NZ Pilsner, Which hops from my selection?

[Shenanigans]

Hi All,

I've somehow managed to collect some different varities of NZ hops over the last year or so.
Usually just adding a few hundred grams of something that had a special offer when originally I only wanted to order something else
So no superstars from the NEIPA scene.

I would like to brew a NZ Pilsner but I'm not sure what hop combination to use from what I have:

Rakau, Southern Cross, Taiheke, Waiema

I also have some Nelson that I can throw in the mix but have plenty of ideas for that in other beers.

The main idea is a NZ pilsner but if you have any other suggestions for these hops then please go ahead

Thanks!

 

[jdauria]

if it were me, I would bitter with the Southern Cross and use the Rakue and Waiema for flavor and aroma hops, if you don't want to use the Nelson. Made a great one last year (scored 45 in a comp) using Nelson and Motueka with a small amount of Magnum for bittering. Rebrew this year did well in comps too , but for that one, I used Pacific Jade for bittering instead of Magnum.

 

[Dgallo]

You really can’t go wrong. But all my nz pilsners I’ve done use Nelson it it. In 2022 I made the final table at NHC with my nz Pilsner that was riwaka and Nelson

With your hops I would do tahieke & rakau or tahieke & Waimea

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I’ve used Southern Cross and Rakau in an IPA with good results.

 

[Shenanigans]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.
@Dgallo & @jdauria
do you happen to have a link to or can you post your recipes?
Sounds like they would be a great place to start developing my own recipe.

Thanks!

 

[Dgallo]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.
@Dgallo & @jdauria
do you happen to have a link to or can you post your recipes?
Sounds like they would be a great place to start developing my own recipe.

Thanks!

Grain
11lbs - fl.malted Pilsner(Pilsner or 2row
1lb - carafoam
Mash - 150*f
Yeast - 34/70 fermented 56 for 4 days then free rise and hold low 60s to clean up.

Hop
.5 oz magnum @ 60

.75 oz Nelson @ 5
.5 oz Riwaka @ 5

1.25 oz Nelson @ WP 170*f for 20
0.75 oz Riwaka @ WP 170*f for 20

Dryhop
2 oz Nelson for 48 hrs

Fine with biofine in keg

 

[Shenanigans]

Grain
11lbs - fl.malted Pilsner(Pilsner or 2row
1lb - carafoam
Mash - 150*f
Yeast - 34/70 fermented 56 for 4 days then free rise and hold low 60s to clean up.

Hop
.5 oz magnum @ 60

.75 oz Nelson @ 5
.5 oz Riwaka @ 5

1.25 oz Nelson @ WP 170*f for 20
0.75 oz Riwaka @ WP 170*f for 20

Dryhop
2 oz Nelson for 48 hrs

Fine with biofine in keg

Thanks!

My first draft is below, the only lager yeast I have is WLP833 so I'll go with that and use a similar quick lager method, it worked well in a bockbier I brewed a few months ago.

 

[jdauria]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.
@Dgallo & @jdauria
do you happen to have a link to or can you post your recipes?
Sounds like they would be a great place to start developing my own recipe.

Thanks!

Mine was No Sparge full boil.

---RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------
COLOR: 3.9 SRM COLOR RANGE: 2.0-7.0 SRM
IBU: 41.1 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 25.0-45.0 IBUs
OG: 1.054 SG OG RANGE: 1.044-1.056 SG
FG: 1.010 SG FG RANGE: 1.009-1.014 SG
BU:GU: 0.756 Calories: 174.1 kcal/12oz Est ABV: 5.9 %
EE%: 70.00 % Batch: 5.25 gal Boil: 6.18 gal BT: 60 Mins

Total Grain Weight: 10.94 lb Total Hops: 2.51 oz
--
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7.81 lb IREKS Pilsner Malt (1.8 SRM) Grain 1 71.4
2.61 lb IREKS Pale Ale Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 23.9
0.52 lb Carapils/Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.8 %

Name Description Step Temperatu Step Time
Mash Step Add 7.00 gal of water at 151.5 145.0 F 30 min
Mash Step Heat to 152.0 F over 4 min 152.0 F 50 min
Mash Step Heat to 158.0 F over 4 min 158.0 F 30 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 4 min 168.0 F 10 min


---BOIL PROCESS-----------------------------
Est Pre_Boil Gravity: 1.049 SG Est OG: 1.054 SG
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.28 oz 2021 Magnum [16.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min 16.8 -
0.23 oz Motueka [7.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min 3.7
0.20 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.10 %] - Boil 10.0 5.0
0.25 oz Motueka [7.80 %] - Boil 5.0 min 3.3
0.23 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.10 %] - Boil 5.0 4.8

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.67 oz Motueka [7.80 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20 mins at 180F 3.0
0.65 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.10 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20 mins at 180F 4.5

Soft lager water profile

Yeast was The **************** Asylum (available to Patreon members of their site). Can sub 34-70 or any German Lager yeast.

My second version, I used 30 IBUs of Pacific Jade at 60, 49 IBUs total.

 

[Shenanigans]

Mine was No Sparge full boil.

---RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------
COLOR: 3.9 SRM COLOR RANGE: 2.0-7.0 SRM
IBU: 41.1 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 25.0-45.0 IBUs
OG: 1.054 SG OG RANGE: 1.044-1.056 SG
FG: 1.010 SG FG RANGE: 1.009-1.014 SG
BU:GU: 0.756 Calories: 174.1 kcal/12oz Est ABV: 5.9 %
EE%: 70.00 % Batch: 5.25 gal Boil: 6.18 gal BT: 60 Mins

Total Grain Weight: 10.94 lb Total Hops: 2.51 oz
--
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7.81 lb IREKS Pilsner Malt (1.8 SRM) Grain 1 71.4
2.61 lb IREKS Pale Ale Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 23.9
0.52 lb Carapils/Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.8 %

Name Description Step Temperatu Step Time
Mash Step Add 7.00 gal of water at 151.5 145.0 F 30 min
Mash Step Heat to 152.0 F over 4 min 152.0 F 50 min
Mash Step Heat to 158.0 F over 4 min 158.0 F 30 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 4 min 168.0 F 10 min


---BOIL PROCESS-----------------------------
Est Pre_Boil Gravity: 1.049 SG Est OG: 1.054 SG
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.28 oz 2021 Magnum [16.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min 16.8 -
0.23 oz Motueka [7.80 %] - Boil 10.0 min 3.7
0.20 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.10 %] - Boil 10.0 5.0
0.25 oz Motueka [7.80 %] - Boil 5.0 min 3.3
0.23 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.10 %] - Boil 5.0 4.8

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.67 oz Motueka [7.80 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20 mins at 180F 3.0
0.65 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.10 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20 mins at 180F 4.5

Soft lager water profile

Yeast was The **************** Asylum (available to Patreon members of their site). Can sub 34-70 or any German Lager yeast.

My second version, I used 30 IBUs of Pacific Jade at 60, 49 IBUs total.

Looks good too, thanks.

I see you didn't dry hop; what is typical for the style, dry hopping or not?
I only have space in my kegerator for 2 kegs and they are usually taken up with IPAs.
I will be bottling this one, so maybe better to do a version without dry hops to avoid any oxitation issues.

 

[jdauria]

Looks good too, thanks.

I see you didn't dry hop; what is typical for the style, dry hopping or not?
I only have space in my kegerator for 2 kegs and they are usually taken up with IPAs.
I will be bottling this one, so maybe better to do a version without dry hops to avoid any oxitation issues.

You're welcome. As for dry hops, I guess it's up to what you want in the beer. Looking at the style guidelines, while they talk about the tropical fruit flavors of the hops, they also say a neutral to bready malt base provides the support to make it very drinkable and also under appearance say "quite clear to brillant, haziness a fault". So for me, I felt dry hops would mute some of the malt base and I also tend to get a slight haze with dry hopping, even with lagering and fining. Of course, if you are not entering comps with it, you can pretty much do whatever you want!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

if it were me, I would bitter with the Southern Cross

I wouldn't waste Southern Cross on bittering, it has some unique characteristics if you know how to use them, notably it's one of the few hops that can have 2MIB (2-methylbutyl isobutyrate - apricot) above taste threshold, see this article from Scott Janish :
https://scottjanish.com/thiol-driver/
Waimea was bred as a bittering hop and its huge alpha content means you're saving more for the later stages.

 

[Shenanigans]

I wouldn't waste Southern Cross on bittering, it has some unique characteristics if you know how to use them, notably it's one of the few hops that can have 2MIB (2-methylbutyl isobutyrate - apricot) above taste threshold, see this article from Scott Janish :
https://scottjanish.com/thiol-driver/
Waimea was bred as a bittering hop and its huge alpha content means you're saving more for the later stages.

No ill save the Southern Cross for another Alpine Nelson clone. It's a Rye IPA with Nelson and Southern Cross as flavour and dry hops. Turned out good last time.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...kQFnoECBwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw20bNNPWSJOXimJI5J7iWBE
I will have to use another bittering hop (Summit) though as I don't have enough SC.