Help with Bo Pilz

[bishjb]

Need help with Bo pilz recipe. Any suggestions/help will be appreciated. Here is the current plan:

19 lbs weyermann bohemian pils
1 lbs weyerman carafoam

I have a pound of saaz and am looking for suggestions on hop sched (I like hoppier, more flavorful beers)

Plan on pitching two packets each 34/70. I have fermenting and lagering ability but I hate to make starters.

This will be a 10 Gallon batch split/fermented in one glass carboy and one ss brew bucket…
I use a 10 gallon igloo cooler and am thinking 90 minute mash at 148 and 90 minute boil.
Plan on secondary both in plastic Better Bottles.

Any and all help is appreciated.
Thanks!!

[rebuiltcellars]

Is the bohemiam pils malt the fully modified or under modified version? Weyermann’s makes both, and if you have the undermodified one you should add a 20-30 minute protein rest (122F) to your mash schedule. In fact, you might want to consider using a classical triple decoction if you have the undermodified malt, with rests at 122, 140, 156 and 168. 20-30 minutes for each, except for the mash out which only needs 10 min.

If it was me, I’d drop the carafoam and replace it with more pils malt, then increase the mash temp to 154-156. That will give you the body you want, and will be more to style. A low mash temp will give you something more like a German Pils. A BoPils is actually a SMaSH beer.

Last BoPils I made, I added equal amounts of Saaz hops at FW, 120 min and 30 min for a total of 35 IBUs. You might want to shift the 30 minute hops to 5 or 10 minutes if you want a stronger hop aroma, but I found the combo of the FW and 30 min hops gave it the character I was looking for.

The 34/70 yeast should work well for you, but you should use 3-4 packages for this. And keep the fermentation temp around 50. Good luck.

[bishjb]

Thanks for the reply.

The malt is the Weyermanns Bohemium Pilsner from NB, so I’m not sure wich one exactly. I was planning on 2 packets 34/70 per 5 gallons. I have six on hand. Did you mean 3-4 packets total or per 5 gallons?

How long should I boil total?

Thanks again, it’s very much appreciated.

[rebuiltcellars]

After looking it up, I think that malt is the fully modified one, which means you want to avoid a protein rest.

For yeast, it would be 3-4 packages for the full 10 gallon batch, or 2 pks/5 gal.

Boil length is up to you. I’ve read that Pilner Urquell is boiled for 4 hours, which is suppose to develop some mallard reaction flavors. Not sure how significant that is, but rule of thumb is when using significant amounts of pilsner malt, you boil for at least 90 minutes.

[hans_caravan]

I agree with rebuilt cellars. You would be severely underpitching your 10 gal batch with only two packs of yeast. See mrmalty for appropriate yeast pitching numbers. If you don’t, your yeast will be stressed and will likely produce off flavors like diacetyl or fruity esters.

[ken_lenard]

[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]Is the bohemiam pils malt the fully modified or under modified version? Weyermann’s makes both, and if you have the undermodified one you should add a 20-30 minute protein rest (122F) to your mash schedule. In fact, you might want to consider using a classical triple decoction if you have the undermodified malt, with rests at 122, 140, 156 and 168. 20-30 minutes for each, except for the mash out which only needs 10 min.

If it was me, I’d drop the carafoam and replace it with more pils malt, then increase the mash temp to 154-156. That will give you the body you want, and will be more to style. A low mash temp will give you something more like a German Pils. A BoPils is actually a SMaSH beer.

Last BoPils I made, I added equal amounts of Saaz hops at FW, 120 min and 30 min for a total of 35 IBUs. You might want to shift the 30 minute hops to 5 or 10 minutes if you want a stronger hop aroma, but I found the combo of the FW and 30 min hops gave it the character I was looking for.

The 34/70 yeast should work well for you, but you should use 3-4 packages for this. And keep the fermentation temp around 50. Good luck.[/quote]
Would you really mash this beer at 154-156°? Interesting.

[bishjb]

Thanks for the input guys. I meant pitch 2 packets per 5 gallons, just wasn’t clear on how I stated that. I’m leaning towards this

18lbs Weyermann pils
1lbs Weyermann carahell

2 oz saaz fwh
2 oz saaz 30
2 oz saaz 10
2 oz saaz 5

90 minute boil. Mash at 151-152

34/70 x 2 per 5 glns

ferment @ 50.

Beersmith has this at OG 1.052, 36.7 IBU, color 3.8

Should I do D to about 63-65 after the fermentation slows?

Thanks!

[ken_lenard]

Yes, I would d-rest it either as fermentation slows or after fermentation is complete. I will typically take my primary out of the fridge and gently swirl it to get the yeast back into suspension, leave it at the warmer temps for a couple of days and then transfer to secondary, keg, etc. Good luck with the beer… sounds right up my alley.

[rookie_l_a]

I just brewed a German pils with 34/70, a three gallon batch at 1.049. I pitched one pack at 3pm on Wednesday and there were slight signs of fermentation at 7 the next morning. This morning it was bubbling every four seconds, it’s in the cooler at 50f.

Next up is a marzen (next month, of course) with S-189.