Ken, I amo looking into doing some Pilsners this year. What are your %s and specs, would like to try this out as well as the 2 I found in the wiki here?
Not sure I can find that locally.
here’s one version i make often.
BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Ken’s German Pilsner v.1
Brewer: ken
Asst Brewer:
Style: German Pilsner (Pils)
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)
Recipe Specifications
Boil Size: 8.20 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.75 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 3.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 38.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 84.8 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Pilsner avangard (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 92.0 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt-light avanguard (5.0 SRM) Grain 2 4.6 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.3 %
2.0 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.1 %
1.00 oz Perle [7.55 %] - Boil 80.0 min Hop 5 26.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Select Spalt [2.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 7.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Select Spalt [2.40 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 4.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg German Lager (White Labs #WLP830 or WLP835) 8 -
Mash Schedule: Ken’s Single Infusion
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 14.0 oz
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 20.77 qt of water at 159.8 F 150.0 F 75 min
Sparge: Batch sparge with 4.31gal of 178.0 F water
Notes:
Thanks Ken, looks awesome
just tried something new…while i mashed around 5.25, I dropped PH into kettle another .1. seeing how that carries thru to finished product.
I’m “uncertain” if I can get it locally, either.
Probably need to be in the greater Cleveland area. And hope there’s some left.
almost always a keg available…no worries if ever in town ;D
Some that I have had in the Vaterland. Some are imported.
Radeberger us ok, from the former east.
St. Pauli isn’t even found in Germany.
Becks, Warsteiner, Bitburger, Oettigner, Krombacher, Hasseroeder, Binding, Veltins are all Fernseherbiers (Fernseher means far seer, similar to television) and those are viewed as the equivalent of BMC beers in Germany.
Wernesgruener is pretty good for the price at Aldis. Can find it at Aldis in the US.
Kulmbacher was OK.
Mahr’s Pils is very good, imported sometimes. Kessmann is also very good, but I don’t know if it leaves Bamberg.
Wuerzburger Pils is very good when I have had it.
Spaten and Paulaner are good in the softer Southern Bavarian style.
Jever and Flensburger are more assertive Northern German examples. Koernig sort of fits in there,and was a favorite when fresh.
Alpirsbacher was very good, don’t know if imported.
Plank in Bavaria makes a nice pils, imported sometimes.
There are many more that I can’t remember.
Trumer is brewed in Austria, just outside of Salzberg. The Berkley brewery is a partnership between Trumer and Gambrinus.
Don’t try this at home, kids. He’s a professional.
The beer from Aldi’s that starts with W was terrible. My advice when you are at Aldi’s: “just stick with the chocolates”.
I haven’t had it since I lived in Germany some time ago. It was one that Michael Jackson had recommended in one of his books, so I tried it and liked it then. Might have to avoid it based on what you say.
Could be the transport and freshness issue.
It was in green bottles then, now?
Yes green bottles.
Just because I’m in PA, Penn Pilsner is pretty good. Very crisp and dry … First time having one.
Penn’s Kaiser Pils from Penn was one I enjoyed even more.
I was just thinking about Penn Brewing the other day and wondering if they still were in existence. They used to make some pretty legit German style beers back in the late 80s and early 90s. Haven’t had them since.
My favorite german pils is Best Malz…just sayin ;D
was drinking jever alot over the past 12 months. didn’t have one for a few months, drank one randomly two days ago and it was as great as i remember. the one thing ontario has had is a good selection of imported pils/pale lagers especially from germany, kept in good condition and moved quickly.
im increasingly finding jever to be my personal gold standard of german pils. clear, light malt. their water really does something with the high ibu, i’d estimate 40, but with the water enhacing its bitterness perception just slightly. i find it good to the last drop (cliche’d i know), whereas some other pilsners end up losing something as i get closer to the bottom of the glass (loss of CO2, my tongue adjusts to/gets tired of it?)
wernesgruener used to be my favourite, and i still drink it but it just feels sweeter and just under that sharp bitterness ideal-level IBU hit that jever has.
almost tied is koenig-pils. i just end up enjoying them a lot. i do find wernie and koenig to have more hop aroma than jever though.
others from germany
warsteiner - have some good memories/associations of it for some reason. i consider it more a pale lager due to its mildness, but i do like their unique malt taste (yeast? sauergut? ??)
st. pauli is completely an american thing, i havent even see in it here in canada. might have had it in asia, cant remember
kulmbacher was meh, drinkable, nice bottles i think, half the reason i got it
wolter’s - kind of weird taste, but passable cheap pale lager
colbitzer - used to love this, good quality pils for cheap
feldschlosschen - mediocre but cheap
bitburger - hate it, pathetic
holsten premium - used to be a very cheap option. just a pale lager, bland but faultless
DAB -
oettinger pils - love it for what it is, extremely cheap, hits bitterness levels correctly
radeburger - package and taste is the same as bitburger, i think slightly more bitter
becker’s - nice can, bad industrial lager
“L” export/lager - i think the worst german beer i can remember tasting. it was always incredibly cheap, but tastes like they took used up malt and squeezed it in a press to get out any remaining sugars. very industrial
thueringer - got a whole bunch of this, a weird 4.3% lager, the lower alcohol makes the bitterness seem like pils range. somewhat watery but very cheap and great for afternoon drinking
DAB - actually really like it, on the higher end of just pale lager bitterness
beck’s havent had it in forever but remember enjoying it.
brunonia lager - i wrote down it simply tastes like the most generic lager possible. not bad or good.
brauburger - mediocre cheap beer designed as export, similar to above
puls/darguner - industrial lager, bad
harboe/“bear beer”/“L7” - made by dargun (above) brewery also, incredibly bad. i remember getting this because it was cheap but it was a drainpour, even as a mid 20s something looking to get drunk
spaten - seems to vary from can to can, i don’t recall enjoying it much. i believe corn/industrial taste.
lowenbrau - gets contract brewed, the one now in canada is bad. one brewed in germany was always cheap and plain but decent tasting. ive probably drunk hundreds of cans of it.
paulaner muenchner hell - hate it, just a bland and corny helles
hacker pschorr helles - been growing on me, not a fan of helles, but this one is pretty good. i guess hacker pschorr is brewed by paulaner, but i havent done a side-by-side tasting of either the hellesseses or weizenbeers of theirs.