Best Czech Pils Malt?

Brewing Processes
1

A little background…I brewed for 20 years (1990-2010), all grain, all stainless steel brewery and fermenting. 24 kegs, two temp controlled freezers for ferment and aging. My Czech Pils entry at the Bluebonnet in Dallas scored very nicely, with most number ratings from 35 to 38 from the judges, with positive comments…but I did not make it to the second round. Dang it!

My go to malt was Moravian. But now it is no longer available, or maybe I need to dig deeper to find it?

So my question: what is the best choice in malts available today? Weyermann floor malted Bohemian? Weyermann German Pils?

And, can we get by with using only a single base malt, or does this beer require other malts in the grain bill?

Thanks for your input!

2

I think St Pat’s down in Austin was the last to supply undermodified Moravian malt yrs ago. I don’t think they are in the business anymore. …and from what I understand they were an absolute nightmare to deal with. …but I digress.

Weyermann says it’s floor malted Bohemian Pilsner is similar to Moravian Pilsner malt. “Well suited for a base to any beer, but especially suited to the Bohemian-style Pilsner.” Careful though, be sure to check the specs to ensure you getting undermodified.

Mecca Grade produces Gateway malt which is undermodified. That might be as close as you get anymore.

If you’re in Texas give TexMalt a call. They’re in Ft Worth. Maybe they can help. I think Blackland malt is down near Austin.

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Yes, St. Pat’s in Austin was my source for many items. Never had any issues with them at all.

Would the Weyermann German Pils be a good substitute? We will either do a step infusion, or a triple decoction mash.

4

I have a sack of Sekado Pilsner from Czechoslovakia. Slightly less than fully-modified, with a Kolbach of 37. While I can’t give you a comparison yet, it is authentically Czech and available in US shops, but might be a special order. Reasonably priced at $54/25kg.

5

Weyerman Bohemian Pilsner Malt and Admiral Maltings Admiral Pils are both undermodified.  That’s what I use. Both work great if you plan to decoct or step mash.  For a Czech Pilsner, you probably want to add some Munich to get a bit more color.

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The last malt analysis sheet I saw for Weyermann’s Floor malted showed it was fully modified. Has something changed? Is it under 38?

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All of Weyermann’s malts are fully modified.  In fact, I am unaware of a single commercially available malt from any maltster that is not fully modified.  Brewers have demanded full modification for the better part of a century.  It is possible that there are a few brewers doing their own malting and producing slightly less modified malt, or having it custom made under contract.

Also, remember that no single number is a true index of modification.  The relationship of S/T with degree of modification is variety and crop specific, and during malting modification continues to proceed after measured S/T plateaus and stops rising.  S/T is just one of many measures which, taken together, can give the brewer a picture of how a malt should be treated.

8

Jeff Alworth has just celebrated a few beery bucket-list destinations including Ferdinand, who actually make the Bohemian floor malts for Weyermann :

This year Crisp produced a tiny amount of Hana malt, some is available via the Malt Miller in the UK but I don’t know if any has made it across the pond, you could ask anyone who deals with Crisp.

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Good article, thanks for posting.