Brew Dudes Homebrewing Blog

Pilsner Malt

On December 14, 2009

Since I am brewing a Maibock with it, I thought I would whip up a malt profile for Pilsner Malt.

Pilsner malt is a base malt that can be made from 2 or 6 row malt. It gets its characteristics from the drying and curing steps in the malting process, where in the kiln the temperatures are kept lower in comparison to other malts’ productions. The kiln is also well ventilated in Pilsner malt production so it dries out quickly. The malt is cured at lower temperatures too.

What is produced is a very light-colored, highly-modified malt with excellent glucan and protein levels.

Pilsner malt seems to be produced in a number of different countries including Germany, Belgium, The UK, and the US. Without doing an experiment, my guess is that each area produces something that is similar but a little bit different…probably not much different though.

It be used at up to 100% of total grist since its diastatic power tends to be over 100° Lintner (which is the measure of the malt’s ability to break down starch to sugar)

Some suggest a protein rest during the mashing of this malt, but others state that it should produce an excellent wort with a single infusion procedure.

It is recommended to boil your wort for 90 minutes when using Pilsner malt. If your grist has over 50% Pilsner malt in it, then you should plan for a longer boil to combat the production of DMS. DMS is Dimethyl Sulfide and it produces a cooked vegetable/corn aroma in your beer. Not good. Boil for 90 minutes and cool your wort down quickly to stave off DMS as much as possible.

More stats:

Flavor: Ferments clean, some grainy notes

Color:1.4 to 1.9° lovibond

Body: Good body and mouthfeel

Use: All lagers, but especially pilsners. Belgian beers work too.

Maibock Ingredients

By John Krochune

On December 10, 2009

In Brew Log

Continuing my brew log for the Maibock lager brew….

The ingredients are pretty simple and I think that’s perfect for this attempt.

I am buying 10.5 lbs. of Pilsner Malt and 5.5 lbs. of Munich Malt.

I am also going to get a half ounce of Magnum hops. One hop addition at 60 minutes to go in the boil is pretty sweet too.

If I can get White Labs WLP833 – German Bock Lager Yeast, I will. If not, I will settle for the WLP830 – German Lager Yeast.

I will probably buy 3 vials of the stuff and make a pretty big starter.

I don’t have a brew date targeted yet. I need to figure that out with the holidays coming up.

Maibock Preparations

By John Krochune

On December 8, 2009

In Brew Log

So I have decided to “go all grain” rather than “go back to extract” for the first lager brew.

I think the majority of my hesitation is the performance of my mash tun.

Here’s the back story: I got a bazooka screen for the cooler I bought.

Here’s the admission: I didn’t buy the right one for the cooler size that I have.

Oh well, I can use the screen I have now as a strainer when I use plugs or whole hops in my boil. It will screw into the outlet in my kettle.

Now, I could buy a bazooka screen that fits a 5 gallon cooler…and that’s the screen that is shaped like a “T”.

But I think I will buy a false bottom. I want to understand the performance of the false bottom. This lager brew gives me the chance to buy one and report on its performance.

So that’s the first step. The next step is buying ingredients…but that is another post.

No Home Brew Left

By John Krochune

On December 4, 2009

In General

Dear readers,

There comes a time, albeit rarely, that one looks around the house and starts opening cabinet doors and looking through cupboards and fridges and storage closets to find…

There is NO HOME BREW Left in the HOUSE!

Is there any bigger tragedy?

Well, yes of course…but this is a pretty big deal.

I gotta start brewing.

Mike, bring over a growler. Help a brother out.

Munich Malt Extract

By John Krochune

On December 3, 2009

In Extract, Malts

Ok. So here’s another reason I should just go all grain…

I don’t know how great Munich malt extract is. It seems the brands that produce Munich malt extract mix it with a base malt. None of the descriptions I read stated that they were 100% Munich malt.

They cut it with some percentage of base malt, which is good…I guess…if you just want to brew with one type of malt extract and it happens to be Munich.

I want to brew with both Pilsner and Munich malts…and if I go back to extract, I am at the mercy of the maltster.

Here’s a good example for beginners. When a more experienced brewer says that you have less control of your malt profile using extracts, this situation is what they mean.

I think I can make a better Maibock with an all grain bill than extract. More to ponder.