Could anyone check my Bohemian Pils recipe?

[eastoftherivernile]

Recipe: Bohemian lager

Batch Size 15L
Boil Size 19L
Efficiency 70%
OG 1.051
FG 1.013
ABV 5.0%
Bitterness
35.0 IBU (Tinseth)
Color 4.6 srm (Morey)

Fermentables
Total grain: 3.550 kg
Weyermann - Pilsner Malt Grain 3kg
Weyermann - Vienna Malt Grain 550g

Hops
Saaz (Czech Republic) 4.5% 22g 60min Pellet IBU 16.4
Saaz (Czech Republic) 4.5% 22g 10min Pellet IBU 6.0
Saaz (Czech Republic) 4.5% 22g 30min Pellet IBU 12.6

Misc
Whirlfloc at 10 mins before boil ends

Yeast
Wyeast - Bohemian Lager

Mash
Single step conversion 75mins at 65C

 

[eastoftherivernile]

My water is very soft with a profile as follows...

Ca+2 = 8.92
Mg+2 = 1.25
SO4-2 = 5.62
Na+ = 12.5
Cl- = 1.5
HCO3- = unknown

Which according to some tools on the internet should not need adjustment for this recipe.

 

[BigEd]

My water is very soft with a profile as follows...

Ca+2 = 8.92
Mg+2 = 1.25
SO4-2 = 5.62
Na+ = 12.5
Cl- = 1.5
HCO3- = unknown

With the very low Ca and Mg it's a pretty safe assumption that your water's alkalinity is very low as well.

Which according to some tools on the internet should not need adjustment for this recipe.

Perhaps on the surface it would seem so as your water is similar to Pilsen water numbers. However, the traditional beers of Pilsen were done with old style multi-step decoction mashes which helped lower the mash pH and dealing with the phytin in the malt in lieu of the lack of Calcium. IMO an addition of Calcium Chloride to bring your Ca+ ppm up to 50-75 would not be a bad idea.

Just curious but why are you adding Vienna malt to a BoPils?

 

[eastoftherivernile]

Perhaps on the surface it would seem so as your water is similar to Pilsen water numbers. However, the traditional beers of Pilsen were done with old style multi-step decoction mashes which helped lower the mash pH and dealing with the phytin in the malt in lieu of the lack of Calcium. IMO an addition of Calcium Chloride to bring your Ca+ ppm up to 50-75 would not be a bad idea.

Thanks for this advice! Is the decoction mash something I could at home or is it better left to the Czech pro's? If I supplement the Ca+ will there be any detrimental impact on my beer?

Just curious but why are you adding Vienna malt to a BoPils?

I seem to remember seeing it on a recipe at some point and I have a fair amount of it lying around. Would you just keep it to BoPils malt?

 

[BigEd]

Thanks for this advice! Is the decoction mash something I could at home or is it better left to the Czech pro's? If I supplement the Ca+ will there be any detrimental impact on my beer?

Quite the opposite, the addition of Calcium will make things going on in the mash happier. The Chloride will act as a bit of a boost to both flavor & body.

I seem to remember seeing it on a recipe at some point and I have a fair amount of it lying around. Would you just keep it to BoPils malt?

I don't doubt you've see it in internet homebrew recipes but Vienna is not a component of Pilsner Urquell or other traditional beers of the style. The beer will certainly still be very good, it's up to you.

 

[eastoftherivernile]

Quite the opposite, the addition of Calcium will make things going on in the mash happier. The Chloride will act as a bit of a boost to both flavor & body.

Does that mean that calcium chloride would be preferable to gypsum then?

I don't doubt you've see it in internet homebrew recipes but Vienna is not a component of Pilsner Urquell or other traditional beers of the style. The beer will certainly still be very good, it's up to you.

I think I'll probably just keep the grain bill traditional to start with and I can always experiment on my next batch!

 

[BigEd]

Does that mean that calcium chloride would be preferable to gypsum then?

Absolutely. Do no use gypsum in this beer.

 

[eastoftherivernile]

Thanks for this.

Incidentally the water report doesn't have HCO3 but it does have "total hardness" reported in mg Ca/l. I've multiplied this by 1.22 which gives me 13.42. Is that my HCO3? Is it significant?

 

[BigEd]

Thanks for this.

Incidentally the water report doesn't have HCO3 but it does have "total hardness" reported in mg Ca/l. I've multiplied this by 1.22 which gives me 13.42. Is that my HCO3? Is it significant?

Yes it is and no it's not. Your residual alkalinity is very low, just what you want for this beer.

 

[eastoftherivernile]

Thanks mate, will let you know how I get on!