Pilsner Revisited

My last "Pilsner" (an ale made in the style of a Pilsner) was not as successful as I would have liked. Due to my inexperience (and still rudimentary beer recipe calculator.xls) I produced a beer that was too strong, too dark, and also had some off flavors.

Take two.

I'll spare the details of the Pilsner style other than this one tidbit: The tour guide at Highland Brewery in Asheville, NC said that the mineral profile of Asheville's water is virtually identical to that in Pilsen, Czech Republic. Sorta interesting, other than that there wasn't a lot of local lager to be had. Though, I recall that what lager we imbibed was quite good.

I'll start with the differences between the last batch and this batch.
Old Grain Bill:

• 1.62 lb American 2 row pale malt
• 2 lbs German Pilsner malt
• 1/2 lb CaraVienne
• 1/4 lb American 6 row pale malt

New Grain Bill:

• 2.5 lb German Vienna Malt
• 1 oz Belgian Victory Malt

Note, first, the difference in mass. The old recipe used 4.37 lbs of grain and the new recipe uses 2.56 lbs. The primary goal of this was to make a lighter beer. One problem with the first batch was that it was just too strong. A 7.5+% ABV beer, whether ale or lager, is simply not refreshing the way a Pilsner should be. Second, note the simpler grain bill. A light, refreshing beer should not be overly complex, lest the drinker get confused. The CaraVienne also adds too much color, shifting the hue from golden to amber. Not so desired. Here, then, is a big bowl of Vienna malt with a small sprinkling of Biscuit malt.



The next difference is in the hops. Old recipe used 1 oz of Saaz hops, boiled in even 1/3s for 60, 30, and 5 minutes. For this recipe, I upped the ante, using:

• 1/2 oz Sterling (the beer store-recommended substitute for the out-of-stock Saaz) hops as a First Wort Hop
• 1/4 oz Hallertau (another noble German variety) for 30 minutes
• 1/4 oz Hallertau for 10 minutes
• 1/2 oz Sterling, cold hopped for three days

This rounded out the hop profile, though in the final product, it proved to be no substitute for good ol' Saaz hops.

There was one other difference. For the past several batches, I've been adding Irish Moss to the boil to help clarify the beer. This time I added 1/2 of a Whirlfloc tablet, a more refined clarifying agent.

OG - 1.044

FG - 1.009

ABV - 4.7%

IBU - 37

Appearance: Golden with a hint of orange. Almost perfectly clear. Fine bubbles and a thin head that both dissipate rapidly. Not at all clinging to the glass when swirled or sipped.

Aroma: Faint aroma of piney hops. Pretty austere, actually.

Flavor: This beer rocks it on flavor. I dare say that it tastes like a decent Czech Pilsner (there's a few out there if you look hard enough). I may be crazy, but I think that I can detect the unique toasty flavor from the biscuit malt. Subtlety is a rare find in my beers. Some spicy hop flavors are around. It's not like it would be with Saaz hops, I think, but the beer clearly uses noble continental European-style hops. There's a hint of orange juice on the finish. I'd imagine that's moreso a function of the yeast than the grain.

Mouthfeel: This is incredibly rich feeling for a 4.7% abv beer. Not to say that it's like a DIPA or breakfast stout, but still...

Drinkability: Despite the rich mouthfeel, the light flavor and booze content of this beer make it quite drinkable and approachable. I challenge any beer expert or novice to dislike this.

Sorry for the boring post. There's an exciting one coming soon. I promise!

Prost!