Thought Experiment: Enhancing Malt Flavor

Thanks, VikeMan. I have been concerned about this for a long time, and have read many opinions on the issue. If it produces better beer in terms of malt flavor, then I'm all for it. I have never been able to quite get that clean malt flavor that I enjoy, and if this gets me closer, I'm willing to try it in the next brew. A little extra grain to account for the difference in efficiency should not be too costly. Do you have a ball-park estimate of about how much more grain (percentage) I should add as a starting point in my next brew?

 

Thanks!
Batch Size (gallons into fermenter): 5.1
Lbs of Grain: 10.1
Extract Efficiency: 70%
Strike Water to Grain Ratio: 1.5
Mash tun dead space: .25 Gal.
Boil off: 15%/hr
Grain Absorption: .09 gal./lb
Hop Trub loss: .46 gal
Ounces hops used: 1.4

 

Yes, it was .46 gallons - that included wort along with the trub. 1.75 liters.

 

Sorry for the late response - I was out all afternoon. That is the kettle trub only (also includes any hot break, etc., although I scoop most of it off after it begins to boil).

I'll figure out the boil off-rate and provide it shortly.

 

The actual boil-off rate for my last brew was 1.32 gallons per hour. I had to calculate it in imperial units as I record everything in metric units.

 

I better check the extraction efficiency that I provided. I might have provided brewhouse efficiency rather than mash efficiency.

 

I didn't record the SG of the pre-boil volume, but working back from the post-boil volume (I didn't add any more fermentables to the boil), my mash efficiency was likely about 72.1%.

 

Ironically, I did try to reduce the intensity of the boil, and I almost always do boil with a lid partially on. I boil in the garage with the garage door open, and it was quite humid, cold and windy that day (at freezing point). I think the wind influenced the evaporation rate. An unusually thick layer of steam arched out of the kettle directly outside, and it was almost impossible to see the surface of the wort. I used a flashlight and could see that it was not boiling too hard. The evaporation rate ended up about the same as when I brewed before, even though the intensity of the boil was reduced.I can reduce it even more next time.

 

Excellent! Thank you! I'll use that efficiency in my next brew as a starting point, and adjust later.

 

For an efficiency of 66.1% rather than 72.1%, I would only need another 0.6 lb of grain. That's much less than $1.00 of extra grain - a very inexpensive way of making a much better beer.

 

As an update, my Paulaner Premium Pils clone/taste-alike (not sure because I've never been able to find a Paulaner Premium Pils to try out) has not yet even lagered, because I need the keezer to maintain fermentation temperatures for a subsequent Paulaner Premium Pils brew (some changes). Thus it's basically remained at about 45-46 F following the diacetyl rest. But I cheated and just gave it a try. I'm excited to say that it is already by FAR the best pilsner I've made to date! It's already very clear and is also the most malt forward and best pilsner I've yet made!

Thus, anecdotally at least, I think that

1) adding a liter taken from the boil (before hops) and adding it later after the boil;
2) using some of the low oxygen procedures;

Makes a very noticeable difference to the resulting beer (thanks @the Brewery for your low oxygen suggestions!)

I will provide a further update once the pilsner has lagered for some time. I'll also compare it to the subsequent Paulaner Premium Pilsner clone/taste-alike that is currently stlll fermenting. I used low-oxygen procedures but this time did not add a litter of wort taken during the boil but before adding hops. I also used a no-sparge method.

For sure, this will definitely be my go-to recipe for Pilsners from now on!

 

Nobody asked, so I didn't provide it before, but here it is:

Paulaner Premium Pilsner (5 U.S. Gallons)

Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.009
IBU: 28
SRM 3.2
Alcohol (by volume) 5.1%

Volume

Yield (kegging volume): 18.1 liters (4.8 US Gallons)
Pre-boil volume: 28.2 liters (7.4 US Gallons)
Post-boil volume: 20.8 liters (5.5 US Gallons)
Ferment volume: 19.3 liters (5.1 US Gallons)

Grain

German Pilsner malt: 3.77 kg. (8.31 lb)
Munich Malt Light 0.45 kg. (1.00 lb)
Carafoam: 0.23 KG. (0.5 lb or 8.0 oz)
Aciduated malt: 0.11 kg. (0.25 lb or 4.0 oz)

Total amount of grain: 4.56 kg. (10.06 lb)

Hops and Other Ingredients

Magnum: 11.3 gm (bittering hop @ 13.5% AA – last 50 min.)
Halertau Tradition: 14.2 gm (flavour hop @ 5.5% AA – last 20 min.)
Spalt: 14.2 gm (flavour hop @ 3.0% AA – last 15 min.)

Irish moss: 2 tsp. (last 15 min.)

WLP830 (or Wyeast 2124)

Mash and Fermentation

Mash at 65.0 C (149 F) for 90 minutes. (Note my mash ended up at about 146 F)
Cool to 7.2 C (45 F), add yeast, let rise and ferment at 9.4 C (49.0 F) 3-4 weeks.
Do diacetyl rest at 15.6 C (60.0 F) for 2-3 days.
Then drop 3.0 F per day and finish ferment at 9.4 C (49.0 F).
Lager at 0.6 C (33 F) for at least 3 weeks.