Czech Lager Yeast Advice

Yeast choice is often a matter of personal preference. I have used WY2278 a few times in the past (4 times) and I thought those beers tasted good but I was not a fan of the beers appearance - I ended up using Isinglass to clear up a couple of those batches.

My preferred yeast for making my Bohemian Pilsners is Bohemian lager yeast (WY2124).

I recently used WLP802 (Czech Budejovice Lager Yeast) to brew a Tmavý Ležák (Czech Dark Lager). I have used this yeast for 2 previous batches of this beer style and I am happy with it; I have never used WLP802 to produce a Pale Lager.

Best of luck with your selection process here.

Cheers!

 

My best Bohemian Pilsners used Wyeast 2001. Targeted 1.5 million cells per ml per degree P.

 

Can you comment on how 2001 compares to 2124? For me I have to have a good reason not to use 2124 (or its equivalent) when making a lager. Cheers!

 

I'd say they are pretty similar. 2001 may attenuate a hair less. But I haven't A/Bd them. 2124 does have the advantage of not having been made a "-PC" strain. The main attraction/advantage for 2001 for me is that it has done very well in comps for me.

 

I like 2278, but make sure you do a good diacetyl rest.

 

2278 Is my go to choice for all my Czech Beers I find it most represents the flavors of what you drink fresh in the Czech Republic. As for 6-8 weeks I think that's overkill. If you pitch enough healthy active yeast, 4 days primary, 1 day spunding and 2 weeks in lager fridge and it's ready to drink at about week 3 it's crystal clear. What are you looking to brew exactly and what's your recipe?

 

If you're going with Wyeast, the three Czech strains they have are: 2001 (Urquel), 2124 (Bohemian) and 2278 (Czech). I've used 2278 more than fifteen times, and had great success with it. I've used 2124 three times, but found it ended up tasting a little less dry than the 2278. Thus I would mash a couple of degrees lower with 2124 than 2278. I've only used 2001 once and that was over seven years ago, too long ago to remember how it would compare with 2124 or 2278.

 

Crystal clear has nothing to do with being ready to drink, flavor determines this, at 2 weeks the fresh yeast flavor is starting to dissipate and the fresh malt and hop flavor is starting to really come in. I culture my yeast fresh from slants for every batch, I can give you an estimate of how much yeast I'm pitching, but it's just that, an estimate. I've had a microscope in my shopping cart for quite some time, but I always end up buying something else for my brewery instead. For Czech Pils add some cara malt around 5% or so depending on which one you use and move your 20 min hop addition to 30 minutes instead.

It's been quite some time for me using different yeasts, but I remember 800 taking forever for the sulfur flavor to subside, and for the life of me I can't remember 2001 even though I know I used it a few times. Another thing I've found when I first started brewing, I wanted to do nothing but recreate the likes of Pilsner Urquell and Kout 12° so I decocted time and time again and it was terrible due to how much oxidation and abuse we treat the decoctions with on such a small scale. I've found step mashing and limiting O2 exposure to be far superior to decocting. Czech beers are my desert island beer, I've traveled extensively through the Czech Republic just for beer, unless you ask my wife which in that case it was for golf or sightseeing. Both my faucets on my Kegerator are Pilsner Urquell ones and once I get another fridge I'm gonna set up my tower from them, but my Bitburger tower is too nice.

 

I consider Czech Beers a blessing and a curse, they're so easy to re-create to a better beer on the home-brew scale if you know what you're doing, the exact opposite to German beer. A curse because when you go to a lot of the breweries, pretty much everyone on the small scale they do nothing to limit their o2 exposure so they taste sweet or cloying. Every once in a while you get that perfect beer and I'm hooked again, or what we've been doing recently, just go to Plzen and stick with Pilsner Urquell. Good luck with this beer.

 

A flavorful lager yeast is best, even some German strains will work. Bavarian yeast mentioned elsewhere is an excellent choice all around.

If you don't want to spend time on a triple, look up instructions on an enhanced double - cuts the time but the mash boil is about the same.

 

Chris, can you please provide more details on the decoction process you conduct at the brewery? For example, do you have the ability to transfer the malt/wort via a slurry pump from the bottom of your mash tun to the bottom of the boiling vessel (and return the same way)? Any other details you can share would be appreciated.

Cheers!

 

Jack, We have a dedicated mash mixer and a mash kettle ( a brew kettle with a retractable low shear impeller) that we use as the decoction vessel. We can transfer mash to and from each kettle via a mash pump for multiple decoctions (I brewed a triple decocted beer today). We also have a separate lauter tun, so three vessel brewhouse in all.

We have used a number of different mash schedules depending on the beer style, grain and desired outcome. Single, double, enhanced double (Narziss schedule), triple decoctions are all used, and for our Czech pilsners usually a Hochkurz double decoction (2 temperature saccharification rest, but I always skip the protein rest and sub that for a mash out decoction).

 

Have your conducted a decoction mash as a homebrewer?

Below is a video of Kai Troester conducting a decoction mash on a homebrew ‘system’. There is fair a bit of splashing around. Is this a potential issue to your mind?

I personally do not know any homebrewer who has the ‘technology’ to conduct a bottom to bottom transfer of malt/wort via a slurry pump.

Cheers!

 

I chased decoction mashing every possible way I could come up with on the home-brew scale and you're not gonna avoid the oxidation of the mash. Then I started getting educated with professional brewing text and came upon an interesting bit of info in Kunze about Decoction mashing, stating new research done on quality and flavor of beer produced using decoction or step mashing does not differ. This was posted in Brauwelt in 2005. If there's any doubt about oxidation in the mash, Chapter 3 of Kunze will dispel all disbelief. And like I had stated earlier a step mash with o2 limitation will yield far superior results than a decocted beer, and I say this with a heavy heart cause I've spent so much time chasing the true flavor of the beer you get in the Czech Republic.

 

I've never really homebrewed so I don't have much input on that scale. But in terms of DO (from you and wasatchback's questions) it is a large concern. We employ multiple methods to reduce hot side DO, and the simplest I would assume on the home brew scale is antioxidant (this does boil off, do multiple additions may be required).

Also, to paulaner's points, we brew non-decocted lagers as well, and our Helles Spezial employs low-DO brewing in a step infusion to mitigate any influence of DO on the beer. The result? It's not "superior", it's simply different. I would never decoct a helles, as that process / malt influence is not the goal, and I always decoct our Czech pilsners, because we have done them with out decoction and they simply lack the depth of character we require.

The decocted vs non-decocted debate is never going away, but we have done three years of trials and we know where we stand. Others may not want that character, or have different goals. I respect all opinions and everyone can learn from the discussion.

 

Ruh roh. We have a brewing professional saying that HSA is a thing. Some heads might implode.