This was my third brew for 2021 – which is actually one more than I managed in 2020. I think that says more about the constraints of COVID and the challenges of work than any particular commitment to brewing. Nevertheless, we started brewing a few days after Christmas, and it fermented into the new year. This was intended to be a bohemian style Pilsner – i.e. an old world Pilsner, in the spirt of the German and Czech beers. A funny story though: as we were getting ready to brew it, we tried a few of these old school beers, and weren’t particularly impressed. Perhaps our taste buds have become accustomed to beers like IPAs to enjoy the simpler tastes of Pilsners. Further examination, such as Wayward’s Pilsner was more positive, and we decided to brew the grain that we had.
The brew was reasonably straightforward, although we did have some issues (see below in process).
Grain bill:
Pilsner
Hops:
Yeast:
Process:
We used the formula of 2.4L per kg of grain, which gave us a grist volume of approximately 11L. We used a stepped infusion for the grist, starting off at 64 degrees and then increasing it every 15-30 mins by about 4 degrees, until we mashed out at 75 degrees. We sparged at 78 degrees, and brought the boil volume to between 26 and 28 litres. The boil actually took longer than expected, as we struggled to get the liquor boiling in the robobrew. Eventually, we got it boiling, and then added the hops. There were a lot of hops to be added (all Saaz hops) as you would expect. Following this, the beer was chilled, and then once at 12.5 degrees, we added the yeast. A final infusion of hops was planned for 7 days after chilling (as a dry hopping process).
Tasting notes