First time home brewing need help

[Dorji]

Hey, this is my first time here. I am really interested in brewing a pilsner at home and have no idea about the ingredients needed. If someone can give a recipe for one and maybe on what I might need to brew it, will be great. I don't want a stater kit which comes pre mixed. Thanks in advance.

Th

 

[unionrdr]

You'll need some good temp control to brew pilsners or lagers. See the recipe forum in the red strip at the top of the page for some recipe ideas. They're also broken down by brewing style. Extract,all grain or partial mash.

 

[mtnagel]

I'd go into the recipe database for pilsners. I don't have any specific suggestions, but you can find a clone recipe you know you like or find a recipe that is highly rated and has been around awhile. Good luck.

 

[GASoline71]

If you're just getting started in brewing. I'd consider something easier than a true pilsner or a lager. Go for a lightly hopped Pale Ale, or a Blonde ale. They doin't require a lagering step, and they are a lot more forgiving with temp control.

Gary

 

[BigFloyd]

Pilsners are the sort of beer that can reveal every little flaw in your brewing process. You may want to steer away from them (and other lagers) until you develop your techniques and have the right equipment (like a controlled fermenter chamber).

Good first brews include straightforward ales like pale, amber, blonde, brown, and porter.

 

[Trox]

Besides the Recipe section on these forums, Beersmith also has some good recipes (not sure if you need the software to look at them but i don't think so), and I've noticed some of the Homebrewing vendors (such as Northernbrewer.com) will list the ingredients that come in the kits.

As others have said you might want to look into doing something else before a pilsner; especially if you don't have the right equipment. Kits a generally pretty nice to start out with because you know you have all the proper ingredients, and if you go through a well know vendor you know you will get a quality product, so you can really focus on your technique.

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

As has already been stated, pilsners are just about the hardest style to do properly, especially if you are using extract for the base (extract is invariably darker than an equivalent all-grain recipe, due to the process it has undergone, with LME being darker than DME; LME also gets darker the longer it is stored, so if you do use it, get the freshest you can). Furthermore, if you are making the lighter sub-styles - the American pilsner, or American Light Lager derivatives - they often require adjuncts to get the light body. A European Pilsner, especially the authentic Czech style, doesn't have this issue, but it still is quite difficult to make properly. Pilsners are very sensitive to the quality of the ingredients, and to the brewing processes and handling. Making a good pilsner is a challenge to even experienced homebrewers.

One thing you absolutely need to make a pilsner is a fermentation chamber capable of holding lager temperatures (40°F/4°C) for at least a month. This is a relatively short lagering time, but still a necessity for all pils styles.

If you want something similar to a pilsner, but a lot easier to brew, you might consider a cream ale. These were developed to be similar to pilsners, especially the American substyle, but are far less dependent on ingredients and temperature control (I once brewed one at temperatures up to 75°F with good results, though that was exceptionally lucky). They do require adjuncts, which makes it tricky with an all-extract recipe, though using rice syrup and corn sugar should work nicely.

Here's a workable cream ale recipe using extract and specialty grains:

3 lbs. light DME
1.5 lbs. brewer's corn syrup
1.5 lb.s rice extract syrup
1 lb. cara-pils (steep for 20 min. in 150°F water and remove before boiling)
1 oz. Liberty hops (steep with the cara-pils)
White Labs Cream Ale Blend yeast

Getting the corn and rice syrup may prove difficult, however.

 

[Dorji]

Thank you guys I have decided to go with an amber for now. Will wait for the supplies to get here.