Pilsner malt in a pale ale

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by JuliusPepperwood, Oct 13, 2015.

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  1. JuliusPepperwood

    JuliusPepperwood Initiate (0) Jul 21, 2013 North Carolina

    I've tried many but am just not a traditional pilsner fan. But I had an outstanding pale ale today and I was trying to figure out some of the malt flavors. Oddly enough I thought I tasted that familiar crisp pilsner flavor. But it was subtle and worked perfectly with the hop profile so I really enjoyed it.

    I'm only 1 year into all grain brewing so my question is can you use pilsner as your base malt and add enough specialty grains and hops to make it still taste and feel like a pale ale? Or can you use a smaller percentage of pilsner as a specialty grain and still have it present in the flavor?
     
  2. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    Yes, you can. Not all pilsner malts taste the same.

    I use 80-90% Breiss Pilsner for pale ales and IPAs often. The rest of the malt bill could contain 10-15% Vienna, Wheat or Munich and typically less than 7% specialty malt.

    The end result has hints of macro swill pilsner beer in terms of malt, but not enough to be a problem.
     
  3. scottakelly

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

    Look up Avangard Pilsner malt. Works well in an IPA.
     
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  4. mikehartigan

    mikehartigan Maven (1,421) Apr 9, 2007 Illinois

    I fell in love with Pilsner Malt a few years ago and never looked back. I had an abso-freaking-lutely exquisite Czech Pilsner at a local brew pub and just couldn't get that wonderful flavor out of my head. I now use it as 100% of the base in most of my beers, IPA included. I may cut it with plain 2-row from time to time but, more often than not, it's all by itself. My Cream Ale is all Pilsner - I even cut out the corn (I suppose I should stop calling it a Cream Ale). FWIW, I use German Pilsner, which is not quite as 'pilsner-ey' as Belgian. It's also cheaper - only marginally more expensive than 2-row.
     
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  5. JackHorzempa

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

    Mike, which German Malting Company do you use? Why are you of the opinion that Belgian Pilsner Malt is more 'pilsner-ey'? Which Belgian Malting Company is your 'baseline' here?

    Cheers!
     
  6. pweis909

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

    Lovely idea. I made a very nice citra-centennial IPA with 65% Belgian pils. Also had a 12% munich, some extract. and crystal alt. Most likely was Dingemans malt
     
  7. mikehartigan

    mikehartigan Maven (1,421) Apr 9, 2007 Illinois

    I've been happy with 'Avangard Malz' from my LHBS. It's distributed in the US by LD Carlson. I'm comparing it with Dingeman's Belgian which he also carries. If I was brewing a straight Pilsner, I'd probably favor Dingeman's, which has what I perceive to be a more classic Pilsner flavor profile. That might fight for attention in a hop or yeast forward beer, so I use the more subtle Avangard.
     
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  8. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I also use pils as my base malt in almost all my beers. I get castle belgian pils from my lhbs. I use it for everything but my stouts, the MO steps in. I do like the flavor it brings. Nothing says beer to me like pils.
     
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  9. koopa

    koopa Initiate (0) Apr 20, 2008 New Jersey

    My personal preference is pilsner malt for IPA's and something along the lines of golden promise for pale ales. I have done a 50/50 split of those two (as well as a 50/50 split of maris otter and golden promise) for pale ales with great success in the past as well.
     
  10. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    Optic has some light pilsner flavor and aroma that I find to be pleasant.
     
  11. Soneast

    Soneast Pooh-Bah (1,751) May 9, 2008 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I also use pilsner malt in most of my APAs/IPAs, though never 100% pilsner yet. Like others, I've found it adds a crisp "lightness" that helps accentuate the hops, helps me get a touch more attenuation, for whatever reason, and I personally like that "beery" (for lack of a better term) flavor it adds to my beer. I typically use Best Malz or Weyermann just because that's what my LHBS carries, though after reading this thread I'm thinking I may need to try some other maltsters.
     
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