. Maybe the pound of carapils? I never used more than half a pound in my recipes?

Good points. I'd say it was 95% crystal clear but a slight 5% haze...not chill haze as it doesn't get 100% clear at room temp. I attributed this to the German lager yeast flocculation factor, but I think you may be on to something to suggest a longer mash time to ensure conversion.

Too much carapils.....another good point. I may need to rethink my recipe. BeerSmith is good at giving the baseline info, unfortunately it can't say this beer wont be any good! I kinda designed this recipe out of the blue, and frankly, I don't have the experience to know the pitfalls. I am learning by trial and error.

 

[unionrdr]

Since it doesn't clear @ room temp, it must be starch haze.

 

[bruhaha]

Since it doesn't clear @ room temp, it must be starch haze.

Would starch haze be a result of improper mash times and/or mash temps?

 

[unionrdr]

Possibly. But typically incomplete conversion during the mash. This can also be due to insufficient diastatic power of the base malts in the mash. In other words, not enough power to convert the grains in the mash that need converting, like various base malts, specialties & the like...other than caramel/crystal, carafa's, etc.