Czech Pilsner

Pilsner... Czech Pilsner... Don't I mean lager? Yeah, well it's a lager. In fact, All pilsners are lagers, but not all lagers are pilsners. A lager, in short, is a beer fermented with lager yeast (Saccharomyces Pastorianus). Oh... okay now it all makes sense. Well, not really. In the vast world of beer styles, there are really only two types, ales and lagers. The main difference between the two is the type of yeast you added for fermentation. That's it? Yeah, pretty much. However, there are plenty of other factors that you might want to look into while building or brewing a recipe in order to make it drinkable. The main idea to keep in mind is that LAGERS, unlike ALES, need to be brewed at a much cooler temperature, we're talking around 45-55 degrees. So, unless you have a basement that stays around those temps year round, you're going to need to have some sort of refrigeration unit to keep things chilly, especially in the Summer months. Additionally, because temps are colder, fermentation happens much, much slower. At least double the time a traditional ale would take. On top of that, the pitching rate needs to be much higher of a cell count compared to an ale. Just keep that in mind...

So, let's go back to lager types. If all pilsners are lagers but not all lagers are pilsners, what other types of lagers are out there? A LOT. American Lagers, Bocks, Dopple Bocks, Baltic Porters, Festbiers, Helles, Vienna Lagers, the list goes on. In fact there's more lager beer brewed and consumed in the world than ales. Seems unlikely since there are so many more ale styles out there, but you need to think about who's drinking the beer. Which brings me to American or European lagers. Coors Original is a lager. It's not a pilsner. Budweiser brews lager beer, not pilsners. These particular beers being brewed are stylized as American Lagers due to the amount of corn and/or rice being added. They are essentially watered down, low ABV, "sessionable," adjunct beers with the sole purpose of easy, one dimensional drinking. I'm not one to knock anyone for making or drinking such product and I feel it definitely has a place in today's beer drinking community, and always will. However, I'm not really into the whole one dimension flavor thing, so I searched elsewhere for lager inspiration for my homebrew.

Ok, back to Czech Pilsner. This lager style is a simple, yet extremely flavorful beer that comes with quite the flavor profile. These beers are basic in ingredients but quite complex in hop aroma as well. The Czech, or Bohemian Pilsner -- I think is what BJCP refers to it as -- is brewed with traditional European ingredients. Monrovian Pilsner malt is recommended but it's harder to find in the United States. The next closest is probably German Pilsner, full bodied grain with a nice malt flavor. The Czech Pilsner is also know for its spicy/earthy hop flavor and aroma, so keep that in mind too...

So, what's left? The YEAST, a lager yeast of course. When building my recipe I was looking into what White Labs has produced and stumbled on WLP800 (Pilsner Lager). From the White Labs website, "Classic pilsner strain from the premier pilsner producer in the Czech Republic. Somewhat dry with a malty finish, this yeast is best suited for European pilsner production." Ok, that was easy. Anything else I should be looking at...? I've got the recommended malt, yeast, hops... Is water important?.... Hell yes it is... SOFT water is a must! Avoid hard water at all costs... It wont ruin the beer but it will certainly leave you with a minerally aftertaste and not give that quintessential smooth, refreshing mouthfeel that lagers are know for. Long Beach has moderately hard tap water, so I decided to blend distilled water with arrowhead spring water. I did about three parts distilled to one part spring water. I wanted to get a little bit of minerals in there because the yeast love it and it's all about making them happy.

Lastly, before I include my recipe I want to mention a protein rest and diacetyl rest. Protein rests are used in the mash for certain beers in order to break up the longer chained proteins at a lower temperature. This contributes to a clearer beer by reducing the chill haze as well as helping to lend a crisper finish. I want to make a note that I did NOT end up doing a protein rest, but a single infusion mash for a light body (148 degrees) for 75 minutes. Some people will tell you that the protein rest makes all the difference but I took a risk on this one and left it alone. Now, a diacetyl rest is used in order to clean up the beer a bit from the diacetyl let over from cold fermentation. This is achieved by slowly ramping up the temperature in the fermentation process as it comes to an end. This will leave the beer cleaner in taste and free of any off-flavors still lingering. I feel a diacetyl rest is always necessary when brewing lagers. After the lagering phase (week 4-8) in fermentation, bring the temperature up to about 60 degrees and hold for a day or so... I usually keep it at 60 deg for 48 hours then crash the temp one last time before kegging.

Czech Pilsner 5.4% Brewed 1/28/13 (6 gallon recipe)

10# German Pilsner

2 oz Saaz @ 60 min

2.5 oz Saaz @ 30 min

1.5 oz Saaz @ 5 min

1.5 L Yeast Starter WLP800 (Pilsner Lager)

Also, I wanted to mention that I aimed to accentuate the Saaz aroma with late addition hops. I wanted to promote the spicy aroma without having to dry hop the beer. I would say it definitely worked. This Czech Pilsner is herbal, spicy, floral, very refreshing for summertime. Cheers!