Any new impressions? I just ordered a sack each of the Pilsner and Munich from my LHBS. I'm excited to try it in some lagers and maybe a Kolsch.
Thanks for the reminder. I've used the new pilsner malt in several brews since March. A few are sour beers which have not been sampled too much, but three others have been turned around.
A petite saison which consisted of pils ~60% and spelt ~40% is on tap right now and is very tasty. Of course, the gravity and grist were both very modest but the beer itself is good, however, it is dominated by yeast and hops. I really like this beer but it's not like the pilsner malt plays a huge role.
A berliner weisse consisting of pils 70% and wheat 30%. Tart and refreshing. No yeast or hops to get in the way, but the lactic qualities are the real centerpiece. At 5 lbs total grist for 5 gallons, I guess I can't expect much of any malt qualities to poke through. Again, a fantastic beer but certainly not malt-focused.
A cream ale consisting of 62% pils, 26% corn, and some character malts, with a moderate OG. This is probably the best example of beer with the new bag of pilsner malt, and I truly love this beer. Easy drinking, light-mod ABV, and an overall great summer beer. The pilsner malt is just enough to get some grainy malt character but not enough to pull your attention away from everything else. Again, a great beer and probably the best example I've produced with the new bag of pilsner malt. This is my third version of this beer and the first version to use avangard pilsner; the only changes I'll be making to the grist of this beer in the future will be the character malts - the pilsner is there to stay (that's two-thumbs up for the pils
).
Overall, I would say the new bag is very similar to the last in terms of "usual" pilsner malt qualities but just not as much extract potential as the last bag. It's a great pilsner malt IMO.
The munich I/light sack I have (also Avangard) is very good. I've used it in several beer, one of which was 100% dunkle munich. The malt qualities are distinct and pronounced, and in the fresh-bread (with crust) character. Not dark enough to pull off a dunkle on it's own, but the beer was very tasty. I've used this malt in many beers (including the cream ale mentioned above) and it's very good.
The last Avangard malt I've used is their Pale Ale malt and I generally do NOT like it. Very distinct and specific characteristics. Works well in dark malty beers but not great for anything lighter than a brown ale. I won't buy this bag again.
Hope this helps.