CzechPilsener
From Simreal
Czech Style Pilsener
Original recipe from Papazian, "Propensity Pilsener Lager"
Edited by Matt and Susan Pinsonneault
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 5 lbs | plain light dried malt extract |
| 1 lb | 20L Crystal malt |
| 2 1/2 lbs | honey |
| 2 1/2 oz | Saaz hops (boiling) |
| 1/2 oz | Tettnanger hops (flavor) |
| 1/2 oz | Saaz hops (finishing) |
| White Labs WLP810 San Francisco Lager Yeast | |
| 3/4 cup | Priming sugar |
Add the crushed crystal malt to 1 1/2 gal cold water and bring to boil. When boiling begins remove the grains. Add the malt extract, honey, and boiling hops and boil for 45 minutes. Add flavor hops 10 minutes before end of boil. Add finishing hops 1-2 minutes before end of boil. Pour the wort into 2 1/2 gallons of cold water in the primary and top off with cold water until you have 5 gallons.
Batch One
(Note: we had to change several ingredients due to the Great Hops Shortage of '08. The recipe called for regular Saaz hops, but we had to use the ultra-bitter Premiant version instead (10% alpha acid!) so we cut down the Saaz hops from 3 oz to 2 oz. And they were out of Tettnanger so we used Spalt instead for flavor. We're trying a White Labs lager yeast that should allow us to ferment a lager at room temperature without changing the character too much.)
- 3-Feb-2008: My word, that's a lot of stuff to put in 1 1/2 gallons of water! We ended up with chunks of undissolved malty candy floating during the boil, and it almost overflowed our brew kettle. Eventually it all dissolved and everything is OK. We're trying Papazian's sparging method, where you leave the hops floating around loose instead of putting them in a bag, then strain them out when transferring to the primary. Wort is a bit murky, but it smells (and tastes) glorious! S.G. 1.060 @ 80F. Pitched yeast at 80F. Wort cooled much faster using the wort straining technique.
- 4-Feb-2008: Steady fermentation has commenced. Ambient temperature remains in the mid-70's in the house.
- 6-Feb-2008: I thought fermentation had ceased, but after reseating the fermenter's lid it started chugging along again.
- 7-Feb-2008: Fermentation really did stop this time. Some sediment at bottom and top. Racked to secondary; fermentation has resumed at a moderate pace. Color: light brown, very murky. Tasted the dregs -- extremely hoppy! (Excess hops had settled to the bottom. Yow.)
- 17-Feb-2008: Fermentation continues, but has slowed way, way down. Lots of sediment at the bottom of the secondary.
- 24-Feb-2008: Bottling time! S.G. 1.010 @ 75F. The beer has cleared up nicely. Just a bit of haze now. Nice reddish-gold color, too. Smells and tastes pretty hoppy; the substitute hops we used really increased the bitterness. I like it, but we may have to name this Steamweiser IPA. Maybe a few months of aging will smooth it out.
- 1-Mar-2009: It took a loooong time for the hoppiness to settle out, but it turned into a nice beer. Still more hops than a lot of folks like, though.
Batch Two
- 7-Mar-2009: Used orange blossom honey, and the desired hops are plentiful again. Putting the dried malt in a cup at a time worked pretty well; no maltbergs floating around in the wort. Pitched yeast at 84F; skipped the specific gravity reading. Fermentation has begun.
- 14-Mar-2009: After a few days of vigorous fermentation things quieted down. Not much gunk in the primary, just the usual yeasty sludge on the bottom. Racked to secondary; S.G. 1.010 @ 70F. Nice pale yellow, honey-colored brew. Nose still a bit sharp, but we can already tell that the hop balance is quite a bit better than the first batch. This'll be ready for Flipside no problem.
- 18-Apr-2009: Racked to Cornie keg. S.G. 1.010 @ 76F. Relatively little sediment, light yellow in color. Nose has mellowed, and it tastes like a pleasant, mild but interesting lager. Pretty much what we were aiming for. Chilling to 50F and carbonating at 15 psi.
- 8-May-2009: Looks like bottled sunlight. Smells crisp and clean with hints of orange blossom. The orange blossom honey also comes through a bit in the taste. Nice, mild hop balance and smooth finish. We may have very well hit the mark with this one: I think we have a nice, lightweight summer guzzling beer.
Batch Three
- 10-Mar-2010: Removed grains @ 200F, before full boil. Used orange blossom honey. Chilled 2 1/2 gal water in primary beforehand -- that worked great. Brief chill of brewpot in ice bath, poured wort into primary, boom! Temp was down to 78F already. Had a little weirdness with the yeast -- some of the nutrient was stuck in the vial and it took a couple of tries to get it loose. Pitched yeast at 78F; S.G. 1.054. Murky, light brown color and nicely balanced but very sweet flavor and aroma.
- 11-Mar-2010: Strong fermentation, and it's putting out a hoppy and slightly sulfurous aroma.
- 12-Mar-2010: Fermentation has already slowed down a lot.
