I’d like to get some feedback on this single malt and (hopefully if I have enough Saaz) single hop Bohemian Pilsner recipe.
I've recently been playing with a couple of the techniques that no-chill benefits from, namely:
1) Mini-boil for hop flavour and aroma.
2) Using AG wort to make a starter, the entire volume of which can then be pitched.
Then I had this (frankly ridiculous) idea that I would combine the two (bear with me)…
The process would be:
*Full volume 90 minute boil, omitting late hop additions, aiming for 20L final vol
*Hot pack 15L into cube as normal, reserving 5L
*Cool the remaining 5L and store in a sanitised container in the fridge until needed
*Build a 2L yeast starter in LDME wort, chill, decant, bring to 10c
*Boil the reserved 5L with the finishing hops, crash chill, pitch yeast at 10c
*Pitch the entire 5L starter/mini-boil into the main batch at 10c when at high krausen (or as high as a lager krausen gets)
Potential problems as I see them:
*Only hot-packing 15L in a 20L cube: I’ve never tried this. By all accounts it should be ok, even with the large headspace.
*Storing the 5L of wort in the fridge: I don’t have a 5L heat-proof container to hot pack it in. If it’s kept refrigerated in a sanitised container and is going to be boiled again anyway, I don’t see it being an issue.
*The high hoppiness of the starter wort: is this going to do something funny to the yeast, or is the yeast going to do something funny to the hops?
Yes, a smarter variation would be to do the mini-boil at the end of the brew day, and pitch the decanted yeast from the 2L starter there and then, but I’m thinking of doing this tomorrow and I haven’t made a starter yet.
Anyway, my recipe (what little of it there is):
Recipe: Potential Disaster Bohemian Pilsner
Brewer: Matt
Asst Brewer:
Style: Bohemian Pilsner
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 20.00 L
Boil Size: 24.08 L
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 7.2 EBC
Estimated IBU: 40.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (3.9 EBC) Grain 100.00 %
40.00 gm Saaz [4.00 %] (80 min) Hops 20.0 IBU
30.00 gm Saaz [4.00 %] (60 min) (FWH) Hops 15.7 IBU
20.00 gm Saaz [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 4.7 IBU
1 Pkgs Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124) Yeast-Lager
The hop schedule will probably change. Water is unmodified Gold Coast rainwater. Because I’m feeling especially masochistic, I’m thinking of doing an enhanced double decoction.
Give it to me straight, guys. Have I lost it?