I just read up on this malt because I’d never heard of it before. It sounds really interesting. I rarely use 100% Pilsner malt in my recipes, because I find that I get a bit of husky/grassy notes that I’m not a huge fan of. I end up using 15-30% of Munich or Pale Ale malt to help cut back on that character. Having less husk material seems like it might be another way to solve the same problem.
I’m assuming that this only comes pre-crushed, right? Please let us know how this works for you. I might have to get my hands on some before I start brewing my spring and summer lagers.
At this point it’s a matter of habit to add some Munich or Pale Ale malt when I’m designing recipes, so I can’t say definitively that it’s in every Pils malt I’ve tried. I get it the most from Weyermann’s floor-malted Bo Pils, but I’ve gotten it from Best and Avangard as well. It’s been a while since I’ve used Castle pils, but I think that might be the only one that I don’t recall getting the grassiness from.
It’s strange how we perceive flavors from ingredients. I very often use Weyermann’s FMG to the tune of 250-300 pounds a year and I never get that grassy taste. I suppose its similar to cilantro, some people get soap and some don’t.
Definitely from Weyermann in my experience. I’ve gotten it less from Best. You might check out Rahr North Star pils. I find it sweet and malty, with none of the green grassy taste I don’t care for.
I agree with Denny that Rahr North Star Pilsner malt is great. I recently brewed an American lager and didn’t notice any off flavors. I did a step mash because it has lower modification? I saw this on Don Osbourne YouTube brewing video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU6VrP8cyR0
Thanks Denny! I thought that might be the case but I can do a step mash fairly easy on the Anvil Foundry 10.5. So what the heck I did it! Rahr North Star was delicious when I used it to brew my latest American Pilsner. Next time I’ll do a single infusion mash.