This recipe creates a wonderfully light and aromatic, highly drinkable hop focused lager with our ultra-low diacetyl Fresh Andechs strain. With drinkers’ ever-increasing preference for lower ABV beverages, this West Coast Pilsner will satisfy both the hop and lager heads. A warm ferment with our Fresh Andechs lager strain allows for rapid grain to glass turnaround and an elevated dry hop temperature to coax out all the aromatics from the dry hop. Our Fresh Andechs strain is highly versatile, delivering a clean fermentation at both lager and ale temperatures. This flexibility allows you to alternate between styles throughout generations. With ultra-low diacetyl, low sulfur output and great flocculation, there's a lot to love about this yeast.
OG: 11.8°P
FG: 1.5°P
Target ABV: 5.5%
Total Production Time: 12-16 Days
Grist:
95% Weyermann Pilsner Malt
5% Rahr Dextrin Malt
Mash 150°F
Target mash pH: 5.45
To the mash, add a small amount of calcium chloride that would be appropriate for your system. For very soft water at the 10 BBL size, this would be around 100 g. This will preserve your mash enzymes, help establish a proper mash pH and lead to a slightly softer mouthfeel down the line.
Vorlauf until the wort runs very clear after which you may begin the lauter. For such a small mash, I find it important to add some phosphoric acid to my sparge water or occasionally to the top of the mash during sparging. This will help buffer the pH rise and prevent astringency pickup from the grain husk. Try to not let your last runnings go above a pH of 5.7.
Boil for 60 minutes or more depending on how vigorous your boil is.
Hot Side Hopping:
Target IBU: 35
Simcoe at 60/end to make up the IBUs you don’t get from the whirlpool,
1 lb. per BBL Mosaic T90 at whirlpool.
At the end of the boil, lower your wort temp below 200°F either by running through the heat exchanger or by adding filtered city water or cold liquor. I think a good target is between 185-195°F. Then add your whirlpool hops.
Chill the wort to 55°F, aerate to 8-10 ppm, pitch your yeast (pitch rate: 750k/mL/°P) and set your tank to 58°F. A knockout pH of 5.2 should set you up for a final pH of 4.15-4.35. I tend to like pale beers like this on the higher end of that spectrum.
Fermentor Wort Hopping:
Add 2 lb. per BBL Nectaron T90 OR 1 lb. per BBL Nectaron Cryo into the FV at wort knockout.
Adding hops to the chilled wort is a great technique for several reasons. The early contact with vigorously fermenting wort not only achieves super saturation of the hop oils but also tends to blow off some of the less attractive notes of modern New World hops (i.e. onion/garlic, danker notes). Adding hops this early will also help to clarify the beer later on. Keeping biofine additions light and gently filtering will retain more volatiles and increase head retention.
It is important to note that adding hops at knockout can make yeast removal very difficult. Cryo tends to be more effective for better yeast harvests. If you are planning on repitching the yeast, you can move the wort knockout hops to the dry hop but your aroma will lean more dank with less bright notes.
Fermentation:
Hold fermentation at 58°F until you hit 4°P and then raise the tank temperature to 65°F. This is not for diacetyl clean up (because our Fresh strains produce very little diacetyl) but for a higher dry hop temp, which will help with extraction of desirable aromatics. When fermentation is complete, add 5 psi CO2 pressure to the tank, drop the temp 5 degrees from its current temperature and hold for 24 hours. This will encourage the yeast to flocculate. The following day, remove the yeast. Set the tank back to 65°F. Blow down the tank pressure and begin the dry hopping process.
Dry Hopping:
If you didn’t add the Nectaron to the fermentor at wort knockout, you will add it now. After the hop addition, cap the tank and bring the CO2 pressure to 10 psi, pushing the floating hops down into the beer. After an hour remove the pressure.
The following day, dump the hops from the cone. Then add an additional 1 lb. per BBL of Strata T90 hops for a pleasant top note of lime, mango or strawberry, depending on your lot of Strata (If you added the Nectaron during wort knockout this will be your only dry hop). Again, cap the tank, add 10 psi and blow down one hour later.
Continue daily shaving off the spent hops from the cone.
When the beer smells free of acetaldehyde and any residual sulfur (typically within a day or two after dry hop) step crash the tank down 10°F followed by a full crash to 32°F after 24 hours. You do not need to worry about performing a forced diacetyl test as all of our Fresh strains produce levels of diacetyl that are far below flavor threshold.
Carbonate to 2.6-2.75 volumes and clarify as needed.
OG: 11.8°P
FG: 1.5°P
Target ABV: 5.5%
Total Production Time: 12-16 Days
Grist:
95% Weyermann Pilsner Malt
5% Rahr Dextrin Malt
Mash 150°F
Target mash pH: 5.45
To the mash, add a small amount of calcium chloride that would be appropriate for your system. For very soft water at the 10 BBL size, this would be around 100 g. This will preserve your mash enzymes, help establish a proper mash pH and lead to a slightly softer mouthfeel down the line.
Vorlauf until the wort runs very clear after which you may begin the lauter. For such a small mash, I find it important to add some phosphoric acid to my sparge water or occasionally to the top of the mash during sparging. This will help buffer the pH rise and prevent astringency pickup from the grain husk. Try to not let your last runnings go above a pH of 5.7.
Boil for 60 minutes or more depending on how vigorous your boil is.
Hot Side Hopping:
Target IBU: 35
Simcoe at 60/end to make up the IBUs you don’t get from the whirlpool,
1 lb. per BBL Mosaic T90 at whirlpool.
At the end of the boil, lower your wort temp below 200°F either by running through the heat exchanger or by adding filtered city water or cold liquor. I think a good target is between 185-195°F. Then add your whirlpool hops.
Chill the wort to 55°F, aerate to 8-10 ppm, pitch your yeast (pitch rate: 750k/mL/°P) and set your tank to 58°F. A knockout pH of 5.2 should set you up for a final pH of 4.15-4.35. I tend to like pale beers like this on the higher end of that spectrum.
Fermentor Wort Hopping:
Add 2 lb. per BBL Nectaron T90 OR 1 lb. per BBL Nectaron Cryo into the FV at wort knockout.
Adding hops to the chilled wort is a great technique for several reasons. The early contact with vigorously fermenting wort not only achieves super saturation of the hop oils but also tends to blow off some of the less attractive notes of modern New World hops (i.e. onion/garlic, danker notes). Adding hops this early will also help to clarify the beer later on. Keeping biofine additions light and gently filtering will retain more volatiles and increase head retention.
It is important to note that adding hops at knockout can make yeast removal very difficult. Cryo tends to be more effective for better yeast harvests. If you are planning on repitching the yeast, you can move the wort knockout hops to the dry hop but your aroma will lean more dank with less bright notes.
Fermentation:
Hold fermentation at 58°F until you hit 4°P and then raise the tank temperature to 65°F. This is not for diacetyl clean up (because our Fresh strains produce very little diacetyl) but for a higher dry hop temp, which will help with extraction of desirable aromatics. When fermentation is complete, add 5 psi CO2 pressure to the tank, drop the temp 5 degrees from its current temperature and hold for 24 hours. This will encourage the yeast to flocculate. The following day, remove the yeast. Set the tank back to 65°F. Blow down the tank pressure and begin the dry hopping process.
Dry Hopping:
If you didn’t add the Nectaron to the fermentor at wort knockout, you will add it now. After the hop addition, cap the tank and bring the CO2 pressure to 10 psi, pushing the floating hops down into the beer. After an hour remove the pressure.
The following day, dump the hops from the cone. Then add an additional 1 lb. per BBL of Strata T90 hops for a pleasant top note of lime, mango or strawberry, depending on your lot of Strata (If you added the Nectaron during wort knockout this will be your only dry hop). Again, cap the tank, add 10 psi and blow down one hour later.
Continue daily shaving off the spent hops from the cone.
When the beer smells free of acetaldehyde and any residual sulfur (typically within a day or two after dry hop) step crash the tank down 10°F followed by a full crash to 32°F after 24 hours. You do not need to worry about performing a forced diacetyl test as all of our Fresh strains produce levels of diacetyl that are far below flavor threshold.
Carbonate to 2.6-2.75 volumes and clarify as needed.
