Feedback on Bohemian Pilsner

For my lagers I do a Protein rest of 50c then up to my sacc rest. As you're doing BIAB this is probably not possible. The 90 minute mash is also probably not needed either, but again BIAB, so if that works for you, go for it.

Ingredients wise, you're pretty much spot on with your hops and timings, I'd suggest leaf hops if you can get them, for me it's all I use in my Bohemian and Bavarian styles. I feel they're smoother, it makes no sense personally to me.
On your grains, Munich isn't really true to form, are you adding it to add a little more colour?
 
Grant2 said:
This is my first BIAB and first time creating my own recipe. Now that summer is almost here, I'm wanting to brew a good bohemian (Czech or German) pilsner.

I'm going for a full volume BIAB.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/831054/pilsner2

I'd like feedback on the grains, hops, mash temp and anything else you see.

Thanks!
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Looks like a goer to me. :)
My best boh pils was brewed with just floor malted Bohemian pils malt from weyerman and hopped with sazz fermented with fermentis 34/70. I find these fine light lagers take shape more in the fermentor and keg than in the kettle. Getting a good healthy happy pitch rate goes along way in getting that clean crisp Lager flavour with that supporting malt flavour.
I love sazz I recon your on the money there.
I brew Biab and there is not difference in my books with a traditional mashed brew to a brew that's mashed in a bag same thing just different filter substrate.
If after this brew you wanna bump your brew house above 70% try a simple sparge over the bag suspended above a pot or over your kettle to get them last remaining sugars out of the grain bed.

Good luck let her rip I say and get stuck into your first full fledged brew;).
 
I really like the recipe and have been planning something almost identical for a czech pils. All my lagers get a single infusion rest for 45 min with a 45 minute boil. No issues however I do it primarily to save time. I could not agree with Trial more regarding a lager taking shape in the fermentor.
 
Garrison Brewery said:
For my lagers I do a Protein rest of 50c then up to my sacc rest. As you're doing BIAB this is probably not possible. The 90 minute mash is also probably not needed either, but again BIAB, so if that works for you, go for it.

Ingredients wise, you're pretty much spot on with your hops and timings, I'd suggest leaf hops if you can get them, for me it's all I use in my Bohemian and Bavarian styles. I feel they're smoother, it makes no sense personally to me.
On your grains, Munich isn't really true to form, are you adding it to add a little more colour?
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Thanks for the feedback! On the 90 minute mash, that seems to be what BIAB'ers do to get better efficiency. This will be my first BIAB, so I'll try 90 minutes and see how it all turns out.

My LHBS carries leaf hops, so I'll pick up some Saaz if they have it.

Regarding the use of Munich, it was mostly for a little color, but I can take it or leave it. I remember seeing it in another recipe somewhere (can't find it now). That was a recent change to the recipe. I was originally going to go with 10 lbs Pilsner and 0.4 lbs Carafoam.
 
Trialben said:
Looks like a goer to me. :)
My best boh pils was brewed with just floor malted Bohemian pils malt from weyerman and hopped with sazz fermented with fermentis 34/70. I find these fine light lagers take shape more in the fermentor and keg than in the kettle. Getting a good healthy happy pitch rate goes along way in getting that clean crisp Lager flavour with that supporting malt flavour.
I love sazz I recon your on the money there.
I brew Biab and there is not difference in my books with a traditional mashed brew to a brew that's mashed in a bag same thing just different filter substrate.
If after this brew you wanna bump your brew house above 70% try a simple sparge over the bag suspended above a pot or over your kettle to get them last remaining sugars out of the grain bed.

Good luck let her rip I say and get stuck into your first full fledged brew;).
Click to expand...


Thanks for the feedback! I may remove the Munich and just go with Pilsner and Carafoam.

What temps do you ferment at (and how long)? I'm thinking about 50F and a diacetyl rest at the end. Rack to a keg and keep it at 34F for 2-3 weeks (or until I get impatient and want to drink it!).

Thanks for the tip on mini-sparge, I may try that once I see what my efficiency is at. Is there a particular water temp and volume you go with on your sparge water?
 
Alright, I've updated the recipe to remove the Munich and just have Pilsner and Carafoam. Got my water volume correct (hopefully) and updated my water additions based on the new water volume.

One last question, should I drop in some whirlfloc at the last 15 minutes of the boil?
 
I have not used floor malted pils, so can't speak to it from experience. However, I may suggest that you use Weyermann Barke Pilsner instead of floor malted pils for your first BIAB brew to get a more complete conversion. The new, more modified grain will likely take to a single step infusion better. Then, after you've done it a few times, maybe do this recipe with the floor malted and try a decoction style mash (totally possible with BIAB).
 
BilltownBrewingCo said:
I have not used floor malted pils, so can't speak to it from experience. However, I may suggest that you use Weyermann Barke Pilsner instead of floor malted pils for your first BIAB brew to get a more complete conversion. The new, more modified grain will likely take to a single step infusion better. Then, after you've done it a few times, maybe do this recipe with the floor malted and try a decoction style mash (totally possible with BIAB).
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Floor-malted is SLIGHTLY undermodified, meaning compared to most modern grains, it's a bit harder to work with. Step mash might help. I second the notion presented that you should go with a single infusion for a first brew. No need for a decoction on this, add a bit of Vienna. If you get the urge to decoction mash, seek out really undermodified grain.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I'll look at the Weyermann Barke Pilsner.

I've thought about adding something in there like Munich/Vienna for color, but I think I'm going to keep things simple the first time around and just go with Pilsner and Carafoam.
 
Grant2 said:
Thanks for the feedback, I'll look at the Weyermann Barke Pilsner.

I've thought about adding something in there like Munich/Vienna for color, but I think I'm going to keep things simple the first time around and just go with Pilsner and Carafoam.
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If you want a bit of color you could replace the carafoam with carahell...
 
Carahell is a nice malt for light lagers I've used it in pilsner before. As for fermentation grant I start the yeast low as it looks your going to do and as fermentation is winding down let it free rise or if it's cool raise it using heat till it's around 20c for diacetyl rest leave here for a two or three days then crash it down for transfer. I usually go 10c then 0c to be nice to my freezer then chill here for a couple of days. When racking to keg because I'm aiming at a bright beer I'll add the gelatin mix to the keg as im transferring in if you can do closed transfer even better to keep that oxygen staling your beer and making it dull and lifeless.

This beer will be one to rebrew over and over so dont get to hung up on all the first time sometimes overwhelming technicalities. Brew it have fun with the process get a good feel for the brewing process with your equipment. Then tackle your decoction rests and what not
 
Trialben said:
Carahell is a nice malt for light lagers I've used it in pilsner before. As for fermentation grant I start the yeast low as it looks your going to do and as fermentation is winding down let it free rise or if it's cool raise it using heat till it's around 20c for diacetyl rest leave here for a two or three days then crash it down for transfer. I usually go 10c then 0c to be nice to my freezer then chill here for a couple of days. When racking to keg because I'm aiming at a bright beer I'll add the gelatin mix to the keg as im transferring in if you can do closed transfer even better to keep that oxygen staling your beer and making it dull and lifeless.

This beer will be one to rebrew over and over so dont get to hung up on all the first time sometimes overwhelming technicalities. Brew it have fun with the process get a good feel for the brewing process with your equipment. Then tackle your decoction rests and what not
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Gotta agree with the rebrewing aspect. I'm hung up on chasing that perfect Kölsch. Nearly there.
 
Garrison Brewery said:
Gotta agree with the rebrewing aspect. I'm hung up on chasing that perfect Kölsch. Nearly there.
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I've brewed A few and recently brewed three back to back funny thing was the first kolsch I brewed of that series was the most straightforward and best of the three. Heres what it was https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/717899/k97-kolsch.

This was one of my earlier attempts and turned out also a great drop.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/372217/kolsch-2
 
Garrison Brewery said:
Gotta agree with the rebrewing aspect. I'm hung up on chasing that perfect Kölsch. Nearly there.
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Greatest brewing lesson of my life was when I brewed nothing but Helles, back to back, about seven recipes worth. Brewing a great beer here and there is easy: Repeatability is the mark of a great brewer.
 
Nosybear said:
Greatest brewing lesson of my life was when I brewed nothing but Helles, back to back, about seven recipes worth. Brewing a great beer here and there is easy: Repeatability is the mark of a great brewer.
Click to expand...

Got to agree, I've learned a lot from rebrewing my Kölsch as well as my Helles which I'm on the 5th iteration of. This one's tasting the best so far, just on a D rest at the moment but going to crash down in a few days.
 
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