Crispy Pilsen

Esteban, to my mind “crispy Pilsner” equates to a Northern German Pilsner.

I would recommend that you read this article: https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/1183-northern-german-pils-style-profile

You specifically asked about decoction mashing which can be a very controversial topic. From the above linked article:

“Other brewers, however, believe that a multi-step infusion mash of well modified malt is perfectly adequate for all traditionally decocted brews (as long as they do not contain adjuncts) and that this is more valid for a Pils, which is straw-blond rather than golden-blond and relies less on maltiness than hoppiness for its signature flavor. Tastes are obviously subjective and we live in a free country, so decoct your Pils if you want to!”

Feel free to conduct a decoction but for well modified malt there is an argument that decoction is not required.

“I am thinking to mash a bit low, say 148 F - 146 F but I have no experience doing this,..” I have not mashed at 146°F but I did mash at 150°F a couple of years ago when making a Kolsch using German Pilsner malt. I made a decision to mash for 90 minutes to ensure good conversion. I achieved an efficiency of 75% (which is typical for my homebrewery) and the resulting wort was very fermentable: OG = 1.050 and FG = 1.009 for an Apparent Attenuation of 82%.

My mash thickness for the above Kolsch was 1.8 quarts/lb. and I conducted a single infusion mash.

Good luck with your “crispy Pilsner”!

Cheers!

Jack

 

You can also do a step mash. First step at 144-145F for 45 min to an hour, then second step at 157-158F for 45 minutes or so, then mash out at 168F. This spends time in the Beta and Alpha optimum ranges, similar to the decoction.

If you do a German Pilsner, those have some SO4 which aids in the crisp dry character, target the 70 - 90 ppm range for the SO4 while keeping the Cl lower.

 

You can avoid the protein rest 113 to 133 F and go right to the Beta. The long rest at 158 will help mouthfeel and head retention.