After saving the awesome yeast from his Start It Up! American light lager, Taylor Caron uses the yeast to brew this overly hoppy German Pils with something of a hybrid Bavarian malt bill and zealous Northern hops bill. The gravity is a touch high for the style, but it works well with the heavy bittering charge. The high carbonation gives an almost stinging bite to that first sip, making way for the spicy Tettnanger in the finish.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 10 gallons (37.8 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 75%
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.012–14
IBUs: 42
ABV: 5.3–5.5%
MALT/GRAIN BILL
19 lb (8.6 kg) German Pilsner
0.75 lb (340 g) German Vienna
0.5 lb (227 g) Acidulated Malt
0.25 (113 g) Caramunich I
HOPS SCHEDULE
2 oz (57 g) Magnum [12% AA] at 60 minutes
6 oz (170 g) Tettnanger at 0 minutes
YEAST
White Labs WLP860 Munich Helles works well for this beer, but almost any Frohberg (non-Saaz)-type lager yeast will do just fine (For more about Frohberg/Saaz strains, see “Repro or Retro,” page 84). Saflager W-34 / 70 is a safe bet if you want a dry yeast option; just be sure to use 5 sachets to ensure a quick start and full attenuation.
DIRECTIONS
Dough in with 12 gallons (45.4 liters) brew liquor at 160–162°F (71–72°C) to strike 148–150°F (64–65°C) and rest for 40 minutes. Add 2 gallons (7.6 liters) of boiling water slowly, to hit the high 150s Fahrenheit (low 70s Celsius) for 20 minutes and vorlauf/sparge as usual. I have very soft water, and like to add ½ tablespoon calcium chloride to help the enzymes and give a low mineral finish to the beer.
Be sure to give a full 15-minute rolling boil before adding your first hops pitch to drive off DMS.
Chill down to 48–50°F (9–10°C) before oxygenating well and pitching a lot of yeast—something on the order of a full cup of thick and healthy slurry is a good start (I use the yeast from Start It Up, above); half again as much is even better. If you don’t see active pressure in the airlock within 18 hours, use more next time.
Expect at least 2 weeks at 50°F (10°C) to reach final gravity. If you are using a yeast you are unfamiliar with, it’s never a bad idea to raise the temperature to about 58°F (14°C) on day 10 or 12 to scrub diacetyl and finish out those last gravity points. Spend a week dropping the temperature slowly to 38°F (3°C), rack into secondary, and lager for at least 2 weeks before packaging.
This beer has too much hops character, too much alcohol, and needs way too much yeast. Therefore it is only fitting to give it too much carbonation. If you’re kegging, push it as close to 3 volumes as your system will allow. For bottle conditioning, shoot for 1.15 oz (33 g) of priming sugar per gallon (946 ml) in sturdy bottles.