I'm in Love!

[carter840]

Alright Lagunitas Pils!

It's amazing. I got tuned into lagunitas (I'm east coast) as few months ago when I ran a booth for them at a local beer festival, but until yesterday I had not tried their Pilsner. It is incredible! Honestly it's the perfect beer after a long day of work.

So I have been looking all day at Pilsner kits and searching for a clone, but I've come up short. Has anyone had this beer that can also recommend a similar kit or perhaps other homebrewers recipe? I'd like to to a partial mash or extract with specialty.

Also if you haven't had this beer please do try it, but don't drink all of it in the CT/NY region.

Alright back to drinking this delicious brew.

 

[carter840]

Really no one has tried this beer and also brewed their own pilsner? How about a recommendation of a pilsner recipe to homebrew. I tried researching what lagunitas does, but all i could find out is that they use saaz hops and very cold fermentation temperatures. I would like to get a lager going now before it gets too warm.

 

[TopherM]

You've seen one Czech Pilsner, you've kinda seen them all besides very very slight variations here and there, but I can't tell you what would make the Lagunitas any different than others. Here's the blueprint Pils recipe:

100% pilsner malt (about 10lbs for 5 gallons, about 1.05 OG, etc.)
35-45 IBU of Saaz hops
A good clean lager yeast, Like dry Saflager W-34/70 (2 dry packets per 5 gallon batch) or a liquid Czech or Bohemian Pilsner/Lager yeast (1000-1200 ml starter for liquid yeast)

I guess you have a means of temp control? Hard to make a good Pils without pretty precise temp control, and your comment about doing one while it's still cold out kinda makes me think you don't, so just fair warning, if you can't lager a Pils pretty precisely, you aren't going to end up with a Pils. You can't just throw it out in the snow. The fermenting and lagering schedule should go something like this:

Ferment at 52-53F down to a gravity of about 1.02 (1-2 weeks)
Diacetyl rest for 48 hours at about 70F (2 days)
Drop temperture 5 degrees a day from 70-65-60-55-50-45-40-35 (7 days).
Lager at 35F for about 8 weeks. (8 weeks)

If you can hit those temps within 1-2 degrees, go for it, but otherwise, gonna be tough to make a good Pilsner. The devil's in the details when it comes to lagering.

Best of luck!

 

[snooky]

Ferment at 52-53F down to a gravity of about 1.02 (1-2 weeks)
Diacetyl rest for 48 hours at about 70F (2 days)
Drop temperture 5 degrees a day from 70-65-60-55-50-45-40-35 (7 days).
Lager at 35F for about 8 weeks. (8 weeks)

If you can hit those temps within 1-2 degrees, go for it, but otherwise, gonna be tough to make a good Pilsner. The devil's in the details when it comes to lagering.

Although I agree with you that temperature control is important and the schedule above would probably make one very good pilsner, by no means are all of those things necessary. I've brewed some pilsners, and I brew them with the seasons since my basement stays around 48 deg F in the winter.

Even looking at Pilsner Urquell, the best beer that I've had from them was a pilsner at the brewery that was open fermented in their caves beneath the brewery. I don't think they were able to precisely control the temperature and step it down in 5 deg F increments per day to lager temperature in a cave, but I could be wrong.

Although there are a lot of rules that should be followed, cleanliness and sanitation being two of them, I feel that a lot of the rest of brewing is just experimenting and figuring out what works best for you. If the OP decides he wants to lager a beer in the snow and it works for him, and he likes it, who are we to tell him he's doing it wrong?

 

[carter840]

Well that is a shame. Looking like I'll be looking for a mini fridge on craigslist tonight.

 

[carter840]

Well it's a little reassuring to hear that it isn't super critical. To be honest I read a few kit receives on NB that indicated many still really enjoyed the final brew even if they couldn't properly lager. Lets assume that I can get two temperatures only basically 68F and 45F. That's what I've got to work with and I would like to make it work if possible. Can anyone recommend a temperature/time schedule based on that? I am also thinking about making a insulated box at home and running a fan with thermostat to control colder temps(obviously this would only work when it's winter time).

It's just a shame that I can't brew the beer style that I'm into right now, and I am insistent on at least giving it a shot.

 

[snooky]

I am also thinking about making a insulated box at home and running a fan with thermostat to control colder temps(obviously this would only work when it's winter time).

You might want too look into a Son of Fermentation box. You could copy the basic idea and then as an option make it so you could suck in cold outdoor air.

 

[JohnnyO]

Hey neighbor,

I have a pilsner recipe at home, but it is an all grain recipe. I brewed it last year, and it came out delicious. It's a classic German Pilsner recipe. It is slightly (barely) hop forward for the style. If you're interested in that, shoot me a PM, and I will send it to you later (I sometimes forget to revisit threads I've posted in).

Before going this route though, I do recommend you devise a way to control your fermentation temps to lagering range. My basic idea is 50-52F until you near final gravity. Diacetyl rest at 60-62F for two days. Slowly lower temp to 37F (lower 3-5 degrees each day) and begin lagering.

Cheers!

If you haven't already, go to NEBCo and try their Elm City Lager. It's a delicious German Lager.

 

[carter840]

You might want too look into a Son of Fermentation box. You could copy the basic idea and then as an option make it so you could suck in cold outdoor air.

This looks like exactly what I want to do. I am going to wait for a few weeks, my company usually gives out home depot gift cards in Feb, and it would be perfect for this project. I'll either go with ice or just use the whole in my wall where my A/C unit sits to get cold air.


Also I will look into the Elm City Lager-maybe tonight.

 

[Rev2010]

Even looking at Pilsner Urquell, the best beer that I've had from them was a pilsner at the brewery that was open fermented in their caves beneath the brewery. I don't think they were able to precisely control the temperature and step it down in 5 deg F increments per day to lager temperature in a cave, but I could be wrong.

This has me curious too. I've always wondered, but never asked, why we are to lower the temps 5 degrees or so a day when I can't see how it was done before the tech existed to precisely lower temps a controlled amount per day. Anyone know if this is just a newer technique and if not how did they do it with the original Pilseners?


Rev.

 

[AAIndigo]

Austin Homebrew has some Pilsner kits
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178_452_43_630

Dont worry about the location. I just made a purchase over 100.00 and the shipping was free

 

[geer537]

Just a thought- I've done a lot of temp control just using one of these and some frozen water bottles. I kept a pretty steady 50 degrees in the middle of July. I am sure you could find one much cheaper but just an example.

For the D- rest I used less water bottles until it was up to temp. Then Transferred and lagerred. Turns out great.

 

[Calichusetts]

Midwest has a pilsner urquell kit (urquell is easily in my top ten "relax" brews) but I was dissapointed with Lagunitas...hop stoopid is amazing but their IPA is so strange, very "off" aroma I couldn't place

 

[carter840]

Yeah I actually am going to, wait until next weekend to to brew anything new. I will have both my primaries empty this weekend, but want to test my first two beers before I do my next batch. This should really help me learn. I think I will do a pils in about a month, after I get my Sons fermentor built. Waiting on the company gift card to Home Depot. I might just do a kit beer this weekend, just to keep the beer flowing.

I'm actually curious how long 10 gallons will last in my apartment.