Finally brewed that lager

[Owenbräu]

Good deal

[Bryan R]

Nice work, Brody.

[Weizenberg]

Looks great (the bread as well). What did you end up doing?

[Brody]

The Grist: 83% Weyerman Pils, 11% Flaked Barley (Chit Sub, for body), 3% Weyerman Carahell, 3% Weyerman Acidulated

Water: Ca 67, Mg 4, Na 13, S04 94, Cl 64 (Blend of tap water treated with Campden and Distilled, Gypsum and CaCl added)

Hops: 60: 30ibus from hop shot, 30m: 5.2ibus Saaz, 10m: 2.4ibus Saaz

The Mash: No Sparge. 30m at 145f, 60m at 160f, 10m at 170f - 5.4 pH, ~100% conversion efficiency
Boiled for an hour, 12% boiloff rate - ending pH of 5.1

Fermentation: Yeast: 'Czechvar' yeast from a local brewpub (Wyeast 2000 I believe). 75% EVG was hit (a bit low, probably from short Beta rest). Fermented in a Corny Keg in a chest freezer. Pitched at 50f, Skimmed Krausen after a couple days, upon 50% EVG I raised temp to 68f until finished/clean. Slowly dropped temp until 30f where it sat for a week or so before transferring to a serving keg.

Final beer came in at 1.012, 5.3 pH, carbed to 2.5 volumes C02

Things I want to change: 60/60/10 for mash schedule. Try Carafoam instead of Flaked Barley. Remove more cold break before pitching. Maybe experiment with some Vienna malt in the mix.

[Kit_B]

I think you'll like the carafoam, instead of flaked barley.
I definitely prefer it.

[Beersk]

[Brody]

Haha, yea definitely 4.3... typo. 5.4 mash, 5.1 end of boil, 4.3 final.

Weyerman Carafoam's on deck for me. I'm a big fan of awesome foam and body so figured I'd try out FB, Carafoam, and Chit to see what I like.

[Bryan R]

4.2 would crisp it up a little bit, but I wouldn't do anything about it post ferm. I just about only use Cara5 now, unless I really want to work some malts with decoction, then I add chit.

[Brody]

I did debate on adding a tiny bit of 88% lactic but didn't. Sounds like 4.2 is about normal for German Pils and more like 4.0 for American adjunct lagers.

Assuming my knockout pH was solid I would need the yeast to do a bit more work... a bit more EVG and a bit more pH drop.

On the fermentation side, I pitched 150ml of slurry targeting ~300billion cells. Held at 50f until 50% EVG then let it rise to 68f. Could maybe do a vitality starter or pitch more cells. Or maybe making a more fermentable wort (60/60 mash) will do the trick.

[Bryan R]

Report back after the 60/60. Mash pH is going to also influence the beer. The lower the beta pH the more attenuation will go...But be very careful its a slippery slope of Attenuation and lifeless beers. That said I will take the EVG hit to get the body right, for me that is 5.4pH.