German Pils Wakka Wakka Wakka!

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MapleGroveAleworks

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2015
Messages
766
Reaction score
514
Location
Cincinnati
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager
Yeast Starter
1 gal
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.048
Final Gravity
1.009
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
35
Color
4.6
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
16 days @ 49F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
2 days @ 72
Additional Fermentation
Lager at near freezing for 4 weeks
Tasting Notes
Crisp German pils with lime flavor from the Wakatu hops
I've never posted a recipe on here before. I've brewed a couple hundred all grain batches, and this one is easily one of my best. It's so unique and is the perfect beer for hot summer weather.

When designing this recipe, I thought to myself...what would be really tasty after a super hot day cutting the grass? Easy...my favorite style..German Pils. I am such a traditionalist with style guidelines and not terribly creative which is a flaw of mine. I decided to fight against this and looked up some hops that don't normally go with German pilsners. I found Wakatu out of New Zealand and it mentioned characteristics of fresh limes so I said to myself.....to hell with it let's give it a shot!

I'm so glad I did. Wakatu is an amazing hop for this style. It's light, crisp and full of flavor! The hops definitely add a very nice lime kick to the beer which just hits the spot perfectly. My friends ask me to brew this over and over.

I know lager recipes aren't nearly as prevalent on here as ales, but I urge you to give this recipe a shot, especially if you want to brew something totally out of the box. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

The name came from Fozzy Bear from the Muppets. His catch phrase is Wakka Wakka Wakka!

Recipe

System efficiency: 65%

Grain Bill
8.5lbs Weyerman Pilsner Malt
2lbs Weyerman Vienna Malt
1lb Weyerman Munich Malt

Mash @ 149F for 75 minutes
Use a very soft water profile that most Germans Pilsners use

Hops
.35 oz Hallertau Magnum 12.7%: 60 min
1oz Wakatu 6.2%: 15 min
2oz Wakatu 6.2%: 5 min

Pitch your huge 2206 (or any pilsner lager yeast) starter when the wort has chilled to pitching temp (mine is 48 degrees).
 
I just recently set up my keezer so this may be my inaugural lager.
I'm really curious about these hops as I've never heard of them either.

Thanks for the post!
 
I just recently set up my keezer so this may be my inaugural lager.
I'm really curious about these hops as I've never heard of them either.

Thanks for the post!

Awesome! Congrats on the keezer too. Yeah Wakatu is a great hop, let me know if you end up brewing it!
 
If I choose not to use a starter, how much yeast should I pitch? Dry and/or liquid?

Thanks
 
If I choose not to use a starter, how much yeast should I pitch? Dry and/or liquid?

Thanks

If no starter, then definitely use dry yeast. You need about 372 billion cells of yeast for this beer, so 2 dry packets should work great. Use a couple packets of Safale lager dry yeast packet and it will turn out great!
 
OP,
I’m about to do a lager soon and had a q;

Have you tried splitting the 15 and 5 min hops with a more traditional hop? Maybe Saaz or Hallertau? A bit of lime sounds good but I don’t want it to be overwhelming.
 
I live in NZ and we have some amazing hops for lagers! You should also try Motueka if you like Saaz as it also has lime notes. Think I will have to add your recipe to my “to brew “ list
 
Yeah I'm gonna give this a shot too. I live in NZ too but haven't got around to trying wakatu. Been having success in my lagers so far with motueka, wai-iti and NZ liberty.
 
I was an exchange student in NZ and loved it. Beautiful country, wonderful people. Love the muppets, too. The Wakatu hops sound really interesting. So, all around, I've gotta try this recipe! Now to work on a lagering cooler. :)

Thanks for sharing it.
 
OP,
I’m about to do a lager soon and had a q;

Have you tried splitting the 15 and 5 min hops with a more traditional hop? Maybe Saaz or Hallertau? A bit of lime sounds good but I don’t want it to be overwhelming.
I have not, no. Not with this specific recipe at least. It's not overwhelming or strong at all, just a nice hint.
 
Stumbled upon this and I really like the idea. I've just started dabbling in lagers. For what ever reason I chose WY2308 to brew with and I'd like to use it for this. I think I can make this yeast work if I mash at a lower than usual temp and pH to get the crispness that a pils should have.

The big question, do you think this would work with Motueka as the NZ hops?
 
Stumbled upon this and I really like the idea. I've just started dabbling in lagers. For what ever reason I chose WY2308 to brew with and I'd like to use it for this. I think I can make this yeast work if I mash at a lower than usual temp and pH to get the crispness that a pils should have.

The big question, do you think this would work with Motueka as the NZ hops?
Yep I think the Munich lager yeast would work just fine. Definitely mash at 148 or 149 though, no higher.

Motueka should also work. I think they're a bit more intense than Wakatu, but should give off similar enough flavors.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.
 
I finally bit the bullet and got some 2206. What's your impression of this yeast for the pilsner style? I've read even it is malty. I understand there may be more ideal yeasts, ala 2124, or others for a pilsner.

Anyway, really excited to try this recipe!
 
I finally bit the bullet and got some 2206. What's your impression of this yeast for the pilsner style? I've read even it is malty. I understand there may be more ideal yeasts, ala 2124, or others for a pilsner.

Anyway, really excited to try this recipe!
2206 will work just fine, especially with a high 140s mash temp. I just brewed my recipe again myself to share around Christmas time with family that gets overwhelmed by bigger intense craft beer.

Can't wait to hear how it turns out for you!
 
Finally got around to brewing this. A few deviations:

Used CMC 2-row instead of pilsner. Is that on style? No. Do I care? No. Haha!
Based on your SRM, I assume you meant Munich II? I used Munich I.

A bit of an aside: To save time, recently I've been playing around with 30 min mash / 30 min boils. One thing I think I've observed is that the wort tends to be less fermentable. The last batch using WY1318 really needed some high temperature coaxing (72°F) to get it into the middle of its attenuation range. So I'm wondering if this brew might finish a bit sweeter than it otherwise should. I'll do an aggressive D-rest even though I've never needed one to help combat this. I thought about compensating with even lower mash temps. We'll see, I might go back to proper mash / boil times if I can't dial this process in.

Anyway:
.35 oz Magnum FWH for the 30 min boil
1 oz Motueka 10 min
2 oz Motueka 5 min

I tasted the wort as it went into the fermenter and I was blown away with how dangerously good it was! I haven't played around with Motueka that often in these quantities but the floral / citrus character imparted from it was really good. This could be a real winner.
 
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