German Pils Saphir Pils

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HOOTER

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
1,653
Reaction score
16
Location
Spokane, WA
Recipe Type
Extract
Yeast
WLP800
Yeast Starter
Yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.057
Final Gravity
1.014
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
45
Color
5 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 Days @ 54f
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
21 Days @ 54f
Additional Fermentation
48 hrs. @ 62f for diacytil rest near end of primary fermentation
Tasting Notes
Dry and refreshing. Great summer brew.
2 lbs. XL-DME (60 min)
3 lbs. XL-DME (10 min)
1.5 lbs. Clover honey

8 oz. Crystal 20L
4 oz. CaraPils

1 oz. Perle (60 min)
1.5 oz. Saphir (20 min)
.5 oz. Saphir (dry hop-1 week secondary)

WLP800- White Labs Pilsner Lager

Steep grains for 30 min. @ 155f, then start boil and add extract and hops at appropriate times. A full boil is highly recommended. I add honey toward the end of the boil although it is intended mainly to add dryness and can be added anytime. This beer ended up being very crisp, dry and refreshing, with herbal and citrus notes from German Saphir hops. It pours a crystal clear gold with a nice, thick head that leaves enough lacing to count the amount of drinks it took to finish, which is usually very few. :cross: I recently entered this in the local county fair and managed to come away with a blue ribbon.

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looks fantastic. I've never even heard of Saphir. I'll keep an eye out for them.
 
I just tossed some Saphir in a pilsner hybrid that's in the primary right now. It sounded like a tasty hop so I'm looking forward to it. I am generally an ale brewer in the realm of high hop brews, so a lager or pilz is purely experimental territory for me. The Saphir in this current beer is balancing a touch of Green Bullet for bittering. Thanks for your recipe - I'll probably use a version for the next one. It's getting cold here so I can ferment cold without a fridge now, and I wanted to use honey in a pilz at some point.
 
just bought a pound of Saphir for an awesome price. the flavor profile I read sounded promising. can't wait to try them!
 
Puterbaugh Farms. Awesome prices. Someone on here just posted about their deals and I jumped on it. Bought 4 pounds total :)
 
OK, brewed this one up in the ol' L-Town Garage BoozeWorks tonight. An old college buddy of mine had stopped by and was helping me brew the batch while also tasting my stout and amber brews. I made a pretty big mistake when pouring in the honey and dumped a whole 3-lb container in. Whoops!

OG came in at a startling 1.069, just a touch more than the style's range! :) The honey was really prevalent on the initial taste. Oh well, it's still beer! Should be a clean, crisp a**-kicker when all's said and done!
 
Wow LTown! That's a serious honey addition. I guess you can call that Saphir Extra Pils. Let us know how it turns out.
 
OK, so this one went for 2 weeks in primary. Checked the FG after 48 hours diacetyl rest and it had settled on 1.020. Considering the attenuation of the yeast I used and the 1.068 OG, it was about spot-on for being done. Tasted the sample and it is REALLY GOOD! Nice and crisp, no diacetyl whatsoever. Alcohol is pretty freakin' high, but it's not overwhelming at this point.

Racked it over to the secondary on Saturday and dropped the temp to 45. I'll let it sit for 4 weeks or so. This is a great beer and I am in no hurry to drink it. I added the remaining 0.5 oz of Saphir hops to it right as I was racking it over. A little longer dry-hop than you recommended, so we'll see how it works. I love the nose of those Saphir hops!
 
I've had this one kegged and tapped for about 2 weeks now. To say it turned out great is an understatement. I had a party over the weekend and every single person that drank it said it was the best beer they ever had. I bottled a few 6-packs of it for people that wanted to take some home with them. The clover flavors with the dry-hopped Saphir hops really work well together.

The alcohol is really high due to the extra 1.5lbs of honey I added. It doesn't stand out at all so I had to warn people that it was a strong beer!

Thanks for posting this recipe!
 
I've been looking for some sort of Lager to do for my summer BBQ (I'll have 3 homebrews on tap, and a commercial keg) for my friends that aren't hopheads, and I think I'll give this one a shot!
 
This looks and sounds exactly like what I am looking for. I do have a couple questions I just got my fermentation chamber done so I have never done a pils or a lager and have a few questions. So the secondary fermentation phase with a pils is done at the same temp as the initial fermentation, ie. 54? I thought with pils and lagers your usually knocked it down to 45 is for the secondary fermentation or lagering phase. Did you only rack it one time to the secondary fermenter? Also, I don't have a kegging system will this bottle condition and carb up properly? Also, at what temp should I bottle condition?
 
This looks and sounds exactly like what I am looking for. I do have a couple questions I just got my fermentation chamber done so I have never done a pils or a lager and have a few questions. So the secondary fermentation phase with a pils is done at the same temp as the initial fermentation, ie. 54? I thought with pils and lagers your usually knocked it down to 45 is for the secondary fermentation or lagering phase. Did you only rack it one time to the secondary fermenter? Also, I don't have a kegging system will this bottle condition and carb up properly? Also, at what temp should I bottle condition?

First, I keep my secondary at the same temp as primary, but that's what my temp control allows for. This worked fine for me but feel free to lager at a cooler temp if you have the ability. I don't make many lagers so I'm far from having perfected the process.

As for your secondary question, I just did the standard process of primary, secondary then bottles. I bottle conditioned with 3/4 cup corn sugar for 3 weeks @ around 70 degrees, then I refrigerated. Next time I make this recipe I'll be kegging for sure but the bottling process was the same as it would be for an ale. Let me know how it turns out.
 
Just one other question.. did you make a starter for you yeast? Did you cool the wort to +54 and then pitch or what? Sorry just really excited about the brew ordered the stuff today.
 
Just one other question.. did you make a starter for you yeast? Did you cool the wort to +54 and then pitch or what? Sorry just really excited about the brew ordered the stuff today.

You definitely want to make a starter. I actually kept my starter at room temp, pitched at room temp then dropped the temp after pitching. By the time fermentation started it was at 54. There seems to be some debate on pitching temps for a lager but this worked well for me.
 
Last couple I think... Did you just make your starter at room temp? Also, did you have any need for a blow off tube with this brew?
 
Last couple I think... Did you just make your starter at room temp? Also, did you have any need for a blow off tube with this brew?

I did make my starter at room temp, basically just like an ale. Not sure if this is proper technique but it worked. Fermentation was quite vigorous and I did need a blowoff tube.
 
I just ordered the ingredients for this one from AHS! Can't wait to try it out.

Last couple I think... Did you just make your starter at room temp? Also, did you have any need for a blow off tube with this brew?

It's good practice to just throw a blow off tube on all your ferments, at least until they calm down, then you avoid the "should I/I should have" conundrum.
 
I did make my starter at room temp, basically just like an ale. Not sure if this is proper technique but it worked. Fermentation was quite vigorous and I did need a blowoff tube.

Sorry one last question.. brewing this sunday. What size starter did you make?
 
Sorry one last question.. brewing this sunday. What size starter did you make?

I made a small starter- 500 ml if I remember correctly. I think many like to make bigger starters for lagers but it took off quickly and attenuated well.
 
I made a little larger starter and I am glade I took your advise. Had some large blow off at around 20 hours. Will keep you posted as the beer progresses.
 
So I'm going to make this with the same yeast today. Is there a reason you fermented towards the higher end of the yeast's temp range?
 
So I'm going to make this with the same yeast today. Is there a reason you fermented towards the higher end of the yeast's temp range?

That's just was it fermented at in my garage at the time. I really need to get a more reliable temp control method but I brew mostly ales so it hasn't been much of an issue. It did turn out very clean and well attenuated at that temp though.
 
That's just was it fermented at in my garage at the time. I really need to get a more reliable temp control method but I brew mostly ales so it hasn't been much of an issue. It did turn out very clean and well attenuated at that temp though.

Hey Hooter saw this response and had to ask. I have complete control over my temps thanks to my new ranco and chest freezer. I have been holding between 50-52 degrees for fermentation. I was planing on doing a diacetyl rest starting this Friday for about 48 hours at 62 degrees (should this be higher or what?) Also, if you had it to do over and complete control how would you do your lager phase (i know this is a pils but you know what i mean). I was thinking of starting at around 50 and then lowering about 5 degrees per day to get down around 34-35 (is this to low) Would you make the drop slower maybe 2 degrees per day? or what. Also, i will be out of town the entire month of June so I am not really in a hurry just want a nice crisp pils.

Thanks for all the help.
 
Pulled a gravity sample today. Hit 1.013 and tastes amazing! It still has a few more days of dry hopping, and then into the keg it goes. I fermented around 50, went up to 60 for the D-rest, and have been dropping it about 5˚ per day.
 
I am racking to secondary today after my 62 degrees rest.. will drop the temp by 5 degrees per day to lager around 35 for all of june. How long and at what temp are you are you going to lager MBasile?
 
I'm excited to hear how this turns out for you guys, especially since you're following a more proper procedure with your temps. I'll have to do this one again once I get more reliable temp control. It turned out great for me so I can only imagine how well your beers should turn out. Keep us posted.
 
I racked mine to secondary this weekend. It was still rather cloudy, I am hoping that will it will clear. I am going to drop the temp by 5 degrees per day to get to 35 degrees and lager for 1 month. Also, is wlp800 a top fermenting yeast? I really couldn't see the top of the brew because of krausen residue left stuck to the better bottle. I did see some offwhiteish particles while racking at the top of the beer line. Slightly concerned about infection, but I have never had one before and don't really think I have one now. Just wanted to know a little more about how this thing went for everyone else. Really wanted a nice clear brew.
 
I racked mine to secondary this weekend. It was still rather cloudy, I am hoping that will it will clear. I am going to drop the temp by 5 degrees per day to get to 35 degrees and lager for 1 month. Also, is wlp800 a top fermenting yeast? I really couldn't see the top of the brew because of krausen residue left stuck to the better bottle. I did see some offwhiteish particles while racking at the top of the beer line. Slightly concerned about infection, but I have never had one before and don't really think I have one now. Just wanted to know a little more about how this thing went for everyone else. Really wanted a nice clear brew.

Lager yeasts are bottom fermenters. I'm sure those particles you're talking about are nothing. This beer will clear quite a bit in secondary. Are you kegging or bottling?
 
Lager yeasts are bottom fermenters. I'm sure those particles you're talking about are nothing. This beer will clear quite a bit in secondary. Are you kegging or bottling?

I knew that... about lager yeast man i have had a rough couple days. I think I got a serious case of the dumb.

I am bottling..

Also. I think it was just left over from my rather larger krausen/blow off material.
 
I racked mine to secondary this weekend. It was still rather cloudy, I am hoping that will it will clear. I am going to drop the temp by 5 degrees per day to get to 35 degrees and lager for 1 month. Also, is wlp800 a top fermenting yeast? I really couldn't see the top of the brew because of krausen residue left stuck to the better bottle. I did see some offwhiteish particles while racking at the top of the beer line. Slightly concerned about infection, but I have never had one before and don't really think I have one now. Just wanted to know a little more about how this thing went for everyone else. Really wanted a nice clear brew.

WLP800 is bottom fermenting, as is all lager yeast. There is still going to be the krausen crud though, and that is probably what you saw on the top. As for clearing. It'll clear as it lagers and the yeast drops out. Lager yeast takes a lot longer to complete its process and go dormant than ale yeast. Also, dry hopped beers tend to have a slight haze to them anyway when unfiltered.
 
Mine has been lagering for two weeks at 35 degrees now and has still yet to clear... but just a little smell through the airlock smells great. Hope it will drop clear soon.
 
I've never done dry hopping, so I'm looking for some clarification... the recipe says ".5 oz. Saphir (dry hop-1 week secondary)" with a total time of 21 days in the secondary. Does this mean I add the hops for the last week in the secondary, or does it mean something else?
 
I've never done dry hopping, so I'm looking for some clarification... the recipe says ".5 oz. Saphir (dry hop-1 week secondary)" with a total time of 21 days in the secondary. Does this mean I add the hops for the last week in the secondary, or does it mean something else?

Yep, just throw them in during the last week of secondary.
 
Thanks, Hooter! I have a honey ale coming out of primary in a few days, and I'm really looking forward to trying your pilsner. :)
 
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