English Pilsner

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by scottakelly, Jul 23, 2017.

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  1. scottakelly

    scottakelly Maven (1,487) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    I'm thinking about doing an English Pilsner for my next brew day. Lager yeast, of course, but I am planning on using maris otter for 1/3 of the grist (the remainder being pilsner malt) and solely using EKG hops targeting a fairly high 45 IBU.

    This is a new one for me, and I have read prior posts from some BAs using UK malts in light lagers, but I have never heard of anyone using UK hops, especially EKG. I'm wondering if anyone has tried anything similar, and can add their opinions on what UK malts and hops add to a pilsner? Personally, I love EKGs, and in my mind at least they sound like a great pilsner hop.
     
    #1 scottakelly, Jul 23, 2017
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  2. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    Yeah, sounds super. I used all marris otter for base malt in the 2 lagers ans perle in one and the other citra. ,let us know how it turns out.
     
    #2 GormBrewhouse, Jul 23, 2017
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  3. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I have no experience here but the thought that occurred to me is that with that grain bill and EKG hops the 'idea' of Bohemian Pilsner popped into my mind.

    Cheers!
     
    #3 JackHorzempa, Jul 23, 2017
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  4. Hanglow

    Hanglow Pooh-Bah (2,051) Feb 18, 2012 Scotland
    Pooh-Bah

    I think it should work well

    Have you considered using just extra pale MO for the whole of the base? It's a nice malt in pale ales at least. Or a uk lager malt, it's a bit different to continental malt

    I'd like more breweries here to use those sort of hops in their lagers, they often use uk base malt but then stick to german/slovenian/us hops . I can't think of any other than a few one offs that use english hops.
     
    #4 Hanglow, Jul 23, 2017
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  5. Supergenious

    Supergenious Maven (1,273) May 9, 2011 Michigan

    Sounds tasty. I've actually been thinking of trying something like that too. Pilsner, hadn't occurred to me though, instead I was going to use MO or GP with EKG and of course a lager yeast. Too bad there is no English lager strain, to make it all English. Or is there?
     
    #5 Supergenious, Jul 23, 2017
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  6. Mohican88

    Mohican88 Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2010 Ohio

    This sounds like a very nice hybrid session beer. I recently did a SMASH with EKG and Gleneagles MO to get a feel for that malt since it was new to me. I should have made it with WLP830 or 833, I believe I'd have enjoyed it more than I did with WLP013.
     
    #6 Mohican88, Jul 23, 2017
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  7. scottakelly

    scottakelly Maven (1,487) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    My thought process behind using only 1/3 maris otter is two-fold...

    1) That's what I have on hand;

    2) I really want to pick up on EKG as a pilsner hop, which will be easier to do with a more traditional grain bill.

    If I like the results, the next likley version will be all UK malts, maybe Golden Promise, and all EKG hops. @Supergenious if you find a UK lager strain, let me know.
     
    #7 scottakelly, Jul 23, 2017
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  8. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    Out of curiosity, what are some of the indigenous lagers of the British Isles and which are popular? Off the top of my head I can think of Harp and Tennents. Is there anything particular about these lagers that makes them different (OK -- subtly different) from Continental lagers? Are we talking substyle? I'm sure I had Harp somewhere or other but I don't think I ever had Tennents (or others). This might not really be what @scottakelly is going for, but the question came to mind. After all, the US tried to mimic continental lagers and got credited for creating a substyle (albeit, one that some would argue is inferior).
     
    #8 pweis909, Jul 23, 2017
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  9. scottakelly

    scottakelly Maven (1,487) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    I'll be interested to hear the response, @pweis909 . I have had Harps a long time ago, but too long ago to comment. Years ago I had Tennents on draft and about a year ago I had a pretty fresh bottle of Sam Smith's Organic Lager. I recall Tennents being good but nothing outstanding. Sam Smith's was very good but my recollection was that the beer was not too much different than a German helles or pils. A little bit more malt profile than a Helles or Pils. Hopping pretty similar to a Helles.
     
    #9 scottakelly, Jul 24, 2017
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  10. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I forgot about Samuel Smiths's Organic Lager -I recall liking that.
     
    #10 pweis909, Jul 24, 2017
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  11. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Not really a pilsner, but...
    Since you can do a split batch between a lager yeast and a saison yeast and have a respectable version of both so...
    I've done a lower alcohol SMASH saison with all Fawcett's Golden Promise (my standard base) and Fuggles, and it was probably my favorite straight-forward saison to date. The Fuggles worked well with the yeast, but if I were to do a Pils, EKG would be the way to go (less earthy, more floral). I think the pils style for competition is one thing, but for home consumption/experimentation there are a lot of nuances to explore.

    I'm a big fan of Mike Dawson's theory that a session IPA is a pilsner using all the wrong ingredients FWIW. You can also look towards all the IPLs out there as influence. They're just using new world hops in place of Saaz/Hallertaurer.
     
    #11 MrOH, Jul 24, 2017
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  12. EvenMoreJesus

    EvenMoreJesus Initiate (0) Jun 8, 2017 Pennsylvania

    Never heard of anyone using EKGs, but since Styrian Goldings are basically Fuggles, there's plenty of evidence that they work well in lagers.

    Would be anxious to hear how your project turns out. FWIW, I did sort of the opposite type of project a while back. Made an English Bitter with Pils malt and Noble hops.
     
    #12 EvenMoreJesus, Jul 24, 2017
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