Brew weekend - first lager/pils

[NickK]

I've never really been a Pils drinker until I spent an Oktoberfest weekend in a Paulaner tent

So I'm trying a Pils recipe for the first of two brews this weekend:
Gravity - expected OG 1052, Preboil 1.045 -> 1.013 (FG)
ABV 5.2%
IBU 34
SRM 3.8

Pilsner Malt 4.000 Kg
Munich Malt 0.308 Kg
Melanoidin Malt 0.100 Kg
Acid Malt (as needed)

All times from end of boil (90mins)
Hallertauer Mittlefruh 4.3%AA 40g@60mins, 15g@30min, 5g@turn off
NZ Hallertauer Aroma 6.4%AA 25g@10mins

Munich Lager Yeast.

It'll be interesting to see how this works out is an IBU 34 really enough for a pils?

[aus069]

Well the hops is a little under for the style . I just plugged it into Beersmith and it gave me 32 IBU for a Pils it should be a little higher like anywhere from 34-45 Ibu so you have room to move .



Brew well
aus069

[Aleman]

That depends on which Pils 'style' you are trying to hit?

A Bohemian Pils (PU or Gambrinus) will hit 12 Plato adn 40IBU . . . A Budweis Pils will be softer at about 10 PLato and 30IBU

When you get to the German Pilsners (of Pilsen) then things get a little bit murkier. The south German (Munich) Pilsners, can be around 13-14 Plato and 25IBU (Lowenbrau Export for example), whereas your North German Pilsners (Dortmunder Actien Braueri) can be 12 Plato and 30 IBU.

Otherwise your recipe looks fine. I would perhaps shift the NZ Addition to 15 minutes, and the Two late Hallertau to steep as the wort is cooling . . . But that is just me and my preference.

[NickK]

I suppose that I'd qualify Paulaner as a Munich/Southern/Bavarian so perhaps a little tweaking. I'm using BeerAlchemy (mac) which only has the styles for a few of the pilsners with a recipe from the the internet. So any help in getting closer to the target is welcome.
I'll take on board the adjustment in hopping.
Hallertauer Mittlefruh 4.3%AA 40g@60mins, 20g@turn off
NZ Hallertauer Aroma 6.4%AA 25g@15mins

This comes in at 31 IBU. Probably the reason I didn't find Paulaner that bitter - floral yes, bitter no.

I'll try and hit the 13-14 Plato (now switched BeerAlchemy to that) although I need to make the changes on the fly (I really should measure the volumes at each point!).

[NickK]

Well that's done. However:
a) Had a completely stuck mash, needed to use ping-pong syphoning to separate the grain from the liquid.
b) Boiler packed in (the thermostat works but the element doesn't heat), so it's only had about 75mins rolling boil.

So I carried on and I hope it's all fine..

On the plus side - the first attempt of using Protofloc and the amount of junk that has fallen out at the cold break was phenomenal. This could be the clearest beer I've made. Also it's the first beer I've used dried yeast too but it activated as a starter.

Now to get the fermentation going. 17-18degC..

So, fingers crossed!

[NickK]

I've just been clearing up the remainder of the mess from yesterday.

I have just found that I opened my Aurora hops instead of my NZ Aroma Serves me right for having two brews in series ready to go and add that to the under reading scales... doh. Yet the beer is smelling nice and a bit pils like already

So should I dry hop the NZ aroma? Or just go with mother nature and see what the resulting brew comes out like?

[NickK]

Thank you all for your help

So the 3 decantings to solve the stuck mash, the emergency cold breaking and hopping with the boiler cutting out 2/3 through the boil and finally realising that I have added the wrong secondary hop for aroma (aurora rather than NZ HT) and then finally wheat beer yeast... flibble.

I tried a little when measuring the gravity on sunday (1010) and it didn't taste very good but I thought I'd continue and leave it to rest some more. I even thought it may be infected...

It's a miracle and a bit of a disaster in it's conception but I've just bottled (11x500ml) this, syphoning into a bottling container before bottling removed a lot of trub in the primary FV.

I'm just finishing off the remainders and I have to say it's the best tasting beer/"pils" I've ever had! Subtle but really nicely balanced. Can't wait for the maturity! It's taste makes this brew very dangerous as it masks the alcohol level very well. I've had two pints whilst waiting for my dinner to cook and I'm getting drunk already

So again - thank you for your suggestions