2008 Batch #2 Recipe: Mystery Pils

So, here is recipe as promised. Its a combination/modification of a few pilsners in Papazian's books.

• 8 lbs Pilsen malt (what kind? Either US or Belgian, who knows? See this post for details.)
• .5 lbs Belgian Aromatic Malt
• .5 oz Garden grown Norther Brewer (the last of my stash unfortunately)
• 1 oz Mt. Hood (% AA= 4.2)
• 1 oz Willemette (% AA= 4.5)
• White Labs Pilsner yeast WL800

THE MASH:
I'm used my new 8 gallon mash tun/brew kettle which was great. It held temperature well needing only a few heat applications. Mash as follows: 8qts H2O at 145 deg F add grain; needed slight heat to bring to 133 for 30 mins (+ or - 2 deg). Added 4 qts of boiling H2O to bring mash to 155; I kept it 151-155 for 45 minutes. An iodine test showed complete conversation after this time. I raised the temp to 158 for 10 minutes and then to mashed out at 168. Oops, forgot to get my 4 gallons of sparge H20 to 170, so while I was getting the mash to 168 I heated my sparge water (I have to stop forgetting this!). I use a zapap lauter system (ie the bucket with holes drilled in from Papazian's Joy of Home Brewing). I've reduced the amount of foundation water I need by cutting the top of the strainer bucket off so it sits on the spigot of the outer bucket. When sparging with this system, I recirculate the first .5 gallons of runoff.

THE BOIL:
When I reached boiling, I added the .5 oz of Northern Brewer Hops. Then .5 oz of Willemette at 15min, .5 oz Mt. Hood at 30, .5 oz Willemette at 45 and the final .5 of Mt. Hood when I shut off the heat. I use a homemade immersion chiller to get the wort below 90 then into my primary and pitched the yeast. I was just below 5 gallons, so I added cold water to bring it just above. The original Brix reading was 11.4 which is an OG of about 1.046.

I'll post later about some things I learned about my new system and what I will do different next time...

Mystery Pils

I've locked up my second batch for 2008 this evening at 8:00pm: my first pilsner all grain or otherwise. The mystery is that I don't know if the malt I used is US or Belgian in origin. I stopped in at the Michigan Brewing Co's new location to pick up some stuff at the Things Beer store. I asked the helpful employee to weigh out 8lbs of US pilsen malt which he did...maybe...because when I got home my receipt said Belgian pilsen malt. So, after a phone call they took care of monetary concerns (the Belgian is 50 cents more per pound) but there is no way to tell what I had so I did what any good brewer would do and made it into beer anyway. Belgian pilsen is slightly more modified than the US, which could mean I'll get a slightly higher gravity than if I had the US malt (that is if I don't have the US pilsen malt). If you haven't been to MBC's new location you should check it out. It seemed kind of sterile to me at first being in an industrial park building, but the bar in nice and it really made room for their increased production. I refilled a growler with the Rye Bock which was excellent. Well worth the stop and the confusion with my grain. I'll post the recipe soon