According to my records, I have made 18 batches of German pils over the years (starting in 2016), but only five batches of the original pilsner beer, Bohemian (Czech) pils. After a more than four year hiatus, it was time!

Taking lessons learned from previous recipes, I went for very fresh Saaz hops (from Yakima Valley Hops). Furthermore, I built the malt bill to have a touch of melanoidin malt, to avoid messing with a decoction but also not overwhelming with the honey-character that melanoidin brings at higher percentages. I used the Rahr pilsner malt as a base–although it is not “traditional,” I have found it to be an absolutely excellent malt for my tastes.

This isn’t my 11th batch, but I brewed it on 11/11 (Nigel Tufnel Day!), so the name was unavoidable.

No. 11 Bohemian Pilsner

• 10 lb. pilsner malt (Rahr)
• 0.5 lb. Carafoam malt (Weyermann)
• 0.25 lb. melanoidin malt (Weyermann)
• 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
• 3.5 oz. Saaz hop pellets (2.4% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 1.5 oz. Saaz hop pellets (2.4% alpha), 10 minute boil
• 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
• 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
• 1 oz. Saaz, 5 minute boil
• 1 tsp. tsp. WLN1000 yeast nutrient, 5 minute boil
• 2 pkg. Diamond Lager yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

• 1.049 s.g., 1.014 f.g., 4.7% abv, 37 IBU, 5 SRM
• Full volume infusion mash, held at 154° for 60 minutes and 168° for 10 minutes
• RO water built to hit target of 6 ppm Ca, 5 ppm Na, 6 ppm SO4, 6 ppm Cl, 14 ppm HCO3, RA=7 ppm

Procedure

• To 7.5 gallons of RO water, I added 0.3 g gypsum, 0.3 g calcium chlorie, and 0.5 g baking soda, to hit my water target parameters.
• I heated the water to 160°, and added the grains to hit a mash target of 154°. I added 4 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the mash pH, and recirculated for 60 minutes.
• Next, I heated the mash to 168° for 10 minutes, before pulling the grains and starting the ramp-up to the boil.
• In total, I collected 6.75 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.042, for 71% mash efficiency.
• I boiled for 60 minutes, adding hops and finings per the schedule. Finally, I turned off the heat and chilled to 75° before transferring to the fermenter.
• Once in the fermenter, I chilled the wort to 52° before pitching the yeast.
• I brewed this beer on 11 November 2023. Starting gravity was 1.049, exactly on target!
• I held the fermentation temperature at 52° until 2 December 2023, when I moved the beer to ambient (~60°).
• I kegged the beer on 26 December 2023. Final gravity was 1.014, for 4.7% abv.
• Because I’ve been a bit slow to finish kegs lately, this beer ended up lagering for a full three months before tasting.

Tasting

• Appearance
  • Beautiful medium gold color, brilliant clarity, pouring with a long-lasting, creamy white head that leaves nice tracks on the side of the glass.
• Aroma
  • A whiff of spicy Saaz at the front, at some maltiness (slightly bready) back of that.
• Flavor
  • Bitterness-forward, which lingers on the tongue, followed by a subtle maltiness. Clean fermentation profile. Tiny bit of caramel. I feel like the melanoidin is perhaps too much in the background–I would like a tiny touch more.
• Mouthfeel
  • Medium body, medium carbonation, off-dry mouthfeel.
• Would I brew this again?
  • Yes! It’s probably the best Bohemian pilsner I have made to date! It has a nice mix of malt/hops….It maybe could be a bit deeper gold in color, and I wouldn’t complain with a touch more melanoidin character. It was well worth the (not entirely intentional) extended aging, too.
• Overall
  • 9/10 (for color)