Summer Pils '22

Fairly clear after a few weeks on tap.
A Goldings hop plant can be seen
growing on the line behind the glass.

I've brewed a few takes on Pilsner over the years. With pale lagers dominating the worldwide beer market it's surprising how few of them are as good as the classic Pilsner Urquell. For this beer I am going very classic in using almost entirely pilsner malt split between two European maltsters with Sekado Czech Pilsner malt and Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner Malt and just a small amount of Carafoam to hopefully keep up the body and provide plenty of head, given the moderately low expected OG and FG (although it may not do this as well as advertised). As I've done with some other beers recently I planned to split this between two 3 gallon carboys, each with a different yeast (Whitelabs Czech Budejovice and re-pitched Wyeast Munich Lager). This approach was intended to give me the option to either blend the two at packaging, or package each separately to be able to determine my preferences of each strain separately. Unfortunately, neither yeast seemed to want to take off and I had to combine both onto a yeast cake used for a smoked Helles.

Tasting Notes:

Smell: Sweet grainy and honey-like malt with some herbal, vegetal, and slightly funky hop notes. Fairly mild. No diacetyl or DMS that I can detect.

Appearance: Light gold with a small fluffy white head that doesn’t have much retention but does leave nice lacing. Fairly clear but not crystal. When first on tap it was fairly hazy but time and low temperatures seem to have almost entirely cleared up the appearance.

Taste: leads with a honey and sweet malt flavor that transitions to a slightly herbal and spicy hop character that eventually finishes in a slightly vegetal and medium-low bitterness.

Mouthfeel: moderately low body and fairly low carbonation. This one was more carbonated but some issues with the kegerator led to temperature and pressure swings that it still hasn’t fully recovered from. Not flat but could use more bubbles, especially for this style.

Overall: a pretty nice easy drinking beer with a small amount more flavor than your average American lager. A few friends consistently chose this over the 3 other beers I had on tap a few days ago and I enjoy it quite a bit too. Not quite what I want in a “Czech Premium Pale Lager” in that it could probably be a touch bigger, a touch cleaner in the finish, a touch more carbonated, and a touch more bitter, but it’s an easy enough drinker that should help cool me down after mowing the lawn over the next few months.

6/12/22
Brewday. Getting a later start than originally planned after cancelling plans to brew then un-cancelling and moving forward with the process. Forecast had called for rain most of the day when I checked this morning but after a short shower it looks like it may have cleared up so I decided to brew. Measured and milled out 4 pounds of the Sekado malt, 5 pounds of Weyermann Bohemian, and 1 pound of Carafoam. First time hearing of the maltster Sekado so it will be interesting if it gives a different character to the Weyermann Bohemian that I am familiar with, though there's a good chance I wouldn't be able to tell without beers made with each being side by side. Out of the bag the Sekado is a touch toastier and drier/harder but otherwise has a similar slightly crackery but otherwise clean and plain-grain flavor that I expect from pils.

Mashed at 152F for 1 hour (had fallen to 150F by end). Ran off first runnings then batch sparged at 160F. Runoff smells lightly sweet, with grainy, honey, and slightly hay like notes which seems pretty good for a pils. Only ended up with 6.25 gallons after runoff but decided to not add a quarter gallon of water since it was also only reading 1.041 pre-boil OG giving ~1.046 estimated post-boil to 5.5 gallons which is less than intended.

I weighed out the hops based on my calculations before realizing that I had underestimated the alpha acid percent of this particular pack of Saaz (4.0% actual vs 3.3% predicted). Rather than use less hops I decided to move the first and second additions further back in the boil, possibly giving more flavor/aroma in addition to bringing bitterness down to the target amount.

After the 60 minute boil I cooled to 80F (outdoor ambient temp) and racked to two 3 gallon carboys. Ended up with only 5 gallons of wort at 1.053 OG. While this would have left the beer gravity/ABV/IBUs in the range of the style guidelines I had hoped for this to be on the lower end of alcohol and bitterness so I boiled, chilled, and added another quart of water to each carboy to bring the gravity down to 1.048 and hopefully keep the beer from being too bitter. Carboys were added to chest freezer set to 40F to chill down. After 2 hours the outside of the carboys was still reading over 65F so I decided to wait overnight for them to chill further.

6/13/22
Increased chest freezer temperature setting to 50F and pitched yeast.

6/15/22
After nearly 48 hours at 50F there's no signs of fermentation. Lager yeast are generally slower to kick off and show less activity, especially at this low of a temp with the wort having been around 40F when pitching, but I would have expected some bubbles in the airlock by now. I may have underpitched given the age of the yeasts and lack of a starter, but thought I would be able to get away with it since the beer wasn't particularly high in gravity and each pitch was only going to half a batch. Increased chest freezer temp to 55F to hopefully allow it to kick off. If there aren't signs of life tomorrow I might need to take more steps.

6/16/22
Very minimal signs of fermentation today with a few bubbles sitting on top and the very occasional bubble out of the airlock. Temp on outside of carboy is still reading 51F so it has retained the lower temperatures despite increasing the temperature controllers set point. My basement is in the low 60s and could have been even cooler over night so maybe it shouldn't be too surprising that the chest freezer and gallons of wort didn't warm up too much. I pulled the carboys out of the fridge to allow them to warm some. If no signs of life in the next few hours I will purchase additional yeast today to add to them. I usually try to have a pack of dry lager yeast on hand for these types of situations but used my last one on the smoked helles.

6/17/22
I didn't make it to the homebrew store to grab more yeast and the beer is still showing nearly no signs of fermentation so both carboys were combined in a 6 gallon carboy that previously held the Smoked Helles. In hindsight I should have washed the yeast cake and cleaned the carboy first to minimize the amount of smoke that carries over but with it having been a lightly smoked beer I am hoping it doesn't fully ruin the pils. Even if the smoke doesn't come through this beer could have some issues due to the time spent sitting and oxygen intake from racking it to a carboy at this point. The carboy was placed back in the chest freezer and temperature lowered back to 50F. A few hours later and it is now showing an active fermentation with a decent krausen.

6/22/22
Removed from chest freezer to allow to rise to room temp (currently 66F) for a diacetyl rest.

6/24/22
Pulled a sample to check diacetyl progress. Flavor and aroma are a bit strange: cracker and bitterness as expected but also earthy, fruity, and slightly funky notes. No diacetyl flavor (butter) but there is a bit of an unexpected thickness to it that could be from diacetyl and at 1.010 it shouldn't feel as thick as it does. It hasn't been lagered yet and is currently looking hazy so maybe there is just some yeast or other particulate in the sample that will settle out and clean up. Despite the lack of diacetyl flavor I'm going to give it another day at the warmer temps before lagering in hopes that the thick/slick sensation fades. This beer doesn't seem entirely ruined but doesn't seem like it's going to be a good pilsner.

6/27/22
Forgot to put this one back in the chest freezer for lagering until today. Plan to leave it in there set to 32F for the next few weeks. Likely kegging around the weekend of 7/16.

7/16/22
Kegged and placed in keezer at 12PSI and 42F. Saved yeast in two unmarked mason jars and set in refrigerator. Taste at kegging is less strange than when last tasted but still seems to have a slight weird graininess and doesn’t feel as cohesive as expected for a pils. It's possible this is due to the Sekado malt that I'm unfamiliar with, the extended time before fermentation kicked off causing oxidation or other effects, the use of yeast from a beer with smoke causing some of that flavor to transfer over, or something else entirely. The flavor is a bit hard to describe or pin down (especially given the moderate hop flavor and bitterness that are also present) and it isn't entirely off-putting but seems out of place in this style. Hopefully a little carbonation and some more time can improve the beer further but at least it seems to be drinkable at this point.

7/29/22
Tasting notes given above. This one has turned the corner and gotten a good response from most people who have tried it but suffered from undercarbonation at the one homebrew club meeting I brought it to a few days before the tasting. I'm pretty happy with it but would say it isn't quite as good as most of the other pilsners I've made.

Summer/Sommer Ales

Originally designed as an all grain batch inspired by Heavy Seas old Summer Ale (later renamed Sea Nymph) that I enjoyed in the summer of 2011. For the malt bill (and much of the beer) I aimed for this to ride the line between an American blonde ale and an American wheat ale with about 20% wheat and just a small amount of light caramel malt. Sea Nymph appears to have been 4.5% abv which fits the idea of a blonde or American wheat, though other styles could also fit that profile. While Comet is likely not the hop used in that beer I think it’s citrus and tropical character should go well in small amounts to balance the malt. I had originally designed the recipe to be straight forward with 2-row, wheat, and caramel 20 as the ingredients so in changing to an extract version I aimed for something similar but used Carahell in place of the crystal 20 and replaced the 2-row and wheat malts with a blend of extra light and wheat dry malt extracts. Half the batch will be fermented with Omega Lutra kveik, a strain notorious for its lager like character, and the other half on the classic Fermentis SafAle US-05 American ale yeast. This should give me two variations on a Summer (or Sommer in Norwegian) ale.

This along with my previous and next brews that will be on tap this summer are intended to be fairly pale, moderate in alcohol, refreshing, and interesting without being overly strong in any way, allowing for quaffability and cooling off in the heat. The two other beers of summer '22 are a lightly smoked Helles (usually my spring beer) and a Czech Premium Pale Lager (aka Bohemian Pilsner). Most likely these three will be the only beers I have on tap for the upcoming summer months, though summer essentially started weeks ago with temperatures topping 90F here in Maryland. I guess you could say they're "lawn mower" beers, though maybe a bit more complex and interesting than your average one.

Compared to the slightly smoke forward helles and noble hop forward Pils this beer should round out the mix by being a little more fruity due to the yeast and the American hops. If I am able to find some extra time to brew an additional batch to join these it would likely be a saison/grisette or a simple quick sour, since both could be enjoyable light drinkers but also provide something different than these 3 offer. My next brew day following these 3 was used to get some long aged sours started, with some lagers also planned to be brewed later this summer that will likely not be ready until the fall, after The Beers of Summer are gone.

6/8/22

Brewed after work inside on stovetop due to storms outside. This beer is the first time brewing a stovetop batch in this house and first time in a while doing an extract with steeping grains.  Ran into a few unexpected issues, including needing to take the wort outside to chill since my immersion chiller didn't connect to the kitchen sink as it had in my old apartment and the boil off being much lower than on my usual burner leading to more than an extra half gallon of wort that was added to a 1 gallon jug and pitched with dregs from a bottle of Saison DuPont and dregs from a bottle of my homebrewed "Gotlandsdricke" made with Jovaru yeast. The Lutra version was transferred to carboy around 90F while US-05 batch was chilled to ~80F (as far as I could easily get it down to). The two ended up being blended some prior to pitching yeast and pitching was slightly delayed so the Lutra version was probably a little lower than 90 at time of yeast being added and US-05 may have been in the upper 70's. Both were covered with shirts to prevent light and left in basement in low 60F ambient temps.

6/9/22

Despite pouring a decent amount of wort from the carboys to the extra jug in order to give headspace in the carboys the Lutra version fermented so strongly overnight that it blew off its airlock less than 12 hours after pitching. That version was left to open ferment and slowly bubble over the top of the carboy for about 12 hours before seeming to calm down at which point the airlock was re-attached.

US-05 version was also bubbling away after 12 hours but not nearly as intensely, while the farmhouse yeasts version isn’t showing much sign of life even 24 hours later.

6/12/22

Basement has warmed up some along with the outside temps and is now hovering between the mid and upper 60s, which should be good for both versions of this beer as this is around the low end of recommended temperature range for Lutra and the middle of the range for US-05.

Lutra version is barely bubbling, opening the airlock gives smells slightly of yeastiness and the kveik "twang" that people sometimes mention with this strain (milk/yogurt/overripe citrus?). This batch is likely done fermentation but may need a few days to clean up. Gravity sample shows 1.013, sample tastes and smells more fruity, citrusy and refreshing than carboy smells. Not clear or clean so I would not call this very lager like at this point but definitely enjoyable.

US-05 version is still fermenting moderately with a large krausen, lifting the airlock gives aromas that are citrusy and pleasant, but probably needs at least a week to finish and clean up so I didn't take a gravity sample yet.

Farmhouse version is showing some signs of life with a decent layer of krausen, smell off the airlock is smoky, probably from the Gotlandsdricke dregs. It will be interesting to see whether the smoke persists strongly through to the finish but I have no real plans for this small amount of beer so if it's unenjoyable it will be easy to dump and if it is enjoyable it might get bottled or blended in with something else.

6/17/22

Kegged both versions. Probably should have waited on the US-05 as first pour is tasting yeasty and a bit strange. Lutra version also tastes a bit more yeasty and less lemony and refreshing than the previous sample but that may be due to the yeast getting stirred up and coming out in the first pour here. Kegerator set to 50F with 20 PSI.

6/19/22

Poured a small sample of each. Both have a bit of a pizza aroma: herbal (basil and savory) and bready (dough, yeast, crust). The Lutra version tastes more lemony and nice, not clean but a pleasant character. US-05 is less clear in appearance and the flavor is closer to the nose with herbal and slightly yeasty notes. Both versions are under carbonated at this point. Hoping with some more time they can clean up. Neither is necessarily unpleasant at this point but they don’t quite hit the notes I’m hoping for in a refreshing summer ale where I probably would have liked a little bit less body and more lemony citrus character.

7/16/22

Side by side tasting of both versions with image above. Despite some differences and pros and cons to each I’m not sure I have a preference on either version but am fairly happy with the beer overall and am happy to have a lightly fruity, fairly low ABV, and otherwise fairly unremarkable, beer on tap.

Sommer (Lutra kveik version)

Smell: orange peel, nondescript fruitiness, light honey, cracker, and wheat bread malt notes. Fruitiness and a touch of milk caramel note is more noticeable after a few sips.

Appearance: fairly opaque golden orange with a large white fluffy head with good retention. Not hazy like a NEIPA but very far from clear and even more opaque than the American Ale yeast version.

Taste: similar to the nose with moderate fruity and slightly citrusy notes blending with mild graininess. Finish is again slightly milk caramel with a touch of tropical fruit. Hard to discern yeast from hops. Bitterness is very low but just enough

Mouthfeel: medium low body with medium carbonation and a touch of creaminess. Pretty nice.

Overall: I would definitely not say that this yeast produces anything like a lager as it is advertised, but as a moderately neutral and very fast fermentor it did a solid job. Not the best beer and I may have actually enjoyed it more with more kveik character but it was an easy to produce and easy to drink brew.

Summer (US-05 version)

Smell: similar to Lutra version with fruit, light citrus, and malt but also some doughy and yeasty character and a touch of pine. As I drink it that classic American hop citrus and pine-like character comes out more and more. 

Appearance: fairly cloudy but I can see my fingers through the glass unlike the kveik version. Large white fluffy head with good retention.

Taste: less rounded than the kveik version with the hops coming through more noticeably (though not super strong) with pine and citrus. Bitterness seems higher with less sweet malt character noticeable and none of the milk caramel character.

Mouthfeel: medium low body with medium carbonation. Maybe a touch thinner than the other version but in a nice range for the style and makes for a light summer drinker.

Overall: not quite what I was going for with this beer but certainly enjoyable enough. This version has less fruit/tropical and sweet malt character than the kveik one but still has enough enjoyable notes to go back for more.

#38 - American Rye Tasting

The idea of brewing a citra and rye beer has been with me for a while now an the idea of a citrusy, light, summer beer is an idea I've played with in a few ways over the years.  This beer is decent but is also a learning experience in a few ways.

Aroma- pours a very cloudy khaki color with just a small layer of head that sticks around for a while. The beer appears to be cloudy from the rye proteins, but hop particulate is also visible.  Looks a little like a hefeweizen though the cloudiness doesn't seem to be from the yeast as much as the other factors.

Smell- Big citrus character: fresh grapefruit and candied lemon peel. There's also a dank melon smell and a little crackery graininess.

Taste/Mouthfeel- Surprisingly disappointing giving the huge nose. Up front offers very little flavor on the tongue with a watery, light grapefruit and grainy flavors that fades to moderately high bitterness on the back of the throat leaving a lingering grapefruit impression. 

The beer seems a bit watery but this is likely as much or more from the low carbonation than any real issues with the body. That said, I did miss my target OG and a slightly higher starting gravity and finishing gravity may have helped.

Overall- the beer goes down pretty easily (as it should at only 4.5% abv) but isn't nearly as flavorful or exciting as it should be. The low carbonation likely plays a part in the lack of hoppy "pop" on the tongue.  In the end it tastes like a more citrusy and less fruity British Bitter due to the low hop flavors, moderate body, and bitterness and lack of carbonation.

Were I to attempt this beer again I would either cut or raise the rye amount to make it more of a back note or dominant flavor rather than standing out but not taking over as it does here. I would also use a more traditional hop schedule with some hops added in the last 10-15 minutes in hopes of upping the hop flavor, while also moving some of the flame out hops to dry hop to further diversify the hop character and keep bitterness levels relatively tame. A slight raise in the carbonation level might also help with the perceived hoppiness.  Lastly, this is a beer that could really have used Irish moss as it just doesn't seem to be clearing at all.