Pilsner Urquell

[bgm1409]

Have decided that for my next brew I am going to try the Brewcraft recipe for Pilsner Urquell

Muntons Export Pilsner
Brewblend #62
500g light malt extract
Saflager yeast

Will pick up everything tomorrow after dropping wife off at airport (her dad died in UK and she is going to be with her mum) and start brewing Thursday

Has anyone tried this, and if so, how did it go and any suggestions.

[warra48]

Should be good if you can ferment it at about 10 to 12ºC.
I would also get some Saaz hops and add some of those to give it a bit more hop flavour and aroma.

[drsmurto]

agree with warra, unless you can keep the brew 10-12C i wouldnt waste money on a saflager yeast. And you definitely need some more czech saaz in there, maybe 15g @ 20 and another 15 @ flameout. I have no idea what is in the brew blend but the real deal is about 4.4% and at a guess you are going well over that. Maybe leave out the extra malt, or even better, ditch the brew blend and use 1kg of LDME

[rwh]

And you definitely need some more czech saaz in there

/agree

or even better, ditch the brew blend and use 1kg of LDME

/agree

[bgm1409]

Well the shop I went to didn't have the brewblend so have made a few adjustments.

Muntons Export Pilsner
1kg LDME
Flavour Plus Pack--Pilsner (Made up of 220g Carapils/caramalt, & 13g Saaz hops)
Saflager yeast

Temp shouldn't be too much a problem--stopping it going below 10 may be harder--nights here are getting rather chilly and the dog assures me that the garage is bloody cold even during the day.

Will ferment for just over 2 weeks and most likely bottle 8/6.

[drsmurto]

Sounds ok to me. Once the beer starts fermenting the temperature may actually rise rather than fall as it generates heat.

Boil the 13g of saaz with the LDME and the liquid from steeping the carapil for 15/20 mins.

2 week ferment, rack and then put in a fridge an keep it at 1-2C for a few weeks, you will be rewarded for your patience. Bottle as normal after that.

[bgm1409]

Sounds ok to me. Once the beer starts fermenting the temperature may actually rise rather than fall as it generates heat.

Boil the 13g of saaz with the LDME and the liquid from steeping the carapil for 15/20 mins.

2 week ferment, rack and then put in a fridge an keep it at 1-2C for a few weeks, you will be rewarded for your patience. Bottle as normal after that.

I'll show my ignorance here, but what do you mean by racking? Unfortunately I don't have a spare fridge, so it probably is a bit impractable anyway. I plan to bulk prime before bottling and was thinking that I might prime on the Saturday and leave it till the Sunday to bottle (or am I just wasting my time?)

[rwh]

I'll show my ignorance here, but what do you mean by racking?

The search function is actually pretty nifty, you know...

http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... f=2&t=7953
http://www.homebrewandbeer.com/forum/vi ... f=2&t=7796

I plan to bulk prime before bottling and was thinking that I might prime on the Saturday and leave it till the Sunday to bottle (or am I just wasting my time?)

If you bulk prime the beer the day before you bottle, the yeast will likely gobble some or all of the sugar before the beer reaches the bottles. If you want to do as much preparation as possible in advance, just rack the day before, then add the sugar to the beer and give it a gentle stir 10 minutes before you're ready to bottle.

[bgm1409]

Well 2 days after doing the brew it started bubbling away nicely for another 2 days, but now there is no activity in the airlock at all--is this normal or should I be worried?

[warra48]

Airlock activity, or lack of it, is not a reliable indicator of fermentation.
If your brew has kicked off, leave it alone for at least a week. If you really want to know what's happening then, take a sample and test it with your hydrometer.
Lager yeasts, at their proper temperature, can take up to 3 weeks to complete fermentation, and patience is required.
Lager yeasts are much less demonstrative than ale yeasts.
If you really want to see a yeast in full flight, brew a dark ale such as a porter or a stout, feed it a London, Windsor, Nottingham or similar ale yeast, and stand by for action.

[nickdablack]

I am no expert. But i would just leave it for 2 weeks asnd continue as normal.

[bgm1409]

Hygrometer reading got down to 1.004--according to Beersmith that should give me an ABV of 4.68%--have just added in the primer and will now begin to bottle in a few minutes.

[pixelboy]

Can anyone suggest the best bittering hop for an extract pilsner.. my recipie so far is..

3kg LDME
xx gms ???? (60mins)
30ms SAAZ (20mins)
20ms SAAZ (flameout)
Saflager W-34/70

Ive got some Chinook, Centennial, Amerillo, Cascade and maybe some Northern Brewer in the fridge..

Ive got 90gms of the czech saaz, maybe I should use the other 40gms to bitter with?

Anything else I should add? Ive done 40 odd ales but never a pilsner/larger and I thought being winter and all...

[rwh]

What's the AA% of the Saaz? It's probably the "best" to bitter with, but you'll prolly need a huge amount of it, especially if it's this year's, which is low AA. Next best would probably be the Northern Brewer. The rest you've got there are American, so not really to style, but in order of preference, I'd use the Chinook, then Centennial, then Amarillo. I wouldn't use Cascade.

[pixelboy]

Thanks rwh

I think its the Czech Saaz Hops 06 @ AA4.5% but ill check when I get home.. @ 4.5% I guess the following boil schedule would be ok..

50gms @ 60mins
20gms @ 20mins
20gms @ flameout

If I do a 1kg malt boil in about 6l I should get about 30IBU's ? Thats ok I guess?

[rwh]

Sounds great!

[drsmurto]

Urquell is 40IBUs from memory.

I would personally use the Northern Brewer for bittering - its a very clean bittering hop and save all the saaz for flavour and aroma. That way you can make 2 batches!

[pixelboy]

Yeah , the SAAZ isnt 4.5% like I thought.. its 2.4% so I wont be bittering with it.

and Ive got more Northern Brewer than I thought so ill use that.. Ill aim for 40 IBU's

Thanks chaps

[Trough Lolly]

Yeah , the SAAZ isnt 4.5% like I thought.. its 2.4% so I wont be bittering with it.

and Ive got more Northern Brewer than I thought so ill use that.. Ill aim for 40 IBU's

Thanks chaps

I know this is a tad late, but...

40IBUs of NB will make a nice bitter beer but it won't taste anything like a PU, IMHO - you'll need a shitload of Saaz to punch through all the NB flavour profile.

Cheers,
TL