Czech Premium Pale Lager Bohemian Pilsner (Silver Medalist)

[kimognicklas]

Do you have a beersmith recipe that you could upload?

 

[crusader1612]

Looks good will be doing this soon and subbing saaz for Riwaka. (It's a saaz variety) how many dry packs should be pitched at 50 and how many at 62??

 

[hunter_le five]

Just put a 5 gallon batch into the fermenter. I missed my mash temps slightly on the decoctions, but hopefully it will be close enough to still be good (this was my first attempt at decoction mashing). I ended up with an OG of 1.060 after adding top up water, I lost quite a bit of volume on the 90min boil. I'll post the results when it's ready.

 

[hunter_le five]

Just put a 5 gallon batch into the fermenter. I missed my mash temps slightly on the decoctions, but hopefully it will be close enough to still be good (this was my first attempt at decoction mashing). I ended up with an OG of 1.060 after adding top up water, I lost quite a bit of volume on the 90min boil. I'll post the results when it's ready.

Just kegged it. My fermentation stalled out a bit higher than I wanted at 1.020, but that's still around 5.25%abv so I guess that's not horrible attenuation, it will just be a bit more full-bodied than I was going for. I wonder if thats from my mash temps being a tad high or if I botched the decoction a bit.

Anyway, the sample I took tasted pretty good and was nice and clear, so I still have high hopes for this beer. I'll report back with a picture in six weeks or so after lagering is complete.

 

[YeastieBoys]

scored 43.5

my grains, hops, and yeast came from AustinHomeBrew
Recipe started a while back based on the brewing classic styles

My water is 2:1 distilled to well water (I live in the country) which creates close to the pilsen profile.

11# german 2-row pilsner
about 12 ounces of dextrine malt (or whatever you like for head retention, cara-foam, cara-pils, etc.)

I did a double decoction:
infuse 4.41 gal at 157.2 to get first step of 148F for 60 minutes
with 30 minutes left, pull decoction 1, heat decoction 1 to 158F, let it rest for 10 minutes, then heat to a boil for remaining 15 minutes of Mash rest.
return decoction 1 slowly to main mash, until you get to 158F in main mash. Any remainder should be cooled to 158 then added in.
Immediately pull decoction 2 and bring it to boil during this 30 minute 158F mash rest.
return decoction 2, whole thing. You want 168F or higher ideally.

I batch sparged.

90 minute boil,
.75 saaz 5.8% @ 60min
1.5 saaz 5.8% @ 30min
1.0 saaz 5.8% @ 10min
1.0 saaz 5.8% @ 0min

chill, whirlpool, siphon to carboy, aerate with aquarium pump through hepa filter off and on until reached 30 minutes of pumping time (letting foam subside as necessary and counting time to a total). Pitch dry yeast directly into fermenter, fermenter at about 68F by this time, and in lager freezer set to 50F with 1 degree differential, so it quickly is taken to 50F.

after 2 weeks or so, ramp up 1 degree every 12 hours to 62F and finish out a week.

Rack to keg, chill to 32F, store for 1 month, then enjoy.

I used the BierMuncher Bottle Filler to fill bottles from keg to send to competition.

Solid recipe. I lagered for six months. My buddies and I rifled.through the keg in one night. One of my best beers to date. I'll definitely be doing this again. I used wl 830 for the yeast. Great yeast strand.

 

[YeastieBoys]

Looks good will be doing this soon and subbing saaz for Riwaka. (It's a saaz variety) how many dry packs should be pitched at 50 and how many at 62??

Pitch two dry packs for the 50 and one for the 62. I would recommend doing a yeast starter though.

 

[BDsnakey]

how did they turn out?

 

[YeastieBoys]

Just did an 11 gallon batch. Hit my numbers at 1.056. Fermentin at 50 degrees right now. This is an excellent recipe. I used Czech Saaz throughout, but the AA% were 3.0%.

 

[Bigbeavk]

Brewed a 6 gallon batch this past weekend. Hit 1.060 by accident lol. Looking forward to trying this one in a few months.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!

 

[Bigbeavk]

Kegged and delicious! Ready for the holidays. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[YeastieBoys]

Just tapped mine today after three months of lagering. Nice saaz flavor. It finished dry-1.005. Abv was 6.4%, which is too high. Oh well.

 

[crusader1612]

Just tapped mine today after three months of lagering. Nice saaz flavor. It finished dry-1.005. Abv was 6.4%, which is too high. Oh well.

Imperial pilsner...
I recognise the yeastie boys brand name.

 

[YeastieBoys]

Imperial pilsner... I recognise the yeastie boys brand name.

Oh, do you?!

 

[crusader1612]

Oh, do you?!

So are you part of Yeastie Boys or just coincidence?

 

[TheJasonT]

Picked up ingredients to brew this sometime this week. Saaz was only 3.0% AA at my LHBS... Had to nearly double the amount to get above 40 IBUs... Anyways, will let you know how it turns out!

 

[TheJasonT]

Some questions:

1) Is a full double/triple decoction mash necessary for this beer? I'm still planning on doing one, I'm curious to know if I should start with a 122F Protein Rest or just a 145F Beta rest?

2) Has anyone calculated the IBU levels for the additions? With iBrewmaster's calculation for 6 gallons using the Tinseth method, I get, for the four additions, 14.46 IBU, 22.23 IBU, 6.99 IBU, and 0 for the whirlpool addition. Adjusting for 3.0% Saaz, I get 1.4oz for 13.96 IBU, 2.9oz for 22.23 IBU, 1.9oz for 6.87 IBU, and a final addition of .8oz and 2.34 IBU (calculated at 6min) for flameout/whirlpool.

3) My water is relatively soft, but still quite a bit above Pilsen water. Chemistry is:
Ca 59ppm
Mg 7ppm
Na 30ppm
Cl 28ppm
SO4 30ppm
Alkalinity 115ppm

Should I dilute with distilled (thinking 50/50) or just leave it as is?

Thanks!

 

[TheJasonT]

Brewed this yesterday. That was a LONNNNNG brew day. Taste and flavor were great, but I'm really not liking the thought of having to do double decoctions. Thinking of changing to a light body double infusion for next time with the following grist:

(for 6 gallons)
88% Weyermann Floor-Malted Bohemian Pilsner 11lbs
6% Breiss Carapils 12oz
4% Weyermann Munich 1 8oz
2% Weyermann Melanoiden Malt 4oz

Hops:
Czech Saaz 60min 13.69 IBU
Czech Saaz 30min 21.79 IBU
Czech Saaz 10min 6.73 IBU
Czech Saaz 0mini 0.00 IBU (whirlpool 20 minutes)

OG goes up to 1.051, IBUs are at 42.2, and everything stays pretty much the same. My SRM calculator shows an increase to 4.7 instead of 3.5, but only the most hawk-eyed judges would notice that.

Mash schedule for my system is an protein rest infusion of .9qts/lb at 137F (to 122F) for 30 min, a conversion rest at .8qts/lb at 173F (to 150F) for 30min, and a mash out at .8qts/lb at 196F (to 168F) for 10 min.

This schedule should save you a lot of time and yield a very similar beer. Next time I do a BoPils, I'm using this recipe and I'll report the differences. Cheers!

 

[TheJasonT]

This one is done! Finished at 1.014 with a great flavor. Going to lager it for a month before entering it the Best Florida Beer Competition.

 

[jetskeez]

How did your final product turn out after lagering it for a month?

 

[TheJasonT]

I thought it tasted amazing. However, the judges disagreed. They gave this beer a 22/50.

Even though I used 100% Czech Saaz in this, one judge said it had aromas of tropical fruit and mango, a low pils malt aroma, and other significant dings.

However, I did have some issues on getting it to clear. I think my decoction technique needs work because I got an opaque polyphenol haze that didn't disappear with lagering or gelatin finings.

I also think that my bottling needs work. I've been using a growler tube as of the last few times and the judges always seem to ding me for lower than normal carbonation. I think I'll just build a counter pressure filler out of an old siphon tube I have.

Anyways, I really thought this was an excellent beer, no matter what the judges think. Next time, I might use something like Magnum for bittering, but keep the heavy late Saaz additions for all the flavor and aroma.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[crusader1612]

Have you though about using an alternative at 10 mins. Might add some depth of hop flavour. Just a thought.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[doublehaul]

Given the original recipe hop schedule - I added the IBUs from brewersfriend.com:
.75 saaz 5.8% @ 60min 14.91 IBUS
1.5 saaz 5.8% @ 30min 19.10 IBUS
1.0 saaz 5.8% @ 10min 7.21 IBUS
1.0 saaz 5.8% @ 0min 5.8 IBUS
Total IBUS - 41.22

My CZECH SAAZ are 3.1 AA - What do you think about this for adjustments:

1.5 saaz 3.1% @ 60min 15.94 IBUS
2.25 saaz 3.1% @ 30min 18.38 IBUS
1.75 saaz 3.1% @ 10min 6.74 IBUS
1.0 saaz 3.1% @ 0min 3.1 IBUS
Total IBUS - 41.06


6.5 oz seems like alot of hops for a pilsner! And actually - I only have 6 ozs so I'll have to lose 1/2 oz somewhere

 

[barhoc11]

I really want to make up this Pilsner but I don't want to deal with doing a double decoction mash. I have done it before and it took too long and everything I read says melanoiden malt is a suitable replacement.

Is it possible for me to simplify this recipe and do a single decoction type of deal where I put in my infusion water to get the grain up to 148F for 30 minutes and then take out grist and boil it to get me up to 158F for 30 minutes more? After this I would just drain the MLT and then sparge with regular water at 168F.

It seems like thre has to be a good compromise between the double decoction and using melanoiden malts but I am no expert on this subject so I figured I would ask.

EDIT: Changed 142F to 148F

 

[phishie]

I really want to make up this Pilsner but I don't want to deal with doing a double decoction mash. I have done it before and it took too long and everything I read says melanoiden malt is a suitable replacement.

Is it possible for me to simplify this recipe and do a single decoction type of deal where I put in my infusion water to get the grain up to 148F for 30 minutes and then take out grist and boil it to get me up to 158F for 30 minutes more? After this I would just drain the MLT and then sparge with regular water at 168F.

It seems like thre has to be a good compromise between the double decoction and using melanoiden malts but I am no expert on this subject so I figured I would ask.

EDIT: Changed 142F to 148F

Did you ever do this? Looking at doing something similar myself.

 

[jakenbacon]

Beer came out great. Thanks for the recipe OP!

 

[brew703]

Beer came out great. Thanks for the recipe OP!

Did you make any changes? And would you make any changes next time?
I am brewing this on Saturday but using W34/70.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

Did you make any changes? And would you make any changes next time?

I am brewing this on Saturday but using W34/70.

I cant speak for this recipe, however I make a pilsner with 10 lbs pilsner malt, 1 oz perle (60), 3/4 oz tettnang (15), 1/2 oz tettnang (1).. Mash for 4 hours at 148 and use 34/70 as my "go to" yeast.. I absolutely love that beer!! Have no desire to try any other yeast strain for this

 

[jakenbacon]

Did you make any changes? And would you make any changes next time?
I am brewing this on Saturday but using W34/70.

The only thing I changed was yeast, and I used WLP830. Other than that, I won't change a thing next time I brew it again. Good luck!