Well, it turns out that we’ve been a bit busy here in the Brewhouse. We’ve had colds, coughs ,toothaches and more. But I have finally managed to find some time to tell you about Derek, the first Pilsner.
In the beginning, as you are aware, there was the Blackrock kit. Then there was the Czech Pilsner kit improver, and the light liquid malt. There was some boiling, some stirring, and finally, some Saflager yeast – a cold temperature yeast, fermenting at about 9-15°C.
We popped young Derek out on the back porch for a few weeks, making good use of The Basin winter.
After some confusion about the fermentation period, which was easily solved by a quick call to the good chaps at The Brewers’ Den, we kept a close watch on the gravity, and waited.
Saturday was the third day that the gravity had stayed on 1015. We made good use of the Hardman’s afternoon nap, and got bottling.
There’s not a great deal to say about the bottling – we had some pre-cleaned bottles that I sanitized, then Kymbo added a little sugar to each one for the secondary ferment. Then we filled them with amber goodness.
The estimated alcohol/volume ratio will be about 5.25%. The pilsner was looking very appealing when I did the final gravity check – clear and golden, with a hint of bubbles. The taste was delightful, quite smooth and mild, with a nice bitterness on the middle of the tongue. We’re looking forward to this one.
It should be ready for a first trial at the start of July, but is bound to keep on improving for a while after that. We’ll be trying to keep a bottle alive for Crumpet’s return from the north.
Pictures can be found in the brew’s flickr set, here.