Czech Pils

The pinnacle of pale lagers? Well, that’s a matter of opinion…

The humble pilsner. It’s the most simple beer in it’s design. Just Pilsner malt and hops. However, it’s one of the hardest beers to brew well. There’s so little to hide behind. If your mash ph is out, temperature control wrong, yeast under-pitched, carbonation level too high/low, or any number of things, then it’ll probably be evident in the final product. We need to look at how to brew Czech Pils on a homebrew scale?

All that said, if we’re reasonably disciplined in our brewing, then it’s actually easy to turn out a great example of this fine beer.

The Brewday

I’ll list the recipe ingredients at the bottom, otherwise here’s the full brew process breakdown.

Measuring up

First, let’s get the 4kg of Pils malt weigh out and milled. I’m milling to a gap of 1.1mm, which I find the most efficient for the Braumeister system. The mill here is the MattMill Master.

Next we’ll weigh out the minerals and salt additions. the water profile here is basically a Yellow balanced profile.

This recipe is as much about the hops as the malt. So, I’ve weighed out a whole load of Saaz. (After all, Saaz is basically half of how to brew a czech pils).

The kitchen smells great with this. I love Saaz.

It’s a Braumeister, so we’ll measure out the full boil volume for the mash. That’s 25 litres for this one.

Begin the mash

After the water has reached mash temperature, we add the malt pipe and pour in the grains.

A good stir ensures that there are no dry clumps or ‘dough-balls’

Withe the filters in place we can start the mash. You could argue to a degree that I do a stepped mash, in so far as, I add the grains at 40°c, and then bring the temperature up to our mash schedule temperature of 67°c.

Decoction

Just as the mash temperature reaches 60°c, it’s time for the first decoction. This is not a full or true decoction perhaps, but it achieves a boil of the grains, and adds a certain element to the finished beer, which in side by side tests I’ve done in the past, is a noticeable difference. For this beer, I’m going to do three decoctions. The first is just as the mash reaches 60°c. The second is halfway through the 67°c mash schedule, and the last is timed to finish just before increasing the temperature to mash out. Each decoction is with about half the grains, and is boiled for 15 minutes, before being re-incorporated back into the mash.

With half the grains removed for decoction, the filters are replaced, and the mash circulation re-started.

I then boil the grains for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure there is no burning on the bottom.

Once the boil is finished, the decocted grains are re-incorporated with the mash, and the mash circulation re-started.

Mash-out

After a 60 minute mash with 3 decoctions the wort is clear and all starches converted.

To check that the starch conversion is complete, I’m doing an iodine test. A sample of the wort is mixed with some iodine. If it remains yellow, there is no starch present. If however, there is starch, then the iodine will turn purple/grey in colour. The mash would need extra time in that case.

The boil

The wort is then heated, and the boil begins. Once the hot-break has dissipated, the hop basket is added with the first hop addition.

To stop steam filling the house, I use a hood and an extractor pipe to outside.

I’m doing a 60 minute boil. There is a lot of opinion that a longer boil will give cleaner, clearer beer. This is no doubt true, but I have not found significant differences on a homebrew scale , certainly not enough to justify the cost of running 2500 watts of heating element for an extra hour.

Cooling and Whirlpool

So, after a 60 minute boil and three hop additions, I add the chiller coil to sanitise it, and bring the temperature down to 84°c for the 10 minute whirlpool hop addition.

On completion of the whirlpool, the wort gets cooled to as low as the groundwater temperature will allow. At this point it’s time to check the original gravity. It comes in at 1.053, which is 3 points higher than I expected….

On inspection, it turns out that the boil off has been much greater than normal (I have no explanation for that, perhaps just atmospheric conditions of the day?) so I’ve added water to bring it up to around 18 litres and a gravity of 1.050.

Once the wort temperature has reached as low as it will get, the wort is transferred to a fermentor, so that I can carry it out to the unitank. (I’ve got to get my microbrewery built soon, so I can brew and ferment in the same room….)

Withe the fermentor hoisted up, to height, it’s an easy gravity transfer into the unitank. The glycol chiller can bring the temperature down to the fermentation temperature of 10°c.

Fermentation

I find that fermenting in a sealed fermentor, that can be pressurised, and that can accommodate a closed transfer of the finished product, is a fundamental key of how to brew a Czech Pils, which is super clean and crisp. For me, everything is about allowing the most minimal contact with oxygen after fermentation begins.

I’m lucky to have a unitank for this, but I also use a converted keg fermentor with equal quality results.

Whilst I’m waiting for that to come down to pitching temperature, I’m rehydrating 2 packets of M76 Bavarian Lager yeast. I like this yeast, rather than the Bohemian Lager yeast, as I think it drys the beer out better. It still leaves a subtle sweetness, but it’s perhaps slightly more crisp.

And we’ll let the yeast sit for about 20 minutes before adding to the cooled wort in the unitank.

The fermentation schedule is for 1 week at 10°c, then close the spunding valve, and slowly raise the temperature up to 18°c over the next 2 weeks. The Lager will now be held at 18°c for a one week d-rest.

Cold Crash and Transfer

After the week of Diacetal rest, the spunding valve has finished bubbling. The temperature is now reduced to 3°c for a cold crash and a week lagering on the yeast cake.

After a weeks rest, the lager is then pressure transferred to the clearing/bottling tank.

Once again, the closed transfer is a major part of allowing no contact with oxygen.

Bottling

After fining with gelatin and carbonated to 2.8 volumes CO2, the Pils is bottled with a Blichmann beer gun. After bottling, there is an estimated 2.4 volumes of CO2.

After bottling, the Czech Pils is stored out in our stone barn, which is cool and temperature stable. This is where the true lagering happens, an important part of how to brew a czech pils, and after a month or two, the beer is noticeably transformed in quality. The conditioning helps to settle the flavours, so that they all blend together and become smooth, without competing with each other.

The most important part. Tasting the Czech Pils.

On pouring, the beer has a nice level of carbonation, and holds a good head of foam. The foam also leaves good lacing down the glass as the glass empties.

The aroma is of Saaz hops and a light maltiness. There is also a slight note of sweetness.

The first sip starts with the hops. The floral peppery notes of the Saaz come through immediately, quickly followed by the light bready maltiness you’d expect from the Pils malt. There’s a slight sweetness to the malt, but only just enough to offset the hops bitterness, and it all fits together with a lovely balance.

The aftertaste is of malt, and the lingering hops light bitterness. Just like a good example of any Pilsner, it leaves you wanting another sip, making this a beer that is dangerously drinkable in large quantities. This is a favourite, and one that we always try to keep in storage.

….and that’s it. How to brew a Czech Pils……

Czech Pils Recipe Ingredients

If you’d like to see the full brewday, Please click here for the youTube video.