Radio Silence German Pilsner Brew Day Review and Recipe

Something home brewers can be challenged with is temperature controlled fermentations.  With our previous blog post, I (Iain the brewer) we brewed a Kolsch, which the yeast performs best at 18 degrees Celsius.  Now we have jacketed stainless conical fermenters with temperature control, however I wanted to use a "pro trick", to brew this Pilsner.  Kolsch yeast strains provide a very clean fermentation profile and because of this, they can handle fermentation temperatures as low as 12 degree Celsius resulting in a similar profile to a lager yeast.  The advantage in using a Kolsch strain over a lager or kveik strain is that it results in a cleaner finished beer profile, less risk of VDK's (diacetyl) and less risk of the appearance of citrus from the kveik strains.  

Kolsch Recipe

89% Canada Malting Pilsner

5.5% Weyermann Carafoam

5.5% Weyermann Munich 2

Ferulic Mash Rest at 45C for 15 minutes

Sacch Rest at 65C for 35 minutes

Mash Out at 76C for 10 minutes

90 minute boil

60 minutes hops Lotus 15.2% AA 1.5 ounces (29ish IBUs)

Whirlpool hops Lotus 15.2% AA 2.5 ounces

Fermentis K95 German Ale 1 litre re-pitch from the Kolsch brew

OG 1.054 FG 1.013

Tasting Notes:

The appearance is slightly darker in colour than typical macro brewed lagers (this was intentional to impact the aroma and flavour).

The aroma is a beautiful mix of delicate vanilla, citrus with bready and crackery firmness.

The taste is similar to the aroma, a lot of bready and cereal like character with a splash of vanilla and citrus that help to clean up and dry out this lovely pilsner.  A touch of sulphur on the aftertaste helps to keep it in style.