what theories do you have for making the absolutely most CRISP beer possible.
please note: NAILs are NOT crisp, they are corny, ugly piles of crap.
I mean:
-sharply bitter without completely making your face turn, but about 10% under that.
-the cleanest, simplest malt background
-re: taste - either clean beautiful grain/malt/hay or light malt followed by any hop tastes you want. something that quickly makes you feel pleasure from it but is simple enough.
this is up to your perception - could be ale or lager but sort of the quickest pleasant malt with what you perceive as no off-flavours and the ahem crispest/distinctly fast perception
I agree that a big part, really the biggest part, of crisp is it being well attenuated i.e. dry. So a yeast that is clean and attenuates well, minimal or no specialty malts, and low mash temp or consider a step mash. You can even use enzymes. With a dry base you can bitter with high aa hops without having to over do it.
In addition to the suggestions others posted, I would say having the “right” water chemistry will help get you over the finish line to a super crisp beer. Building from RO is probably the safest bet, unless you have reliably good tap water. My tap water (Los Angeles Basin) is relatively high on chloride, sodium, and carbontes, and it resulted in “flabby” beers.
I have a German pils on tap right now that was built to a base water of 62 ppm Ca, 11 ppm Mg, 121 ppm SO4, and 51 ppm Cl, which hits the “sharply bitter and crisp” zone for my taste buds. I might dial back the sulfate a little bit depending on recipe, but I do think the higher SO4 helps crisp things up a bit.
The specifics of water profiles are going to be a matter of some personal preference (and individual recipe goals), although I think the generalities are fairly well accepted. I am a relative novice at water, so defer to others’ knowledge.
i was uh somewhat inebriated when posting that and:
@tommymorris - from what the reviews say its nice and clean, unfortunately i dont have access to it. nice though
@drew C - yes, absolutely. of the base malts, i perceive that i get better attenuation with pilsner. i say perceive becuase there are factors such as me tending to use specialty malts on top of say MO or NA 2row vs. maybe using pilsner malts with less, but i still think so.
@pete - also well attenuated. tbh ive never made a beer that has had problems from being TOO attenuated. i dont even find it necessarily affects the body unless its something like a huge stout finishing too dry vs, a desired very viscuous mouthfeel
@denny - yes
@andy farke - this is the big one i think. the crispest beer ive made was the last pilsner i made which followed the 2nd crispest beer’s (a bitter) water profile of a LOT of gypsum and otherwise kind of low mineral water.
i obviously dont want to ruin a beer but id go even higher with the SO4. though i guess everyone has a different tongue.
disclosure: i have fiddled with water and still do a lot, but yes i am a novice and tbh am going based on what notes i took in beers that worked ie. “pale, hoppy, well attenuated - add this ratio of gypsum and CaCL.” or other things
was brainstorming because the next beer i make i dont think will be this ULTIMATE crisp style, but will be a crisp pale beer for sure.
I agree with well-attenuated. Find a yeast with a high attenuation rate. I also agree with mashing lower and you could also employ some alpha amalyse. I tried some awhile back and didn’t use very much but I noticed a difference.
Mash in low and slowly rise in temp over an hour and a half to 65. Use acid malt and Budvar yeast. The beer should have a target pH in the kettle of about 5.5 to get you to about 4.5.
Do a step mash of all pilsner malt.
I prefer a malt like Durst or Avangard (edited) pils for this.
144-145 for 60 minutes,
158 for 30 minutes
Mashout.
I’ve been using Magnum and lower AA noble hops for bittering, half of the bittering IBUs from each. Then additions at 30 and 5 minutes. Whirlpool or dryhop if you wish. Target 40 IBU total.
I agree that 90-100 ppm SO4 is needed. I dont like Pilsners over that.
34/70 and equivalents are my first choice.
Diamond would be 2nd.
Pitch a healthy culture with plenty of cells, give it O2.
At the end of Lagering do a week at -1C. I like 2 weeks to drop it bright.
One thing I just remembered is to check the pH at the end of the mash and end of the boil. Target about 5.2 at end of the boil. The lager yeast doesn’t drop pH as much as ale yeast. A lower pH in the finished beer helps the crispness.
Hopden, the importer is not too far from my location, and one guy I know has an commercial account with them. That doesn’t help you though.
A sesrch online shows that Country Malt Group carries Durst. If you have a local shop you could ask if the can get it through CMG. Or if you know a local brewery you might see if they could order you a bag.
I should have mentioned Avangard Pils malt as another good on for a dry Pilsner. That is easier to find. I used that for my Gernam Pils yesterday.
Thanks! I appreciate the response!
I have used Avangard in the past with favorable results.
I actually do order from a local brewery and will see if they order from CMG.
