Picked this up on a whim. Thinking of a BoPils, but worried this might finish too dry.
Avangarde pils + a little Munich and CaraPils, Magnum and Saaz. Soft water.
Hochkurtz mash schedule, 148f up to 158f.
I managed to pass over the Bohemian Lager yeast somehow. That looks like a more generic lager yeast however…
Thoughts?
Recipe looks good. If you do not want it too dry use more caraPils (4-7%).
I would mash 143 and 162 if you are going to do step mash.
Yeast will work but IMO there are better yeasts for BoPils. (May be it is just my water).
Good luck.
Contrary to its name, Wyeast 2124 has nothing to do with Bohemia. Wyeast 2124 is W-34/70 by a different name. W-34/70 is Bavarian yeast strain. Wyeast 2278 is Pilsner Urquell’s D strain.
Yes the story goes that bohemian lager yeast was smuggled by traveling monk from Bavaria to Bohemia.
Bavarian and Bohemian S. pastorianus yeast strains are very different genetically. Bavarian strains belong to the Frohberg family. Bohemian and Danish yeast strains belong to the Saaz family (Carlsberg Bottom Yeast No. 1 is a Saaz strain). The Frohberg strains are tetraploids (4n) with two sets of S. cerevisiae chromosomes and two sets of S. eubayanus chromosomes. Saaz strains are triploids (3n) with one set of S. cerevisiae chromosomes and two sets of S. eubayanus chromosomes. Saaz strains are more cold tolerant than Frohberg strains because cold tolerance is inherited from S. eubayanus, and Saaz strains are 2/3rds S. eubayanus genetically.
Quite frankly I do not remember how yeast got to Bohemia.
Bohemia and Bavaria had much closer relationship then Bohemia and Denmark.
I am still sticking to it that there is a better yeast then 2278 at least with my water. I have try quite a few of them and come to conclusion that 2124 works the best for me. If I would use a scale I would put 2278 as a last yeast I would use for Czech beer.
In my experience 2124 will become to be active when you feed your yeast at 33F.
2278 was supposed to be one of the three strains for PU and then they blend the beer. Can not confirm or deny this.
I do not think that anyone is disputing that lager brewing started in Bavaria. The current dispute within the scientific community is centered around why Bavarian lager strains are tetraploids and Bohemian/Danish lager strains are triploids. That’s a huge genetic difference. There is the colder brewing conditions in Bohemia and Denmark led to the loss of S. cerevisiae chromosomes hypothesis.
Interesting, Thirsty Monk. I have had excellent results using WY2278 in my bo pils.
Does WY2124 get you that little hint of diacytel, like WY2278? I always like that in a fresh PU.
Sounds like I might need to compare to some PU when sampling to determine if I should do a D-rest with it.
WY2278 is the yeast that I use when brewing my Czech Pils. I have 10 gallons brewed February 18 that is lagering at around 33 degrees (I’m testing it about every other day). Of all the styles of beer that I brew, this this is probably my favorite.
Bruce
There was an event at the World of Beer bar chain that had unfiltered-unpasteurized PU kegs flown over. Dang that was a good beer. Guess what - no Diacetyl! I didn’t get it, but a National Judge in the club who was next to me at the bar didn’t get it either. It was a Czech Kellerbier, still hazy from the yeast, so the yeast had cleaned up. Another National level judge from the club who is hyper sensitive to the D says that he did not pick it up either.
For the production PU, it has been said it is cold crashed, so the yeast must be dropping before it is done cleaning up.
Thanks S. cerevisiae that is very interesting info.
I have noticed a big difference in lager yeasts over the years, including some fermenting fine at 48 while others just seem to insist that it be 51 or 52. Will be great to compare my notes to these genetics.
That’s pretty interesting. Sounds like the slight diacetyl isn’t so much desired in the Czech beers over there, maybe stemming more from PU’s (maybe too quick) crashing ?
Wy2278 does ferment fairly dry, in my experience. It could’ve been my water too, like Leos said. I use 34/70 and/or Wy2124 for many of my lagers. To me, I think Czech pils is more about the Saaz hops than the yeast.
I use a lot of 2124, too. Even in BoPils. Agreed on the Saaz.
I have read that the brewery has found out that the sales go up a little if they increase the diacetyl level in the production beer.
Edited to correct autocorrect.
After tasting Lazy Monk’s fantastic Pilsner WY 2124 has turned into my go to Bo Pils yeast.
What’s interesting is that 14C (57F) is stated as the current production lager fermentation temperature. That’s not the first time that I have seen that temperature stated in a paper. I am fairly certain that AB ferments Bud at 57F with an S.G. of 1.080 (the final product is diluted with deaerated water at packaging). That’s amazing because ester levels quadruple when gravity doubles.
I would be happy just to have the opportunity to taste non-skunked PU.
Yeah, I’d love to try that.