Mini-mash Grand Bohemian Czech Pilsner

[Jon]

I'm mini-mashing 1 lb of malt (I seriously don't know what malt it is...it's just in a sack. Probably Pale Ale malt, but could be just 2-row...but it's something relatively pale...I don't THINK it's Munich, but I could be wrong) in a little more than a half gallon of RO water. Maybe not ideal, but a lot better than my tap water is, that's for sure! Temps haven't been too controlled, but that's ok...starches are getting converted to sugars!

It's almost done, then I'll bring it to a boil for a few minutes, cut the heat and add the GBCP can of malt.

I'll add it to 1 gallon of chilled RO water in the LBK, then top up with more chilled RO water.

I'll then pitch a pack of rehydrated W-34/70 and ferment it around 60* or so (along with my next batch of stupid easy cider).

I haven't decided if I want to add a little sugar to dry it out and bump up the ABV...but since it's just a Mr. Beer-sized batch, I'm more likely to experiment than not.

I thought about adding hops, but since I'm using a lager yeast, I thought I'd go for clean and crisp (actually kinda trying to go for the style of the refill), and might just add 8 oz of sugar to dry out the finish a little bit.

This batch will definitely end up getting bottled, but I do plan to get my kegerator back up and running in the not tooo distant future (using the move as an excuse to replace all the shanks and taps with stainless hardware)...my stupid easy cider should be the next batch kegged.

I expect this batch, fermented around 60* in my wine fridge (with expired lager yeast) to actually be an ok representation of the style. It won't be perfect (honestly, I blame LME), but it should be drinkable...which, ok...technically my last batch was because I did actually drink it, but it was rough.

Like earthquake high gravity lager rough...and not 10% abv. *shudder*

[The_Professor]

...I did actually drink it, but it was rough.

Like earthquake high gravity lager rough...and not 10% abv. *shudder*

As a variation of "is it bigger than a bread box", was it better than a 40 of OE?

[Jon]

Well, this is in the fermentor. However, I was not able to fit the Mr. Beer fermentor into the wine fridge with the bucket I've got some stupid easy cider fermenting in.

It's a big bucket, and I don't have most of the shelves for my wine fridge (I can only hope they're in storage somewhere), so I've got some cardboard on top of the uneven bottom basket of my wine fridge, and my giant bucket (probably 7 gallons?) with 4 gallons of cider on top of that.

I thought I'd be able to fit a Mr. Beer fermentor on top of the bucket, but alas...I was wrong.

So this beer is currently sitting in the bathtub in a shallow icewater bath, with a wet towel draped over it.

This should keep temps under control until Thorn gets home from her business trip...tomorrow night.

Temps in the apartment are around 75-80*, so that's not ideal for what I'm going for with this beer. But, it might be ok for the batch of stupid easy cider--especially after it's had a few days at lower temps to get fermentation started.

So, I think I'll keep doing the bathtub icebath until I go to work tomorrow. When I get home, I'll pull the cider out of the wine fridge and put the Mr. Beer Fermentor into it (leaving the tub empty of fermentors--I know, it sounds crazy). Thorn gets back late tomorrow night, sooo, all should be well with the bathroom and the fermenting beer by the time she gets back!

And the stupid easy cider should be just fine fermenting at 75-80*...backsweetening really makes things so much better!

[MadBrewer]

Hope it turns out better than the last batch Jon. Sometimes, just gotta do what you gotta do.

[mashani]

Jon, you can make damn good Belgians and Saisons with those temps. Just sayin. That's how I roll in the summer.

[Jon]

...I did actually drink it, but it was rough.

Like earthquake high gravity lager rough...and not 10% abv. *shudder*

As a variation of "is it bigger than a bread box", was it better than a 40 of OE?

No.

[Jon]

Jon, you can make damn good Belgians and Saisons with those temps. Just sayin. That's how I roll in the summer.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Also hefes...but I just pulled the cider out of the wine fridge and put the Mr. Beer fermentor in there.

I hope to brew up an AG batch on the grainfather this month. It's been too long!

I also need to get my kegerator back up and running, which mostly just means cleaning it out, ordering SS shanks and taps--I had chrome ones before, and they eventually corrode, so I decided the move was a good excuse to refurbish my kegerator with new taps, shanks and tubing.

Anyway, this batch should turn out just fine...a full pack of rehydrated, expired W-34/70 and 55-60* ambient temps should make it come out as a nice lager.

I might even add a little sugar to dry it out a bit, so I can have a nice, crisp lager to enjoy. Just...not so much as in the last batch.

[Jon]

I did add a *tiny* bit of sugar to this one during fermentation to help dry it out a smidge. Last week I turned the wine fridge down to 45*, and since I need the wine fridge to ferment the AG batch I'm brewing today, I moved it to the regular fridge to cold crash. I'll probably bottle it up tomorrow, let it carb up for a couple-three weeks, then fridge it.

I expect I'll probably start drinking this one as soon as it's cold...at the very least, I'll try a taster at that point.

It should be a decent lager, between the mini-mash and the actual lager yeast at lager temps, so I'm looking forward to it.

[Jon]

I did add a *tiny* bit of sugar to this one during fermentation to help dry it out a smidge. Last week I turned the wine fridge down to 45*, and since I need the wine fridge to ferment the AG batch I'm brewing today, I moved it to the regular fridge to cold crash. I'll probably bottle it up tomorrow, let it carb up for a couple-three weeks, then fridge it.

I expect I'll probably start drinking this one as soon as it's cold...at the very least, I'll try a taster at that point.

It should be a decent lager, between the mini-mash and the actual lager yeast at lager temps, so I'm looking forward to it.

Well this one actually got two and a half weeks lagering in the regular fridge before I finally got around to bottling it today.

I got 22 12 oz bottles, and a small taster.

The taster was a little fruity, but that could be due to the fact that the poor yeasties were expired and so it may have been an underpitch. I did my best to treat them right, though.

Other than the up-front fruitiness, there was some nice lager character in the finish, and the beer was crystal clear. They're now in a box to carb up for 3+ weeks, when they'll finally be chilled down for drinking in either the kegerator or the regular fridge (basically wherever there's room). I don't think the lagering should have been too long to make the beer have trouble carbing, but I've had it happen when bottle carbing a lager in the past, so we'll see how it goes.

I didn't delabel the bottles (just high pressure rinse with the bottle washer and starsan to sanitize), so I just need to remember the black caps = homebrew, and NOT what it says on the bottles!

[Jon]

Tried a taster yesterday--nope, not fully carbed up yet! Not the first time I've had this happen with a bottle conditioned lager with a long lagering...though they always carb up, eventually.

I'm going to put the 22 remaining bottles in a corner somewhere and try and forget about them for a few months, so they can be fully carbed up before I try another one.

So maybe they'll be ready in the fall?