German Brewing

I took a day off today and finally brewed the lager I've been planning since joining on here! I ended up going the Pils route for round 1, here's a few notes -

I targeted 90 S04, 60 Chloride, 60 Calcium (from a pils water profile Kai posted) by blending my campden treated tap water with distilled and adding some Gypsum.

Ended up going with Saaz (.5oz at 30m and 10m) after my LHBS only had generic Hallertauer (was planning on Mittelfruh). I bought Magnum to bitter with but ended up using the Hop Extract I had leftover. (Inspiration for that was seeing it listed as an ingredient on a couple of German Pils I picked up and Kai mentioning it as a good idea). Think next time I'll use a noble hop and split 60m with FWH.

I pitched 150ml of 'Czechvar' yeast from a local brewpub at 50f. And aerated after the pitch (previously I've let it splash around before I fully cool). Also have my first FFT cooking away (800ml wort with ~50ml yeast @ 68f). Open to suggestion on fermentation schedule but my default is to leave it at 50f for a week or 2, let it rise to 68f (room temp) for a few days, then crash it down to 30f for lagering.

Performed my first step mash going with a Hockhurz - 146f for 30m, 10m rise to 160f for 60m, 5m rise to 170f for 10m. I dunno if it was the mash but I hit higher efficiency than usual.

Boil-off was around 12%. Mash pH was 5.4, post-boil was down to 5.1 (maybe a little low?). Never needed lactic acid (dilution, Acidulated malt, and Gypsum brought it down enough).

I left almost a gallon of trub/break/hop material in the kettle when I racked into my corny for fermentation. I was debating on racking off the settled trub after cooling to pitch temp but didn't. Keep reading conflicting stuff on wether or not it's good to leave it all behind.

All in all a smooth brewday and I was happy with the taste of the wort and efficiency boost. I know I didn't cover everything but, as always, if you see any big errors let me know. I've really been enjoying this forum and learning from you guys.

Congratulations!

Nice work!
The only thing I can see glaring is the late hop addition. I would prefer to add my aroma hops FWH, you can certainly taste those late hops( and not for the good) when added late. I would say no hops after 60 .

The eff% boost was most certainly the step mash. You are converting with the enzymes in there prime environments, and not trying to shoot the gap as it where. Welcome to the world of bone dry beers with body and head retention for days. I'm not sure why that is so hard for the general populous to correlate.

Now the hard part.. waiting

Hop schedule I took from some Kai slides (outlined Helles, Pils, Dort IIRC) - funny you mentioned the additions may be too late since I was afraid I was erring on the other side. Probably since I'm used to brewing aggressively dry/steep hopped APAs with 8oz of hops in 5gallons. Really is a shift in mentality brewing light lagers. Anyway, think I'm gonna experiment more with FWH/60 additions as well as different late hopping to see what I like best.

Honestly, I'm surprised how easy the step mash was. A lot of the conversation around it centers around how it's not worth the extra effort, but in reality there was very little extra work involved (besides it taking ~2hrs). And it was kind of fun.

Quick aside - do you need a special kettle to decoct? Or would using my old 8gallon stainless kettle on the stove (supplementing a boilermaker on propane) do the trick?

You don't need a special kettle to decoct, although one with a thick bottom can be preferable as helps to avoid scorching. As you'll be doing a lot of stirring a step stool may give you some needed leverage.

I think we are debating two different issues. I edited to clarify the previous post.

Sugar is a very broad word, and does not imply only fermentable sugar. Maybe we should be saying saccharides instead.

Does temperature affect the composition of the wort? Yes

Do the types of saccharides present in the wort affect the fermentability, attenuation, mouthfeel, etc? Yes

Do the types of saccharides present in the wort affect the hydrometer reading? No

Mashing at 170F won't produce much/any fermentable sugars (e.g., glucose or maltose), but your hydrometer reading will be just fine. All saccharides and starches are measured as total dissolved solids in the hydrometer reading.

The point being, his efficiency (not fermentability) increase is bc of increased extraction due to a longer and warmer mash than when he single infused, not bc of which saccharification enzyme was optimized.

Which would yield a higher gravity, a 45 min hochurz step mash or a 90 min single infusion at 154F?

I guess I wasn't trying to go on a sugar diatribe, I was just keeping it at the 50,000ft level.

Appreciate the info and feedback. Yea, I wouldn't doubt that the mash length played a good part in the increased sugars. But as time seems to be a big differential from step-mashes/decoctions vs single infusion (since no ever suggests you single infusion for 2 hours) I give that credit to the step mash regime.

Steve - Ah, forgot to mention Grain bill that's the controversial part. That was 84% Weyerman Pilsner, 10% Flaked Barley, 3% Weyerman Carahell, and 3% Weyerman acidulated malt for pH.

I know since flaked barley is unmalted it's never used in German beers (some say it's effect is similar to Chit but I'm sure the light malting will add some difference) so I don't have high expectations but I really want to use it as a baseline to compare to Chit (when I can get my hands on it). So basically my plan is to brew the same batch with FB, then Carafoam, again with Chit, and finally just 94% Pils to get a better understanding of the effects on flavor, body, and head. Wish I had the time and equipment to do all 4 side by side.