German Pilsner
Brew day
Today I'll be brewing a hoppy German pilsner using Tettnang hops for the flavouring.
Date: 16 June 2019
Batch Size (fermenter): 22.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 6.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 28.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.7 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Water profile: Ca:24, Mg:3, Na:9, SO4:10, Cl:38, HCO3:25
Estimated mash pH: 5.31
Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU Volume
27.34 L Tesco Ashbeck Water 1 - -
3.00 ml 80% Lactic Acid (Mash) Water Agent 2 - -
0.90 g Calcium Chloride (Mash) Water Agent 3 - -
3.67 kg IREKS Pilsner Malt (3.5 EBC) Grain 4 90.0 % 2.39 L
0.20 kg IREKS Crystal Maple (3.5 EBC) Grain 5 5.0 % 0.13 L
0.20 kg IREKS Munich Malt (20.0 EBC) Grain 6 5.0 % 0.13 L
0.20 g Calcium Chloride (Sparge) Water Agent 7 - -
0.20 ml 80% Lactic Acid (Sparge) Water Agent 8 - -
18.00 g Magnum [9.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 21.3 IBUs -
12.00 g Tettnang [3.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 10 2.3 IBUs -
17.00 g Tettnang [3.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 11 2.4 IBUs -
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 7.0 mins) Fining 12 - -
25.00 g Tettnang [4.60 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 13 2.9 IBUs -
1.0 pkg Munich Lager (Wyeast Labs #2308) [124.21 ml] Yeast 14 - -
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 4.08 kg
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Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 22.34 L of water at 69.2 C 66.0 C 60 min
Sparge: Dunk sparge with 5 L of 75C water
I managed to get it down to 22C with the immersion chiller before giving up and transferring the lot, trub and all, to the fermenter and putting it into the brew fridge. When it gets down to near 10C then I'll decant and pitch the large 2308 starter that's now settled to the bottom of the flask.
The target OG was 1.044 and I hit 1.045 at the target volume of 22 litres.
Fermentation
It's been bubbling away happily for 6 days at 10C in the brewfridge and is now showing signs of slowing so I'm going to let the temperature free-rise towards 16C for the tail-end of fermentation, diacetyl rest and to give it time to drop clear in the fermenter over the next two weeks before I keg it. This is the same procedure I used for the Oktoberfest and it worked a treat there with the same yeast so I'm hoping I'll get the same results this time around.
Kegging
I kegged the hoppy pilsner today after 3 weeks in the fermenter. 1 week was spent at 10C so the Wyeast 2308 could do the bulk of the fermentation without producing any unwanted flavours then the temperature was allowed to rise on its own to 16C where I kept it for 2 more weeks.
FG was 1.006 for an ABV of 5.1%; just about right to my taste for a dry hoppy pilsner and it's got a nice amber hue from the munich malt. I don't take gravity readings during fermentation any more because my process seems to be completely repeatable and always yields an FG of between 1.005 and 1.008 regardless of what the yeast manufacturers say. Mash temperature seems far more important.
Tasting notes
I intended it to be hop-forward like the Czech Pilsner I did earlier but it's come out really rather balanced that I put down to the yeast, Wyeast 2308 which Wyeast describe as very smooth, well-rounded and full-bodied.
It's the 3rd time I've used 2308 and each time I would completely agree with Wyeast's description. If you want a rich, refined, balanced German lager then this Wissenschaftliche Station Munich yeast might do it for you.