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Can anyone tell me the best grain to get to steep in a czech pils in planning on making>
Cheers Pom

This style really doesnt allow of steeping. It is meant to be as light as possible and the only grain that wont have much effect on colour is carapils which will only add body to the beer and not change the taste.

Cheers kev I might just stick to my origianl recipe then thanks.

Pom wrote:Can anyone tell me the best grain to get to steep in a czech pils in planning on making>
Cheers Pom

G'day Pom - I've got no idea about what sort of gear you've got, but if you want to do some steeping to make a Czech Pils, why not grab a pot, heat a litre or two of water and add a kilo of cracked / milled Pilsner malt and keep the stiff porridge like mix at around 66C for an hour. Rinse gently in a colander or fine strainer with no more than 3L of hot water, keep it under 75C and you'll have some sweet liquor to add to the boil that will give you some fresh flavour to the final product.

Steeping is very similar to a partial or full mash, as long as you don't over dilute with too much water in the first place which hinders the mash process. When you "steep" base malt this way, it's important to keep it pretty thick to allow the enzymes in the grains to convert the starches in the grains into sugar.

Cheers,
TL

TL
Spot on, thats what I was looking for. I will get some Pilsner malt and give it a go. Have had a go at steeping before with a ale brew Chris gave me, using some Crystasl /Caramalt and it seems to have turned out well, Only been bottle a month. Tried a very basic Czech Pils for my second brew. (now up to 11) and it was really nice. Wanted to have go at somthing a bit better, this I shall try. Thanks alot.
Pom

No worries - once you've done this, you'll be a graduate of the school of partial mash brewing!

Just remember to boil the resultant sweet liquor - and add some hops to help balance the additional malt. I'd recommend a boil of at least 30 mins. Add a kilo or two of malt extract and you can boil about 8L in a stock pot - chill it in the sink. Don't boil the kit concentrate - that's already happened before you bought it; all you'll do is knock out the volatile hop flavour and aromas from the kit.

Cheers,
TL

is sounds gereat TL. Just a little confused on the amount of water to use. You said

as long as you don't over dilute with too much water in the first place

But then once I have rinsed Im left with say a max of 4l - 5l, what left of the origanl 2l of steeping water and the max 3l to rinse with. And then make that up to 8l for the last 30min boil. Is that correct?

Also I have a can of liquid malt extract (Coopers) of 1.5kg is this the equivalent of putting 1.5kg of LDME?
I though I might use this with some Saaz hops.
I do have a CraftBrewer czech pilns converter I was given, But I want to try it withthe liquid ME.
It suggests adding the hops it comes with(also Saaz) at the very end of the boil for 1 min. Not sure how much hops and for how long?
Thanks for your help Pom.

Pom wrote:is sounds gereat TL. Just a little confused on the amount of water to use. You said

as long as you don't over dilute with too much water in the first place

But then once I have rinsed Im left with say a max of 4l - 5l, what left of the origanl 2l of steeping water and the max 3l to rinse with. And then make that up to 8l for the last 30min boil. Is that correct?

Yep, the important part is that the mash shouldn't be too thin. You sparge and then add some water to make up a decent boil volume and you can add some more extract to the boil solution to up the gravity - and use some hops to add bitterness to balance the additional sweet liquor that you've just made.

Pom wrote: Also I have a can of liquid malt extract (Coopers) of 1.5kg is this the equivalent of putting 1.5kg of LDME?
I though I might use this with some Saaz hops.
I do have a CraftBrewer czech pilns converter I was given, But I want to try it withthe liquid ME.
It suggests adding the hops it comes with(also Saaz) at the very end of the boil for 1 min. Not sure how much hops and for how long?
Thanks for your help Pom.

For gravity calcs, treat the kit as liquid malt extract that's already hopped. A brewing software calculator will help more accurately determine how much you need to use, hops-wise, but I would add around 15g of Saaz and boil for at least 20-30 mins. You can also use the other Saaz hops supplied with the craftbrewer product at the end of the boil - that is most likely an aroma addition to give an authentic nose to the pilsner.
The reason why you need to keep an eye on gravity and therefore the quantity of malt in the boil is to ensure that you have an accurate OG at the start of fermentation and you know how much bitterness you'll add when you add hops at the start of the boil. Leave the Coopers kit out of the boil as you will knock out the volatile flavour and aroma compounds if you do - you're better off adding some unhopped LME to the boil after you've mashed and sparged. The kit can go into the kettle / boiler when the boil is done, ie, at flameout.

Cheers,
TL