Larry Lager German Pilsner (CA)
Recipe was from Omega Yeast.
Brewed 5.0 gallons on 2021-05-01
Preboil gravity: 1.041
Original gravity: 1.045
Final gravity: 1.004
ABV: 5.4%
Apparent Attenuation: 91.1%
Link about this beverage
Process notes
2021-05-23
Kegged. Light yellow. Citrusy, lemon aroma. Mostly hop forward, but got lots of hops in the sample, so rest of beer might not be the same. Light body; getting lots of citrusy hops, nothing seems off, but was hoping for more malt balance. Hopefully it's just the hop matter at the bottom of the fermenter that's giving all the hoppiness.
Boil for 90 minutes
At 60 minutes
1 ounce of 7.2% Alpha Acid Perle pellets
At 15 minutes
At 0 minutes
0.5 ounces of 3.1% Alpha Acid Hallertau Mittelfruh pellets
At 0 minutes
0.5 ounces of 2.4% Alpha Acid Hersbrucker pellets
Mash
[100.00%] 9 pounds of Pelton Pilsner (MeccaGradeEstateMalt)
Single infusion mash. Mashed with 7.75 gallons (3.44 quarts per pound) of reverse osmosis water for 60 minutes. 9lb of grain was used in the mash. (Doing a full volume mash so no sparge water is needed.)
Strike water temp: (0.2/3.44) * (148 - 68) + 148 = 152.6
1.60g calcium chloride, 3.90g gypsum, and 0.80mL lactic acid added to water
After 0 mins
mash is 149°
After 30 mins
mash is 146°; pH is 5.23
After 60 mins
mash is 144°; pH is 5.21
Sparge
Sparged for 45 minutes with 0 gallons of 0° reverse osmosis water. (Did a full volume mash, so no sparge water.)
After 0 mins
pH is 5.35; specific gravity is 1.060
After 16 mins
pH is 5.48; specific gravity is 1.040
After 31 mins
pH is 5.48; specific gravity is 1.034
After 44 mins
pH is 5.50; specific gravity is 1.030
Yeast
2021-05-01
Pitch starter (started on 2021-04-29 with 2000mL water, StirPlate, 200 grams DME, 0.50 tsp FermaidK) made from 2 packs of WLP830 German Lager (WhiteLabs) at 54°. (Best By date 2021-10-5. Lot #11618481. Decanted to ~800mL before pitching.)
Dry additions
2021-05-19
0.5 ounces of 3.1% Alpha Acid Hallertau Mittelfruh pellets. (Hops were put in a bag while dry hopping.)
2021-05-19
0.5 ounces of 2.4% Alpha Acid Hersbrucker pellets.
Tasting notes (6.00/10; 4 ratings)
2021-12-04
[6/10] Really good clarity now. Golden yellow. This has been a decent beer, but I was hoping for a bit more hop character. Getting mostly sweet honey notes, a bit floral now. Really clean; I think it's gotten better with time.
2022-01-22
[6/10] Good clarity, maybe the slightest haze. Golden/yellow color. Pillowy white head with good persistence and lots of lacing.
Cracker, floral, rose, maybe the slightest sweet orange aroma. Light and pleasant.
Medium body, some orange zest bitterness lingers, but not a real sharp bitterness. I don't know where this citrus character is coming from.
Flavor has a very light acidic citrus mandarin orange character. It doesn't really have a crispness that I'd expect in a pilsner. Maybe it's the choice of hops? This isn't bad at all, but I'd like to get a clean, crisp finish and get rid of whatever these citrus notes are. Maybe the Pelton Pilsner is contributing to this 'citrusy' character. Not sure exactly how to describe it.
Cracker, floral, rose, maybe the slightest sweet orange aroma. Light and pleasant.
Medium body, some orange zest bitterness lingers, but not a real sharp bitterness. I don't know where this citrus character is coming from.
Flavor has a very light acidic citrus mandarin orange character. It doesn't really have a crispness that I'd expect in a pilsner. Maybe it's the choice of hops? This isn't bad at all, but I'd like to get a clean, crisp finish and get rid of whatever these citrus notes are. Maybe the Pelton Pilsner is contributing to this 'citrusy' character. Not sure exactly how to describe it.
2022-02-02
[6/10] Noticing lots of lemon character, which is not at all what I'd expect from a Pilsner. It has the same lemony(?) characteristic as the Table Smasher (BY) beer, so I wonder if it's the Pelton?
2022-02-06
[6/10] Final pour. Similar notes as before.