Confession time, I’m not a lager fan... however Warsteiner is pretty good.

[brewbama]

I still will swear to this day that the best beer I ever drank was more to do with the situation in which it was consumed rather than the quality of the beverage.

For reference, best beer I've ever drank was a Budweiser. I don't want another, I don't claim it to be great. Even then I knew it was a sh!t beer. Still, the situation>the brew.

+1. Some of the best beer was sitting under the trees in Bavaria. We have a brewery here with a huge Pecan tree that serves the same purpose. Great times. Great beer.

 

[Conehead]

I start making my summer lagers in late December. 2 are done and 2 more to go. That is it, after these are kegged, I only brew IPA's.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I do lagers year 'round. Probably 70% of my 15-20 batches a year are lagers.
They're not just for summer anymore!

 

[LokiM4]

For yeast, I like S-189. It's the only one I use now for pilsners. I did have some success with liquid yeasts (I think Wyeast Munich Lager was one that made a good pilsner), but I find dry to be so convenient. I had some bad experiences with W34/70, so I don't use that any longer.

Can I ask what happened with W34/70 to you/your beer? How did you use/ferment it?

What does S-189 do or offer that W34/70 doesn’t?

 

[passedpawn]

W34/70 let me down on one batch. I think it was some sort of fruity off flavor. I don't think it was an infection. I remember it was one of four identical fermentors. So, it might have been just one bad packet. In this hobby, and at our scale, those things are gonna happen. But that one bad batch was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I had so many past failures making a pilsner I liked, with that yeast.

Afterwards, I tried S-189 and had really good success getting a pilsner I liked. So, I stuck with that one.

 

[passedpawn]

Can I ask what happened with W34/70 to you/your beer? How did you use/ferment it?

What does S-189 do or offer that W34/70 doesn’t?

What I desire is a fairly crisp pilsner - and no odd fruitiness. I suppose everybody has a target and they are all different, so I suppose W34/70 is right for others.

W34/70 let me down on one batch. I think it was some sort of fruity off flavor. I don't think it was an infection. I remember it was one of four identical fermentors - so, it might have been just one bad packet. In this hobby, and at our scale, those things are gonna happen. But that one bad batch was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I had so many past failures making a pilsner I liked, with that yeast.

Afterwards, I tried S-189 and had really good success getting a pilsner I liked. So, I stuck with that one.

Regarding fermentation, I always start fermentation at 50F. If I don't see activity in a day or two, I bump it up a few degrees (that's necessary usually if I didn't start with enough yeast).

 

[Joshuah57]

I've been to Germany on a number of occasions. I'm always amazed how many local beers there always are to choose from. I'm not always a pilsner fan with the American types, but many I have tried in Germany were actually quite good. I can't recall the brand on any of them, but I try something different in every store I get one from. I do have a picture of one German "bier" that was tasty. All in all, I think pilsners are just as good as any other beer. Isn't that the best part of brewing? There are just about unlimited varieties and flavors a person can brew.

Prost!!

 

[LokiM4]

What I desire is a fairly crisp pilsner - and no odd fruitiness. I suppose everybody has a target and they are all different, so I suppose W34/70 is right for others.

W34/70 let me down on one batch. I think it was some sort of fruity off flavor. I don't think it was an infection. I remember it was one of four identical fermentors - so, it might have been just one bad packet. In this hobby, and at our scale, those things are gonna happen. But that one bad batch was just the straw that broke the camel's back. I had so many past failures making a pilsner I liked, with that yeast.

Afterwards, I tried S-189 and had really good success getting a pilsner I liked. So, I stuck with that one.

Regarding fermentation, I always start fermentation at 50F. If I don't see activity in a day or two, I bump it up a few degrees (that's necessary usually if I didn't start with enough yeast).

Thanks for the reply-it definitely makes sense for you to go with what you like and works for you-that’s what HB is all about after all!

Do you pitch one or two sachets of S-189?

Just one more thing, you mention having had past failures at Pilsner with W43/70 then having the fruity flavor that pushed you over the edge. Were the things about the other batches you didn’t like attributable to the yeast or they were just not overall what you wanted and that was the yeast you were using in them?

 

[Die_Beerery]

I've been to Germany on a number of occasions. I'm always amazed how many local beers there always are to choose from. I'm not always a pilsner fan with the American types, but many I have tried in Germany were actually quite good. I can't recall the brand on any of them, but I try something different in every store I get one from. I do have a picture of one German "bier" that was tasty. All in all, I think pilsners are just as good as any other beer. Isn't that the best part of brewing? There are just about unlimited varieties and flavors a person can brew.

Prost!!

That's a wheat beer yo.

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks for the reply-it definitely makes sense for you to go with what you like and works for you-that’s what HB is all about after all!

Do you pitch one or two sachets of S-189?

Just one more thing, you mention having had past failures at Pilsner with W43/70 then having the fruity flavor that pushed you over the edge. Were the things about the other batches you didn’t like attributable to the yeast or they were just not overall what you wanted and that was the yeast you were using in them?

Two per 5g fermentor, or I used saved yeast. I brew a lot of lagers, and usually save yeast in mason jars in the fridge. BTW, I really liked the yeast in the image below for pilsners. According to Wyeast, it's not the right yeast for it, but I tried a lot of them and this one was dynomite (I stuck with it for a while, but availability became an issue and I decided to go back to dry yeast for convenience).

 

[LokiM4]

Two per 5g fermentor, or I used saved yeast. I brew a lot of lagers, and usually save yeast in mason jars in the fridge. BTW, I really liked the yeast in the image below for pilsners. According to Wyeast, it's not the right yeast for it, but I tried a lot of them and this one was dynomite (I stuck with it for a while, but availability became an issue and I decided to go back to dry yeast for convenience).

View attachment 683365

thanks again for the info and tips, I’ll have to try one or both of those.

 

[verboten]

I seem to recall drinking (at 17 YO) a Warsteiner in Wiefelstede. Ah, that was a great trip to Europe.

 

[Joshuah57]

That's a wheat beer yo.

I never said that specific beer was a pilsner. I just said it was a tasty beer I did say that I drank a few German pilsners. One of them being Warsteiner. I took a picture of that specific beer since we dont see too many swing tops here. That was also in the days before I started home brewing too. I knew so little of all the different styles out there.

 

[Lefou]

I'm in the "I love German lagers, but not Warsteiner" camp, but if we all liked the same stuff, the world would be a boring place.
I just hate that it's the only beer they serve on Lufthansa (the only time I drink it).

One of the best beers I ever had was as a last-minute standby on a delayed redeye flight. The wife observed I was getting grumpy at about 1 or 2AM after hours of waiting. When that non-descript non-Bud fizzy drink magically appeared on my tray life got better for a few minutes.