drsmurto wrote:Perfectly acceptable TL, yes. True to style, no.
Bohemian pilsners such as Budvar and Urquell are still made using a triple decoction.......
As for putting off potential HBers, the fact this is in the grain brewing section means its for the more advanced brewer.
I never made a lager as a kit brewer as i knew it wouldnt be that great, nowhere to hide the twang in a lager, a big fat stout on the other hand......
Just my 2 c
DrSMurto
Perhaps we agree to disagree!
If my and any other pils entry at the nationals was dropped because they found out that we hadn't triple decocted the mash, there would be hell to pay! I totally agree that a Budvar or Urquell copy does benefit from a triple decoction. My more general assertion that a perfectly reasonable pilsner can be made with a single step infusion mash still stands....And yes, it becomes degrees of difficulty beyond that to make a "more refined" pils. And of course, as to whether the final product is "great" is subjective. My first beer (Coopers draught kit and kilo of dextrose) was "great" because it was cheap and made by me!
As for taste, well, we can be very forgiving when we start to brew, can't we?! 
I suppose my main concern here is making sure that we don't make generalisations that raise the bar beyond the reach of aspiring brewers - I actually put off making my first ag beer because when I read about it, the whole thing looked way too complicated. It wasn't until I found a website that stepped through what to do and once I actually did a mash that I realised that ag is actually quite straightforward in principle and it's we, the brewer who eventually add "advanced' techniques such a decoction or water chemistry etc to more closely emulate a particular beer. And that's fine, of course - but to then complete the circle by saying that you must do these things for a whole style of beer is, IMO, wrong.
Cheers Kev - "to do it properly" makes much more sense because you're suggesting methods that will put the brewers final result much closer to the real thing, as opposed to a blanket statement...
Cheers,
TL
WTF?
