I am planning an experiment to compare two different German Pilsner water profiles. The two beers I am roughly aiming for are from the extreme opposite ends of Germany: the Schönramer Pils from southeast Bavaria and Jever from northwest Germany. These are among two of the most-beloved German pilsners, possibly because they are more heavily hopped (both around 40 IBUs) than many other German pilsners. But they have different water profiles. Jever has a much higher sulfate level and so should (even though they both have the same sulfate to chloride ratio) seem drier and more bitter.
Initially I was going to brew two identical batches with different water profiles, but I realized it would be easier to have one mash and then boil them separately and adjust the sulfate in one half to match the “Jever” profile since that is (I believe) where the magic happens in terms of sulfate level and perceived bitterness.
Several articles sent me down this path. The first is @mabrungard ’s March-April 2014 Zymurgy article on brewing water in Bavaria. In his discussion of how to deal with the high temporary hardness of the water in Bavaria, he states that:
“Lime-softening is another process that also drives off CO2 and causes chalk to precipitate. When the chalk has settled and the water is clear, the water is decanted off the sediment and is ready to use. This treatment reduces both hardness and alkalinity.”
The recent Craft Beer and Brewing profile of Schönramer and American brewmaster Eric Toft talks about their water:
The local water is subalpine—literally, the Alps are just over there—and rich in bicarbonates, which can make beer taste harsh. Toft says that at Schönram they use an old-fashioned method to “soften” the water: they add slaked lime, a.k.a. calcium hydroxide. That allows the bicarbonates to precipitate out. “It’s a simple physical process,” Toft says. “No ionization, no reverse osmosis.”
This really appealed to me. I am fortunate to have excellent tap water that is quite soft. I am lucky that I don’t need an RO system. I use Bru’n Water to help calculate some simple salt additions and pH adjustments and don’t want it to be any more complicated than that. In Martin’s article he gives a Bavarian water profile that I am guessing is close to what Schönramer has since their process is pretty much what Martin describes. I could start with RO water and try to exactly mimic that profile, but in the spirit of keeping it pure and simple (and because I want to hone in on a standard recipe and I have no interest in using anything other than my tap water in the future) I am going to go with what I have coming out of the tap and start with that. I add metabisulfite to deal with the chlorine and then I am going to add enough gypsum to get the profile in column 4. I will adjust the pH with lactic acid rather than through the salt additions.
My recipe is a version of the Schönramer Pils recipe in Craft Beer and Brewing. Just German pilsner malt mashed in at 131 with rests at 145, 158 and a decoction to get it up to mashout at 168. Then I will divide the mash evenly and boil one half as is and the other will get a gypsum addition to raise the sulfate up to a more Jever-isch level. Hop additions are FWH, at 50 minutes, at 15 minutes, at 3 minutes and whirlpool. I just bought some 2020 crop German Hallertau Mittelfrüh whole hops for the late hop additions. My house lager yeast in WLP 830 (Toft says they use 34/70).
Anybody tried anything like this before? Does it actually make sense to do it this way (gypsum addition in the boil rather than before mashing)? Any predictions as to whether the difference will be noticeable?
Initially I was going to brew two identical batches with different water profiles, but I realized it would be easier to have one mash and then boil them separately and adjust the sulfate in one half to match the “Jever” profile since that is (I believe) where the magic happens in terms of sulfate level and perceived bitterness.
Several articles sent me down this path. The first is @mabrungard ’s March-April 2014 Zymurgy article on brewing water in Bavaria. In his discussion of how to deal with the high temporary hardness of the water in Bavaria, he states that:
“Lime-softening is another process that also drives off CO2 and causes chalk to precipitate. When the chalk has settled and the water is clear, the water is decanted off the sediment and is ready to use. This treatment reduces both hardness and alkalinity.”
The recent Craft Beer and Brewing profile of Schönramer and American brewmaster Eric Toft talks about their water:
The local water is subalpine—literally, the Alps are just over there—and rich in bicarbonates, which can make beer taste harsh. Toft says that at Schönram they use an old-fashioned method to “soften” the water: they add slaked lime, a.k.a. calcium hydroxide. That allows the bicarbonates to precipitate out. “It’s a simple physical process,” Toft says. “No ionization, no reverse osmosis.”
This really appealed to me. I am fortunate to have excellent tap water that is quite soft. I am lucky that I don’t need an RO system. I use Bru’n Water to help calculate some simple salt additions and pH adjustments and don’t want it to be any more complicated than that. In Martin’s article he gives a Bavarian water profile that I am guessing is close to what Schönramer has since their process is pretty much what Martin describes. I could start with RO water and try to exactly mimic that profile, but in the spirit of keeping it pure and simple (and because I want to hone in on a standard recipe and I have no interest in using anything other than my tap water in the future) I am going to go with what I have coming out of the tap and start with that. I add metabisulfite to deal with the chlorine and then I am going to add enough gypsum to get the profile in column 4. I will adjust the pH with lactic acid rather than through the salt additions.
| My tap water | Bavaria | Jever | Treated water for mash | Added Gypsum to boil | |
| Calcium | 11 | 16 | 46 | 17 | 35 |
| Magnesium | 1 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Sodium | 22 | 5 | 15 | 24 | 24 |
| Sulfate | 9 | 18 | 75 | 34 | 78 |
| Chloride | 34 | 10 | 30 | 34 | 34 |
| Bicarbonate | 19 | 75 | 60 | ||
| Residual Alkalinity (RA | 7 | 44 | 13 |
My recipe is a version of the Schönramer Pils recipe in Craft Beer and Brewing. Just German pilsner malt mashed in at 131 with rests at 145, 158 and a decoction to get it up to mashout at 168. Then I will divide the mash evenly and boil one half as is and the other will get a gypsum addition to raise the sulfate up to a more Jever-isch level. Hop additions are FWH, at 50 minutes, at 15 minutes, at 3 minutes and whirlpool. I just bought some 2020 crop German Hallertau Mittelfrüh whole hops for the late hop additions. My house lager yeast in WLP 830 (Toft says they use 34/70).
Anybody tried anything like this before? Does it actually make sense to do it this way (gypsum addition in the boil rather than before mashing)? Any predictions as to whether the difference will be noticeable?
