My first time experiencing fresh Pilsner Urquell at the source was a life-changing moment for me. My previous beer experiences in the US had been decent, but the simple bitter-but-also-kinda-sweet lager from a bulk tank in Praha was what made me fall in love with beer. That three hundred and thirty centiliters is what made me want to be a brewer and make fresh, delicious beers just like that to bring people together. It's also one of the reasons why those in the Czech Republic drink more beer per capita than anywhere else...and it's not even close. There is obviously something special about Czech beer. Whether that's the pricepoint, its infinite drinkability, or just the culture surrounding beer, Czechs consume about 50% more than the next leading country. And I would too! But I don't live there, and where I do live there is not a lot of Czech style beer that satisfies my Ležák lust in either terms of quality or freshness. Most breweries here in the US are set up for single infusion beers as maltsters do the work for the brewer, and tradition is not on the mind. The Pilsner Urquell we get in green bottles is hardly a shell of what it is fresh - so I have to make it myself. I've tried time and time again to capture the inexplicable quality and charm of an 11° lager from Pilsen, but I have always fallen short. Each time I've tried a recipe, it either comes out lacking fullness, or it's too caramel-y or too fruity. But this time I'm trying the harder traditional method that I've been too lazy thus far to employ, and I've been spurred by the rustic-yet-methodical approach to the Czech way of brewing beer that I find fascinating and inspiring. It's funny how as a brewer in the US I've been so coddled that the mere thought of a decoction mash makes my bung retract and is the mundane standard in the Czech Republic. But enough of the hilarity that is my situation, here's how I brewed it if you find yourself in a similar predicament.
Recipe for 5 gallons of světlé ležák: my efficiency was ~75%
Vitals - 4.0%ABV / 11°P O.G. / 3.5°P F.G. / 35IBU
9lbs Floor-Malted Bohemian Pilsner [Weyermann] - shooting for 11°P or 1.044 starting gravity. I got 11.5°P with this grist at my target volumes.
If you want to approximate a Czech pale lager without having to do a decoction, take out some of the Pilsner and add ~5% of a biscuit malt like Victory or Biscuit and even a percentage or two of C-60 if you want that deep golden color and a bit more sweetness. I have had very good results with that combination to get a really solid beer without the additional 2 hours on a brewday.
2oz (57g) 3%AA Saaz each at beginning of boil, 20 minutes, and flameout for a total of 6oz of Saaz. ~35 IBU
Wyeast 2278 - Czech Pils
A possible upgraded alternative is WLP 802 - Budjovice if you like your beers drier and with potentialy less diacetyl development.
Water - I treated my tap water with CaCl2 and some lactic acid, and I filtered it before so that I could reduce the Chlorine/Chloramine in my water. You can do the same with a campden tablet...it's much easier and more reliable than my carbon filter. That's it. No expensive, plastic-riddled distilled water, no wasteful RO, nothing. I'm lucky to have decent water here, but I do have to know what I'm doing with it to get the results I'm looking for from beer to beer.
This recipe is deceptively simple, and we can't talk about Czech beer without talking decoction.
What is decoction? It's a somewhat controversial method for mashing grains at different temperatures by raising mash temps through boiling a portion of the mash and reconstituting. The general idea is to hydrolize and gelatinize starches and make them more accessable to the enzymes in the main mash with a boil of the grains while coaxing and developing more complex color and flavors into the wort. It's only controversial in the sense that brewers might argue its merit and that a similar result can be had with other easier, less time consuming processes like step mashing.
So why do Czech brewers still hold onto this "outdated" process? Communism. That's right, the progress of beer technology and techniques in (what I believe was as I'm no historian by an means) Czechoslovakia at the time was stunted for decades because of government oversight making it so that decoction was the standard that could not be altered. And even though the means to this end may be somewhat unsavory, I'm here for traditional Czech beer and its preservation. While I certianly won't make any arguments one way or the other in terms of if decocting is worth it, I will tell you now that I went as traditional as I could and did a double decoction; and we'll see in the final product how it compares to my past brews of this style. Here's a visual of my mash temps, steps, and what they do for the wort. There are obviously different mash regimens that people can utilize and even triple decoctions if you're feeling frisky, but this is what I did with the malt I was able to buy.
Above is a simplified chart of what I did. It's simplified only in that the lines are not perfectly straight in real life. I have a manual system (no PID temp control or anything), so I had to put heat under the mash when I felt it was needed while the decoction was boiling so that I wouldn't miss my next rest temp. It worked fairly well, and the only temp I missed was the mashout being a degree or two too hot. I'm totally on board with it, and I think I really nailed all of the steps here. In the past I have not kept up the heat on the main mash and lost too many degrees during just my single decoction attempt. You too can remedy this by adding a little bit of heat to your main mash while the decoction boils are happening or get an all-in-one brewing system that can hold a mash temp for an indefinite amount of time.
To pull a decoction, use a colander or something to drain of as much liquid from grain as you can. I had just a tiny bit too much liquid during my decoctions, but I believe I still got the job done. It needs to be thicker than you think...and constantly stir and scrape the decoction pot to avoid scorching. Nobody likes scorched beer.
This is also where I noticed a couple of differences from my normal brewdays. It may have been the oxidation of the wort during the hours-long process of decocting and resting or something else, but my mash settled and cleared up in the mash tun way more than a normal mash does. Oxidation of polyphenols and dropping out is my theory, but I am only guessing. It could also very well be thorough conversion of starches in solution that cleared it up...who knows?
One of the things I love so much about this style of beer is the amount of diversity in flavor that comes from these simple ingredients and differing technique. Sure, most brewers in the Czech Republic are only using this staple recipe for their lagers, but some are adding a touch of Munich malt or caramel malt. While many beer brewers and drinkers alike will tell you exactly how this style needs to be made with a single malt, a single hop, and water as soft as Lakers' Anthony Davis, all over the Czech Republic are brewers making incredible lagers that differ wildly. It's a style that rewards process over ingredients (although starting with the right quality ingredients matters), and the diversity comes mostly from the skill and methods the brewer utilizes. So my unsolicited advise is to be scrappy, don't cut corners, and make the beer that you want to make. If it's the simple recipe above, or one that adds caramel, or even one that uses a different hop to bitter, there are less rules than you might think. Czech brewers absolutely do not confine themselves within the beer geek knowledge base, so neither should you.
Once the mash was complete with all the rest temps and times met, I vorlaufed, sparged, and collected 8 gallons of wort in my boil kettle. I boiled for 90 minutes and did a more Kout-style hopping for my beer, as my recipe indicates. Feel free to sub in a more efficient bittering hop, reduce the late additions, reduce IBUs, etc. for however you'd like your beer to come out. Don't want as much late hop Saaz character? Take it out! This is your beer and make it how you want to drink.
Saaz is a special type of hop that I would at least encourage those who want to stay true to the styles' innate flavor profiles. Of course there are different hops you can use, and you can change the amount of Saaz you use just like many Czech brewers do to fit what they like to drink and serve. Saaz has been around for hundreds of years; and while of course it has changed over time with necessary breeding for weather changes and diseases, it is still a hop that has been enjoyed by millions of people throughout hundreds of years of history...and I think that's pretty cool.
I did not use any clarifying agents in the boil and will not in conditioning because I hear this is how a brewery making great Czech lagers here in the States is doing it. We'll see how much that comes around to bite me in the ass...it may not, but it is a large deviation from my standard brewing as I ALWAYS use whirlfloc in the kettle (even for hazy IPA). Follow along below for updates on fermentation, lagering, and tasting notes when ready. I'm thinking about entering in competition too, but the one I have my eye on might have a deadline too early to submit for this style of beer to lager sufficiently. Regardless, I'll update below what goes on with the 10 gallons of pivo from start to finish. Cheers!
Fermentation:
12/18/23 - I pitched a healthy amount of yeast (2 packs for 5.5 gallons) into my wort at 14°C/57°F and immediately dropped to 10°C/50°F for fermentation. I saw slight activity in less than 12 hours out of my blowoff. Starting gravity is 11.5°P
12/19/23 - Fermentation ramped up quickly and is giving a steady stream of bubbles out of my blowoff. Gravity 9.8°P
12/20/23 - Fermentation still going strong. FV sample tasting good and an uptick in sulfur is noticeable from yesterday's sample. Gravity 8.5°P
12/21/23 - Fermentation slowing slightly but still working through. FV sample tasting similar to yesterday but with even more sulfur. Thinking about raising temp soon. Possibly bung and raise a degree or two tomorrow. Gravity 6.6°P
12/22/23 - Fermentation definitely slowing, loads of sulfur/eggy farts in the sample...taste is good though. The sulfur should decrease significantly during storage. I removed the blowoff in favor of a 1 Bar spunding valve and raised the fermentation temp to 12°C/54°F. Gravity 5.7°P...and I'm aiming for a finishing gravity of ~3.5°P
12/23/23 - Already at 15psig after spunding yesterday. Sample from the FV shows significant flocculation, a sign that final gravity is quite close. Sulfur seems dampened, possibly by the carbonation or the raise in temperature. But sample seems good, bit of diacetyl (which I am shooting for ZERO detectable diacetyl in here). Already a nice, soft carbonation that I love. I might finish at a higher gravity than expected, which is welcome. Gravity 4.3°P
12/24/23 - Similar notes to above. Gravity 3.8°P
12/25/23 through 12/26/23 - hanging with family and not checking on beer :)
12/27/23 - Final gravity reached. 3.0°P for an attenuation level of 74% (the high end for this yeast) and an ABV of 4.6%. For a pale lager (I was NOT shooting to be in the Premium pale lager range with this, but it is what it is) it is too high in ABV and starting gravity. But that's what learning is all about. I'm really interested in flavorful low-ABV beers that I can drink a few of in an evening and not want to die the morning after. This is just one step in that learning process, and I love that it takes me less grain to make delicious beer! I'll probably take a pound or so out of this recipe for the pale lager and keep this one for the premium pale lagers.
12/28/23 - No sample taken as final gravity has been reached. Now waiting on diacetyl. Because I raised the temperature with a couple of degrees plato to go, I will check for diacetyl in a couple of days.
12/29/23 - Again, no sample. Will take one tomorrow for the aforementioned diacetyl test to see if I can start crashing/harvest yeast.
12/30/23 - Diacetyl passed, and I crashed the beer to 3°C all at once. I know there are lager brewers out there that subscribe to slowly dropping 1°C every day until the target temp is reached, but I've never noticed a difference at this homebrew scale. But you do you, boo.
12/31/23 through 1/2/24 - Lots of celebration and recovering from said celebration...not checking on beer.
1/3/24 - Dropped cone and harvested fresh yeast for the Czech Dark Lager I'm planning on brewing very soon. Will transfer to keg(s) and let sit at 0°C for an extended lagering time under pressure to fully carbonate. It is currently mostly carbonated, but just a bump up will help this beer. A more traditional approach would be to krausen/spund at a higher pressure than target carbonation and then slowly let it decarb and scrub the undesireable volatiles out (think H2S and other volatile vegetal thiols). I will be more patient with it and "set it and forget it."
1/4/24 - Not really an update; but as I'm getting samples from the fermentor and things are clearing up, the color is a bright straw yellow. I'll post pictures when I can. It's a far cry from the color of a Pilsner Urquell that all the beer nerds tout comes from decoction. I'm not saying they're wrong, but I'm declaring a bit of shenanigans. The recipe and process for Pilsner Urquell is not known for 99.99999+% of people on Earth...if they strictly use pilsner malt and decoction for that color, they must add something during the process to accelerate color development or something along those lines. They possibly kiln their malt darker than the Weyermann I bought, I don't know...but I can already hear the "they do a triple decocion, not double" argument....shenanigans. However, when I'm done yelling at clouds and whatever color it ends up being, this brew is herbal, bready, full, and soft - very similar to a rustic Czech lager you'd find at a small traditional brewpub. I'm excited.
I'll be switching to the lagering section once I keg. It will probably be a boring time with no updates until I do tasting and get competition feedback. I'm planning on sending this to a comp in early Feb, so it should be soonish.
Lagering:
1/5/24 is when I dropped the yeast cone one last time and kegged. Then I put ~10psig of CO2 pressure on top to let it condition for a few weeks. I tried to make the as "authentic and natural as possible." Meaning most of the carbonation came from spunding, but obviously as a homebrewer I'm limited by tank pressure capabilities. I also avoided cold-side finings. There's absolutely nothing wrong with them, I just wanted to live the idealized Czech brewer life. So I pulled a pint or two every week or so to pull yeast off the bottom during this phase. It was all pretty cloudy to start, as you can see from the photo to the right here in one of my favorite glasses. It took some time, around 3 weeks, and a couple of pulls like this one before the yeasty character faded. I was then greated with a much clearer beer and one that tasted nothing like the "green" samples I pulled for weeks.
Tasting:
This is the beer after about 3 weeks of conditioning and sitting under a small amount of pressure, ~8psig. I didn't want this to get too highly carbonated, and I think it is hitting that sweet spot of carbonated and full without being prickly.
Visual - Just look at it! I think it looks great. It could be brighter; but with no finings AT ALL, I'm not mad. Head is nice and white, long-lasting, and dense. Color-wise I am slightly disappointed as I think it should be darker. But maybe that's just my beer nerd ideals kicking in. Otherwise, this ticks all the boxes of a decent Czech lager in terms of visuals.
Aroma - Honestly not too much aroma. I get bready malt, dough, sulfur, and the slightest bit of Saaz herbal/spicy aroma if I tell myself it's there. Honestly, there's a bit of banana character here, which I am surprised by. My fermentation seemed healthy and under control. Maybe I need to count better or learn to count higher...once I hit 650billion, I just couldn't figure out what came next. I threw in my entire starter volume, which was 3.5L. That may be what's contributing to that odd estery profile I'm getting. It fades as the beer warms, though and develops into a delicious clean lager with lots of bread and caramel notes.
Flavor - this is where the beer truly shines. Shines might be a word that I, as the creator, would like to use. It is a good beer, and it hits the bready/brioche/touch-of-caramel that I look for in a Czech lager. I just want more. I also want more Czech Saaz character. I feel like I'm mostly getting malt and yeast flavors. Nothing wrong with it, but I want to know where my 6oz of Saaz hops went...
Overall - a delightful beer. It's not going to win any awards (I'll get to that when I send it in for juding/feedback); but for my first real crack at a double decoction lager, I'm happy. It's a beer that I'm going back to instead of the other local lagers I can buy. I've officially ruined my palate for stale cans of liquid bread and am making beer that's MUCH better than I can buy. This 5-gallon batch of beer also only cost me $38.19. That's $1.01 per 0.5L! Even cheaper than drinking in Prague...but honestly not by much. But it IS a far cry from the $7 pint here in the US. Just don't look at how much I've paid for equipment. Cheers!
Competition Feedback: TBD - submitted 1/29/2024 to the Sweetheart's Revenge competition in Loveland, CO. Final judging expected late Feb.