Pilsner ag

[mrbugawkagawk]

this is going to be my first all grain batch, , any tips or suggestions on mashing. this is all new to me, i have been using extracts and have been very sucsessful now i want to get into all grains. what types of grains are used to make pilsners

 

[mkling]

All you need is Pilsner malt. I wouldn't necessarily add anything else, though if you really want to you could add a little (1/4 lb) light crystal (10L) or a little Cara-Pils (1/2 lb max).

But my suggestion would be to go with 9-10 lbs of Pils malt and nothing else. It'll give you a great feel for the ingredients. If you use Pils malt, do a 90 minute boil. If you use 2 row Pale malt, a 60 minute boil will be fine.

 

[impetus19]

Just to add to Mkling.. I like to add a bit of Vienna Malt to my Pilsners. Maybe 2-3 pounds.
A protein rest may not be a bad idea either.

 

[menschmaschine]

What kind of Pilsner are you making? I just brewed a German Pils on Saturday. 97.5% Pilsner Malt and 2.5% Cara-Pils (all BestMalz). I direct fired step-mashed from 142°F (60 min.) to 158°F (30 min.) to mash-out of 168°F (10 min.). I normally do single decoctions on my German lagers, but I wanted to try a step mash on the Pils since maltiness isn't a focus.

I've used the same grist bill on Helles with a decoction, but this Pils came out noticeably lighter in color than the decocted Helles. It's fermenting away happily now. I used Saflager W34/70 for the first time. I hope it's as good as White Labs WLP830 because, if so, no more lager starters for me!