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Recipe: Servaes Tortilla Chip Pilz
Courtney Servaes, founder and brewer at Servaes Brewing in Shawnee, Kansas, shares this recipe for a Czech-inspired pilsner base that gets a whole bag of tortilla chips in the secondary.
Photo: Courtesy Servaes Brewing
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“The addition of lime and salt helps accentuate the crispiness,” Servaes says.
Serve with chips and salsa, obviously. If you’re peckish for more, see Special Ingredient: Tortilla Chips.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.013
IBUs: 44
ABV: 5%
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“The addition of lime and salt helps accentuate the crispiness,” Servaes says.
Serve with chips and salsa, obviously. If you’re peckish for more, see Special Ingredient: Tortilla Chips.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.013
IBUs: 44
ABV: 5%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
4.9 lb (2.2 kg) Bohemian pilsner
1.6 lb (726 g) Carafoam
1.6 lb (726 g) Munich 10°L
13 oz (369 g) Weyermann Floor-Malted Bohemian Dark
10 oz (283 g) melanoidin
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
2 oz (57 g) Saaz at 60 minutes [21 IBUs]
1.5 oz (43 g) Saaz at 30 minutes [14 IBUs]
1 oz (28 g) Saaz at 20 minutes [8 IBUs]
0.5 oz (14 g) Saaz at whirlpool [1 IBU]
12 oz (340 g) crushed tortilla chips, juice of 3 fresh-squeezed limes, and 15 g sea salt at secondary
YEAST
Fermentis SafLager W-34/70
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 152°F (67°C) for 90 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6.5 gallons (25 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, cool the wort to 180°F (82°C) if possible, then add the whirlpool hops and steep 20 minutes. Chill to 60°F (16°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Once you see fermentation activity, drop the temperature to 52°F (11°C) and ferment 3 weeks. Over the next week, slowly raise the temperature for a diacetyl rest, then gradually lower the temperature to 32°F (0°C). Lager until clear, then add crushed chips in a mesh hop bag, lime juice, and salt. Taste frequently over 3–7 days, until you like the level of tortilla-chip flavor, then package, carbonate, and serve.
