Want to listen to this course (no video)? Head to the new Craft Beer & Brewing Library.
Since its 2012 founding in Hood River, Oregon, pFriem Family Brewers has become one of the most consistently decorated breweries in the United States, with numerous medals from the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup, European Beer Star, and more. Best known for its range of consistently excellent lagers—including its flagship pFriem Pilsner—what’s driven the success is a potent combination of meticulous brewing and reverence for traditional European styles. In recent years, however, pFriem has looked beyond Europe for lager-brewing inspiration, including Japanese- and Mexican-style lagers brewed with rice and maize, respectively.
In this 64-minute video course, cofounder and brewmaster Josh Pfriem lays out their intentional approach to crafting adjunct-based lagers that are more flavorful than industrial brands yet are every bit as drinkable. Along the way, he discusses:
- considerations for a quality pilsner-malt base
- nuanced hopping for balance
- dialing in your water profile
- deploying a classic multistep mash
- the hot-side steps to take for better, clearer wort
- ensuring a viable yeast pitch and proper oxygenation for healthy fermentation
- dialing in pH for a crisp lager
- sulfur as a desirable trait, treated as an adjustable ingredient
- polishing and carbonation targets
- considerations when choosing your mash adjuncts
- pairing the adjunct with the pilsner base and dialing in grist percentages
- balancing and accentuating the delicate flavors
- the cereal-mash process at pFriem, step by step
- why foam matters, and how to promote it in adjunct lagers
- advice on making adjustments for foam, shelf stability, and clarity
- how pFriem prioritizes quality control and service
And more.
Want access to more video courses like this one? All of our subscriptions come with a 100-percent money-back guarantee. Get your All Access Subscription to tap into a library of more than 90 full courses on a diverse range of brewing topics. If you don’t love it, we’re happy to refund you.