Look What Came In the Mail!

Last week I got a delivery from thebookdepository.co.uk that is already proving to be a very good tool for helping me on this journey.




Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. Wow.

The first half of this book talks a lot about intermediate and advanced areas of all-grain and extract brewing that I feel don't get enough attention in other books. Things like water chemistry, how SRM and EBC are calculated, the history of a lot of techniques and science behind those sorts of things, as well as yeast, hop utilization, and others. Some things he doesn't go into much detail on, but I like that he gives you an idea of what ELSE can go into producing flavors and colors in the beer you make.

The second half of this book, which I have yet to get into, covers something like 14 different styles and goes quite into depth on how to design a beer to fit this style. I am thinking this book will become my bible over the months/years I am on this journey. I am quite excited to finish up part one and move onto reading about how to make a German Pils. I may have to buy another example of the style soon. That König was too good.

König Pilsener

Last night had my first example of the German Pils style, as sighted by the Guide.

This beer is very good. I'm not usually into the pilsner style, but I think part of that is that I haven't actually explored many beers of this style. Short of James Squire's Pilsner and the watery american lager labeled as 'pilsner' I can't say I know much about them.

Needless to say this beer was surprisingly great.

I'm still working on figuring out aromas. I honestly don't know how people get what they do from those smells, but I guess it requires training and practice, but I definitely smelled some fruity-ness from the hops.

For me two things immediately stood out as a I tasted this beer.

1) So much balance between hops and malt.

2) More bitter than I would have expected, all the way through, but surprisingly delicious!

This is an 'adult' beer. That is, the flavours are all well-balanced and very subtle. Nothing to smack you in the face. The bitterness is strong throughout and the finish is quite dry. I really like it and will be keeping an eye out for it from now on in bars!

If I can brew something as delicious as this for summer time, consider me hooked!

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German Pils Profile:

IBUs: 25 – 45 SRM: 2 – 5
OG: 1.044 – 1.050 FG: 1.008 – 1.013
ABV: 4.4 – 5.2%

I would say that this pils is on the higher side of the IBUs, probably in the 30s somewhere. The colour is of course a very pale straw yellow. I know I will have a difficult time replicating the colour and clarity of this beer simply because I'm using BIAB. The final gravity is quite low as well. I have only been able to achieve this once and that was through an unusually low mashing temperature. I imagine that this will be similar.

German Pilsner (Pils)

The first beer type I've decided to go for is a German Pilsner. Quite simply, it's a wonderfully drinkable style of beer. Categorised by a crisp and dry flavour with a substantial amount of hop bitterness.

Here's what the BJCP Style Guide has to say:

Aroma: Typically features a light grainy Pils malt character (sometimes Graham cracker-like) and distinctive flowery or spicy noble hops. Clean, no fruity esters, no diacetyl. May have an initial sulfury aroma (from water and/or yeast) and a low background note of DMS (from Pils malt).

Appearance: Straw to light gold, brilliant to very clear, with a creamy, long-lasting white head.

Flavor: Crisp and bitter, with a dry to medium-dry finish. Moderate to moderately-low yet well attenuated maltiness, although some grainy flavors and slight Pils malt sweetness are acceptable. Hop bitterness dominates taste and continues through the finish and lingers into the aftertaste. Hop flavor can range from low to high but should only be derived from German noble hops. Clean, no fruity esters, no diacetyl. Mouthfeel: Medium-light body, medium to high carbonation. Overall Impression: Crisp, clean, refreshing beer that promi- nently features noble German hop bitterness accentuated by sulfates in the water.

History: A copy of Bohemian Pilsener adapted to brewing conditions in Germany.
Comments: Drier and crisper than a Bohemian Pilsener with a bitterness that tends to linger more in the aftertaste due to higher attenuation and higher-sulfate water. Lighter in body and color, and with higher carbonation than a Bohemian Pil- sener. Modern examples of German Pilsners tend to become paler in color, drier in finish, and more bitter as you move from South to North in Germany.

Ingredients: Pilsner malt, German hop varieties (especially noble varieties such as Hallertauer, Tettnanger and Spalt for taste and aroma), medium sulfate water, German lager yeast.

Commercial Examples: DAB Export, Dortmunder Union Ex- port, Dortmunder Kronen, Ayinger Jahrhundert, Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold, Barrel House Duveneck’s Dortmunder, Bell’s Lager, Dominion Lager, Gordon Biersch Golden Export, Flensburger Gold

Vital Statistics:
IBUs: 25 – 45 SRM: 2 – 5
OG: 1.044 – 1.050 FG: 1.008 – 1.013
ABV: 4.4 – 5.2%
3 BJCP Style Guidelines — 2008 Edition

Commercial Examples: Victory Prima Pils, Bitburger, Warstei- ner, Trumer Pils, Old Dominion Tupper’s Hop Pocket Pils, König Pilsener, Jever Pils, Left Hand Polestar Pilsner, Holsten Pils, Spaten Pils, Brooklyn Pilsner

Preperation

Once I had made up my mind on starting this project, the first thing I needed to do was familiarise myself with the BJCP Style Guide.

Here is a link to the full PDF version of the 2008 Style Guide, which is the latest version:

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2008_stylebook.pdf

Wow. 73 pages. There's no way that I have time to sit down and read this from start to finish. In addition, I don't think that if I read it that way I would necessarily digest much.

Thanks to modern technology I have been able to get a copy of the guide on my phone.

This app has been great. I have basically spent most mornings on the way to work reading the guide slowly. It's relaxed and it's also an easy way to digest little chunks at a time.

About This Blog

I have been home brewing for about two years now, and having finally purchased a fridge and temperature control unit, decided it was time to truly get into brewing different styles. I have been doing all-grain brewing for some time as well now (about a year) and am finally comfortable enough with the process to begin focusing on brewing different styles of beers.

Why the BJCP? To better answer that question the first thing should be to define what the BJCP is.

The BJCP, according to their website is an organisation that is here "... to promote beer literacy and the appreciation of real beer, and to recognize beer tasting and evaluation skills."

In order to further my own skills as a home brewer, beer taster, evaluator and to further increase my appreciation for all things beer, I decided the best way to go about this was to follow the BJCP Style Guide beer-by-beer. To read up on what goes into each type of brew, evaluate existing beers cited as examples, concoct my own recipes and create brews based on what the BJCP Style Guide says they should be.