My dad has a few hop bines on the farm in South Dakota, and usually has a fair bit of Cascade that he sends my way (see my recent pale ale). This year, I also managed to snag some South Dakota-grown versions of Saaz, Hallertauer, and Sterling, so a German pilsner seemed like an awesome use of them. I went with a super simple grist, and loaded up most of the hops towards the end in a hope to elevate relative flavor and aroma. I had to guess on alpha acid levels, so aimed a bit higher in estimated IBU in the presumption that they would be a bit lower in potential bitterness than is typical for the varieties.

Farke’s Best Pils

• 10 lb. Viking Pilsner malt
• 1 oz. Sterling whole hops (est. 7.4% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 1 tsp. BruTanB, 10 minute boil
• 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
• 1 oz. Hallertauer whole hops (est. 4.8% alpha), 5 minute boil
• 1 oz. Saaz whole hops (est. 5.3% alpha), 5 minute boil
• 1 tsp. yeast nutrient (WLN1000), 5 minute boil
• 2 pkg. Saflager lager yeast (W34/70)

Target Parameters

• 1.046 o.g., 1.009 f.g., 4.9% abv, 32 IBU, 4 SRM
• Full volume mash at 149° for 60 minutes, with 10 minute mash-out at 168°
• Water built up from RO water, to hit target of 59 Ca, 8 Mg, 89 SO4, 63 ppm Cl, RA=-47

Procedure

• I added 2.8 g gypsum, 2.3 g epsom salt, and 3.6 g CaCl in 7.25 gallons of water to hit a profile of 59 Ca, 8 Mg, 89 SO4, and 63 ppm Cl, with RA=-47.
• I heated the water to 154° and mashed in to hit a temperature of 149°. At this point, I added 0.7 mL (approximately) of 88% lactic acid, to hit the target mash pH of 5.3 to 5.4.
• I mashed at 149° for 60 minutes (with recirculation), before raising the temperature to 168° and holding it there for 10 minutes.
• After the mash, I removed the grains. In total, I collected 6.5 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.041, for 70% mash efficiency.
• I brought the runnings to a boil, adding finings per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I chilled to 78°, let settle for 90 minutes, and then transferred to the fermenter. I chilled it down the rest of the way to 50° in the fermentation chamber, before pitching the yeast.
• Starting gravity was 1.046. I brewed the beer on 18 September 2021.
• After starting fermentation at 50° on 18 September 2021, there were active signs of bubbling by 20 September 2021. I raised the temperature to 53° on that day, and then up to 56° on 22 September 2021, and 60° on 30 September. I dropped it to 55° on 3 October, 50° on 4 October, 45° on 5 October, 40° on 6 October, 35° on 7 October, and to 32° on 9 October.
• I kegged the beer on 11 October 2021. There was a gorgeous and delicate malt flavor at that time, with a really nice floral hop character, and moderately low level of bitterness. This was shaping up to be a nice beer!
• Final gravity was 1.010, for 4.7% abv.

Tasting

• Appearance
  • Light yellow, very clear (nearly brilliant), with a fairly persistent white head
• Aroma
  • Delicate malt aroma with a grainy character and light honey-sweet quality. A very low floral hop aroma. Very nice and clean fermentation character!
• Flavor
  • Light malty character, slightly sweet, with a clean fermentation character. The bitterness is clean and moderate, but not overly so. There is a nice balance between hops and malt!
• Mouthfeel
  • Medium body and moderate carbonation, with an off-dry finish.
• Would I Brew This Again?
  • The malt aroma is amazing, but I wish there was a little more hop aroma alongside that in the final product. The bitterness level is perfect, and it dodges some of the issues I have had with overbittering in past recipes. The body could be a touch lighter. That said, I’m very happy with how clean the fermentation turned out, and the water character is great, too! Overall, this is not an amazing beer, but still a pretty good one.
• Overall
  • 7/10