Pilsner

Brew Day: 4/27/14
Transfer Day: 5/8/14
Bottle Day: 5/26/14

Original Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.018
ABV: 5.1%

Ingredients:

• 1 package 2278 Czech Pils Wyeast
• ~1 lb. of Pilsen grain
• 6 lbs Pilsen Malt Extract Syrup
• 1 lb. Pilsen Dry Malt Extract
• 1 oz Czech Saaz Hop Pellets (3.0% Alpha)
• 1 oz Czech Saaz Hop Pellets (4.0% Alpha)
• 1 oz Liberty Hop Pellets (4.5% Alpha)
• 1 Tsp. Irish Moss

Directions:

Brew Day–4/27/14

1. Break the yeast packet to activate.

2. Crush the Pilsen Grain thoughourly. (As best as possible without a mill).

3. Heat ~ 1 gallon of water to 160 degrees. Then pour the crushed grain into the brew kettle to begin the partial mash. Mash the grain for one hour.

4. Sparge the wort with ~2.5 gallons of hot water.

5. Start the boil.

6. Once the wort is boiling, add all malt extract. Stir frequently to avoid burning the bottom of the kettle.

7. Add hops. Hop schedule:

• 0:60-1 oz Liberty
• 0:30-1 oz Czech Saaz (4% Alpha)
• 0:10 -1 oz Czech Saaz (3% Alpha)

8. With 10 minutes left in the boil, add Irish Moss (for clarity).

9. Fill a Tupperware bin full of cold water and frozen 2-liter pop bottles. After 60 minutes of boiling, take the brew kettle off the heat and move it to the wort cooling container.

10. The initial gravity was really high (likely because of the smaller wort volume), so we added a few cups of tap water to dilute the wort a bit.

11. Once the wort has cooled to ~ 70 degrees, pitch the yeast.

12. Seal the glass carboy and place it in the closet for fermentation.

Transfer Day–5/8/14
1. Transfer beer from glass carboy to secondary fermenter.

Bottle Day–5/26/14

1. Boil water for priming sugar. When the water is boiling, add priming sugar and stir until dissolved completely. Take off heat and cover.

2. Thoroughly sanitize instruments, bottles, and growlers.

3. Transfer beer to bottling bucket.

4. Add priming sugar and stir into the beer.

5. Transfer beer from bottling bucket to bottles and growlers.

6. Cap ’em up!

7. Fill the fridge with the bottled beer for aging.

The Pilsner tasted really bad for a long time–there were strong banana flavors, it wasn’t very carbonated, and just generally nasty. That makes it a little easier to age properly, however. After about three months from bottling, we starting tasting the Pilsner again and it was significantly better. We bottled in late May and were enjoying the Pilsner all throughout the fall. The final flavor was really light and crisp, yet slightly maltier and more flavorful than your typical big-name lager. It was a great session beer and super tasty on a warm fall afternoon!