Help with using Pilsen as a base malt.

A few things...
this is going to get moved to the homebrew forums.
Also, I use pilsner malt as a base for all my ipas. It works great, and a touch of vienna or munich along with some wheat is all the specialty malts I use. It gives you a full malt backbone without the sweetness of crystal malts.
I think your recipe is fine. Keep it simple!

 

I use Pilsner malt alone and with other base malts. It. Works well, but does taste different than standard base malt. Give it a shot and report back.

Good luck

 

In fact, Pilsner malt is a 2-Row malt. It's made from a 2-Row barley grown in Europe, and is less highly kilned (and thus lighter in both color and kiln derived flavors) than the malt generally sold as "Two Row" in the U.S. (aka North American Two-Row, Plain Two-Row).

You can, as @SFACRKnight mentioned, add some Vienna or Munich for color and flavor, to simulate having started with a slightly darker base malt in the first place. Vienna and Munich are more highly kilned than Pilsner or Plain Two-Row. They also happen to be (generally) made from the same barley(s) as Pilsner malt.

 

In addition to the sound advice already offered, my suggestion is to review your overall bitterness. My guess is you are pushing an IBU level of 70'ish . . . IMO, this is way too high for a moderate ABV/sessionable beer. What you are shooting for is overall balance between IBU, body, alcohol, malt/hop presence. Simply scaling back one variable (in this case ABV) may leave the balance a little tilted. Personal preference is important here, there isn't a single best answer. After repeated brews I find it's possible to hit the sweet spot. Keep good notes, build on the results.

 

My yellow rose clone recipe is very similar. Mosaic is a great hop for SMaSH. You’re gonna love this beer!

 

As a side note not all pilsner malt is lower in lovibond than all two row.

 

Looks fine. If you wish to add something else. Only use a small percentage to brighten the corners with. I might adjust the 60 minute addition down. But I don't know what sort of bitterness you are looking for, nor what IBU's the original has.

 

If the standard Tinseth formula is saying 80 IBUs, have no fear...that will be over-estimated. The Tinseth model isn't very good above about 65 IBUs. It's the reason I included an extra Modified Tinseth model in BrewCipher, that adjusts (flattens) the utilization curve above 65.

I have done a 100% Munich (9L) SMaSH session IPA (or hoppy amber really) and it was not too much for my palate. But as a starting point...I dunno, maybe 10%-15% would be reasonable.

ETA: The advice above is general. I know nothing about Yellow Rose. For that specifically, maybe try whatever % of Munich gets you to whatever SRM (color) your target beer is. Of course color and flavor aren't exactly the same thing here, but that might be good for a first whack at it.

 

You can do much worse than using Belgian Pils for a base malt. In fact, more brewers should be using Euro pils as the base malt. And please, do as you like but you really don't even need a specialty malt to make a great beer.

So let us concentrate on the hop schedule. Get the IBUs where you like it and I think you may find a winning recipe that can serve you well for the next decade or so. That is my 2 cents anyway.

As for thehead retention, if you brew it right, head retention is natural. Wheat is great but it's not something you need for body or head retention with all grain. My rule is that if it's not needed to develop the beer it's not needed at all, and just gets in the way of everything else. Too many additions detract from the best parts.
Cheers.

 

I would leave it alone. Brew it as it sits and decide if it's what you want in the end. You can tweak it from there.