Spalt Vs Saaz/Halertau Pilsner

With summer coming in I wanted to get some lighter, refreshing beers on tap. I decided to make another pilsner because I didn't have the time to think about something exciting or plan a new recipe. However, since I have an abundance of organic spalt hops I wanted to do an experiment. One mash, split to two boils and hop with either a spalt only schedule or a more typical Saaz --> Halertau schedule.

The described Spalt characteristic: Many include it in the list of noble hops. Some describe it as a very fine, pleasant spicy hop. I've seen "earthy" and a little "woody" used as well. Mine are a little old and might have tended to the earthy, a little musty end.

So the recipe is for 11 gallons, plus a little extra that I used to make and can yeast starters. Target 1.045 with an 78% mash efficiency.

for beer geeks. 17# pils malt, 1.5# vienna malt, 0.5# crystal 10 degree. No water additions to my filtered water. Mash in at 118 (a tad low) for thirty min, raise to 150 for 60 min mash out at 170 for 5 min. Wanted 2.5 gallons of starters @ 1.030 so I took out 1.6 gal wort + 0.8 gallons water for starters. Split remaining wort evenly to 2 kettles. Kettle schedule: 70 minute boil, 60 min: (kettle 1) 1 oz Saaz (kettle 2) 1 oz Spalt. 45 min (1) 1 oz saaz (2) 1 oz spalt. 30 (1) 1 oz halertau, (2) 0.9 oz spalt. 15 min (1) 1 oz Halertau, (2) 0.7 oz spalt. + irish moss. Note, I was on autopilot for the boil, times were intended to be 60, 30, 15, and 5. Oh well. Chill and pitch 2206 - bavarian lager. Only had about 4 gallons post boil so I added ~ 1 gallon water to make up volume. Ferment at cellar temp - 52-54 degrees.

Well, I hit the target gravity pretty well (1.044 for both). Fermentation took ~ 36 hours to start. :-( After the boils, I boiled up the starters with some yeast nutrient and did two rounds of canning. I should have plenty for awhile! Any Seattle based brewers are welcome to one in exchange for ..... beer stuff. :-)

And after the starters, it was off to clean up the basement. This was a sad, sad time. Apparently, after changing all of my lines a few days earlier, I didn't screw one of the fittings on tight and I of course put that on the 10 gallon carboy that was just filled to the brim. The result? A slow leak depositing the 10 gallons of beer all over the freezer floor, just noticed today! Beer foul in the highest degree! So I spent over an hour figuring out a way to clean up the disaster from the freezer, making a long day that much longer. So in the end, bitter sweet. 10 gallons of pilsner created, ten gallons IPA lost. Hopefully the Pils will turn out a be an acceptable replacement!