My first Lager! I used naturally soft water, fresh MN snow collected from my front garden where the snow was fresh and untouched. Should be a unique Lager. I also did my first protein rest.
Protein rest at 125 degrees for 30 minutes
Saccrification rest at 150 degrees for 60 minutes
Batch Sparge at 165 degrees for 30 minutes
90 minute boil
Saaz at 60 min
Irish Moss with 15 min left in boil
Yeast nutrient with 10 min left in boil
Saaz at 2 min
Gravity reading of 1.050
Pitched Smack pack at 70 degrees.
For the fermentation, I'm going to start the temperature at 62°F for a couple days and then drop it down to 52°F for about 10-14 days. Then, I will raise the temperature to at least 66°F for 2 days to drive off any diacetyl. After which, I will transfer to a secondary and lager it at 40°F for 6 weeks.
02A. European Pale Lager, Bohemian Pilsner All-grain
Stats
OG 1.049
FG 1.012
IBU 16
ABV 4.8 %
SRM 3
Specifics
Boil Volume 6.5 gallons
Batch Size 5 gallons
Yeast 75% AA
Fermentables
% Weight Weight(lbs) Grain Gravity Points Color
90.0 % 9.00 Pils Two-row 44.1 2.2
5.0 % 0.50 American Crystal 10L 2.4 1.0
5.0 % 0.50 CaraPils 2.3 0.2
10.00 48.9
Hops
% Wt Weight (oz) HopForm AA% AAU Boil Time Utilization IBU
50.0 % 1.00 Saaz Pellet 3.5 3.5 60 0.283 14.9
50.0 % 1.00 Saaz Pellet 3.5 3.5 2 0.024 1.3
2.00 16.1
Tasting: Nice flavorful Pilsner. The long boil helped to bring out the malts a bit. It's definitely got a smooth taste to it from the snow. It's much more fruity in the bottle then it was when lagering, so I think that using the Nottingham yeast for bottling was a bad idea. Next year, I'll bottle with the same yeast that I used in Primary so as to not alter the flavor of the finished beer at all. Very easy drinking summer lager that I wish I had more of. Crystal clear!
