how to darken up my Bohemian Pils

Brewing Processes
1

My Bohemian Pils recipe is from Jamil’s book, and currently stands at 18.0 lbs Best Malz Pilsner and 1.1 lbs Weyermann CaraFoam/CaraPils for a 10gal batch.  I did a Hochkurz double decoction based on Kai’s schedule (http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Decoction_Mashing#Hochkurz_Double_Decoction) - doughed-in at 144F (skipping the protein rest as Kai mentions many German brewers do), did a first decoction to get it to 158F, and then a second to get it to 170. Basically hit the curve on Kai’s graph pretty closely.  I boiled each decoction about 15 minutes.

Anyways the beer is clearly too light yellow for a Bo Pils… compared to a Pilsner Urquell it is a couple degrees off.  How do I get it a little more rich golden  and not so pale yellow?  Boil the decoctions longer? Use some kind of caramel malt or Munich/Vienna addition (I can imagine the answer is NO on that but…)  Any tips would be appreciated.

(One other thing I was thinking about trying on the next batch is to have the first rest around 146, not 144, to get my FG a little higher than the 1.012 my last batch hit. OG was 1.055. Sound reasonable?)

-red

2

I like a little (maybe 4-6 oz for a 5 gallon batch) Caramunich in my BoPils. I do it for flavor, but it contributes nicely to the color as well.

3

Sinimar?  ;D

4

Boil the decoction longer.  Maybe 25 min.

PU let’s the wort drop from the tun to a grant, and the HSA is said to darken the beer.

5

Just what I was gonna say…

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Well, if you are comparing it to the Pilsner Urquell that gets shipped here you could store it warm and let it get oxidized?  That will certainly darken it up a bit ;D  That being said, if it tastes good, I wouldn’t worry about it.  The guidelines say very pale gold to deep gold and an SRM of 3.5-6.  So there is some wiggle room.  I would do a longer decoction or add a little melanoidin malt if color is a big concern.  Personally, I don’t like any crystal malts in my pilsners.  But, that is just my own preference.

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you could boil longer as well. a 90 minute boil is recommended with pilsner malt anyway but I often to a 120 minute boil to get a little extra color when I don’t want to use other malts or dark sugar/sugar syrups to get that extra color.

8

Cara munich …? In a Bo Pils???

I’d add a pound or two of munich. I do that when I want to darken up my kolsch.

9

+1

I use a pound of Dark Munich for a 5 gallon recipe.

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I use 2 lbs of light munich in my Bo Pils.  I’m doing it more for flavor contribution than color though.

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I know, it sounds out of place. I tried it after Thirsty_Monk had suggested it in another thread and was surprised how much I like the results, so I’ve been using it ever since. I think the trick is to add just enough to add a bit of complexity, but not enough to really notice that it’s there.

12

Now cat is out of the bag :slight_smile:

Weyernmann bohemian pilsner malt is little bit darker than best pilsner malt.
Traditionally you would use only pilsner malt.
color comes from longer boil 2+ hours and decoctions.
You should boil decaction at least 30 minutes.

13

So it looks like a consensus is building…

I’ll try by adding 1# of Munich to my 10gal batch (I guess this would replace 1# of the Pils malt?)

I’ll also boil the 2 decoctions for 25-30 mins, instead of 10-15 mins.

I’m already doing a 90 min boil, so I’ll leave that rather than bump to 120 min. Don’t want to change to many things all at once.

Sound like a plan?

14

Don’t go too far at first Red.

I did an all Pils (12lb Weyermann and 5 lb Best)  Helles on Friday.  A Hochhurz with a half hour vigorous boil of the thick part.  I am wondering if it will be too dark, as the boil samples were darker than my regular Pils.

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Granted I do not do decoctions or brew pilsners, but in my Kölsches, I use a small amount of Melanoidin or Aromatic malt to push it into the 3-4 SRM range and very subtly increase the malt character. I suspect the same could be done with a BoPils.

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I like this plan.  I like just boiling the dococtions longer as well.

17

Not to be contrary, but why do you want to darken it up?

It’s tough to get a light golden beer using a typical HB set-up and pale gold color is acceptable for the style per the BJCP guidelines. I always consider a homebrewer’s ability to get a light gold beer to be a mark of skill. Not every Bo Pils has to look like crusty old Czechvar.

But, if you do want it a shade darker, I’ll jump on the bandwagon and say decoction or a tiny bit of CaraMunich and/or 40-60 *L crystal.

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Well Bo Pils is my favorite style and thus it’s a bit of a holy grail for me to try to replicate Pilsner Urquell, as I gather it is for a number of other homebrewers. And when comparing my brew with the original, of course the first mismatch is in color… so why not try to match that along with matching aroma, flavor, etc etc? I know it’s only cosmetics but… why not?

I’m about to start mashing it in about half an hour… 17# Best Malz Pils, 1# Best Munich, 1# CaraPils for 10 gals, Hochkurz double decoction. (Last batch was 18# Pils and 1# CaraPils) Wish me luck!

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Good luck and let us know how it turned out.

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I would be very leery of combining significant amounts of any character/crystal malt and still doing the decoction. Melanoidin, in particular, can be easy to over-do and when combined with a double decoction can lead to more of a beefy flavor than a beery flavor :wink: