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Recipe: Finback Crispy Town
From cofounder and head brewer Kevin Stafford and the team at Finback in Queens, New York, comes their take on the contemporary hoppy pilsner—“a nice balance of new and old school.” (It was also a hit with our blind-review panel, tops in its class at 98/100.)
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ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons
Brewhouse efficiency: 76%
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.011
IBUs: 20
ABV: 5.2%
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ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons
Brewhouse efficiency: 76%
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.011
IBUs: 20
ABV: 5.2%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
8.9 lb (4 kg) pilsner malt
7 oz (198 g) chit malt
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
0.5 oz (14 g) Hallertauer Blanc at 60 minutes [15 IBUs]
1 tsp (5 ml) yeast nutrient at 15 minutes
1 tsp (5 ml) Irish moss (or other kettle finings) at 15 minutes
1 oz (28 g) Hallertauer Blanc at whirlpool [5 IBUs]
0.5 oz (14 g) each Saaz and Tettnanger at dry hop
2 oz (57 g) Motueka at dry hop
YEAST
Fermentis SafLager W-34/70, Omega OYL-106 German Lager I, Wyeast WY2124 Bohemian Lager, White Labs WLP830 German Lager, or similar
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 156°F (69°C) for 45 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops, yeast nutrient, and finings according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, add the whirlpool hops, and steep 10 minutes. Chill to about 50°F (10°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 50°F (10°C). When the gravity has dropped below 1.020, raise the temperature to 60°F (16°C). When fermentation is complete and gravity has stabilized, do a forced diacetyl test. Once it passes (usually around Day 14), drop the temperature by 4°F (~2°C) per day—adding dry hops at 40°F (4°C)—until the beer reaches 32°F (0°C). Drop hops or rack, lager for 2 weeks, then package and carbonate to about 2.7 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Chit malt will ensure you have great head retention—it’s worth it. We use New York City water, which is very soft—like in Plzeň!—and modify it lightly with gypsum and calcium chloride. Feel free to swap out the dry hops to your liking; we prefer a mix of New and Old World hops. In fact, we have other “Crispy” iterations with different dry hops; one called Crispy Morning will be the lineup’s core going forward.
