Saturday, January 5, 2019

Cascade Pilsner



In 2017 I read about a hop giveaway sponsored by Anheuser Busch in St. Louis. Unfortunately I didn't make it, but when I saw the event advertised for 2018, I decided I would make a point to attend. AB held the event on December 1 and I made a day of the trip, following some personal things I had to attend to elsewhere in the state. First I went to Narrow Gauge, an up-and-coming if not-already-there brewery specializing in hoppy, hazy IPAs. I purchased a four-pack of Hoppy Meal. From there I ventured on to the AB brewery, my first time there actually.

Upon stepping out of my car I could smell the hops wafting through the air, indicating they were brewing at that particular moment. I'm not familiar with their brewing operation, but I imagine they brew 24/7. Their buildings are all-brick and have a German, 19th/early 20th century look. There were people milling about everywhere. AB's reputation has really taken a hit among the craft beer segment, but you wouldn't really know it by all the activity around the brewery.

Inside, in their beer garden, homebrew clubs had set up stations to serve and discuss their beers. And AB employees were handing out various types of hops. By the time I arrived, the only hops remaining were 2017 leaf cascade hops. I brought a few freezer bags and they filled two of them. I probably got between eight and 12 ounces in total. While there I tried a few homebrews, including a tasty ESB with brown malt, as well as a commercial beer. That was Devil's Backbone Hoppy Lager. I could find few details about this beer. I was really hoping it was their Vienna Lager as I've always wanted to try it, but alas. Still, this beer was good.

My AB visit concluded in one of the labs upstairs, where the AB northern hemisphere hop manager led a hop sensory demonstration. He had the same cascade hops arrayed on tables and had us take the hops in our hands and rub them until the oils were released. The aroma was amazing: so pungent, bright, citrusy.

Following AB, I went to Civil Life, probably my all-time favorite brewery. I had a few beers and bought a case -- a mix of ESB, Northern English Brown, and American Brown - to bring back. From there I checked out Urban Chestnut Research Brewery as well as their attached pizzeria, where I ordered a margherita pizza. While they prepared it I walked thorught he Grove neighborhood. On the way back I walked past an Afghan restaurant and was drawn inside by the delicious smells emanating onto the street. Despite having just ordered a pizza, I got Afghan food as well. The pizza and Afghan food -- from Sameems, and looking at their menu I think I got the goat special -- were both delicious. I topped the trip off with visits to Trader Joe's and Total Wine and then made my way home.

The next day I decided to brew. I had been mulling over what to make. I considered a Dunkel. But pilsner sounded good too. I had attempted the style in the past, but failed due to fermentation issues. Ultimately I decided on pilsner. And somewhat inspired by Sierra Nevada's hoppy pilsners in their recent variety packs, I decided I would forgo using the traditional Saaz hops I have on hand and use the AB Cascade hops instead.

So the next day I drove around town looking for distilled water. Both Walmarts I went to were inexplicably out of stock. I eventually found some elsewhere and bought four gallons, aiming for a 2:1 ratio of distilled to tap water. I've never analyzed Springfield water and have never treated my brewing water. So this was pretty much guesswork, though I did read a post somewhere about this particular water ratio.

The recipe was straightforward from there. 100% Weyermann pilsner malt and about five ounces of cascade hops. The brew went smoothly. I ended up with slightly more than five gallons. I was concerned about wort loss in the hops, but I gave the hop bag a squeeze and got most of the wort out.  I racked the wort onto the 2308 yeast cake from my brown lager, another experimental beer. Fermentation took off pretty much immediately and was complete within just a few days. I kegged it two weeks later. Going into the keg, the beer was pretty cloudy, but it has cleared up nicely since then, without the aid of gelatin.

How did it turn out? I like it. It's crisp, pretty clear, though not crystal clear. It's very dry and has the sort of thin mouth-feel of a pilsner. Every once in awhile I can taste the crackery pilsner malt in the background, but in general the dominant flavor is citrusy, lemony hops. It reminds me of a maris otter/cascade SMASH I made early in my homebrewing career. Overall I think this is a successful beer. It doesn't really adhere to any style guideline, but it was fun to experiment and I think it is within the ballpark of a European pilsner. Now I just need to get my kegging equipment figured out. I've been using short draft lines for a long time and I'm getting sick of flat beer. I even purchased new five-foot lines on the advice of the homebrew shop owner, thinking they would be sufficient, but no. The beer is still tasty though. Cheers!

OG: ~ 1.050
FG: ~ 1.010
(approximately 5.25% ABV)

No comments:

Post a Comment