Ingredients

I just purchased this product this evening.  I was disappointed with the selection of ingredients.

I am looking to make a recipe with Pilsner Dry Malt Extract and it's not one of the options.

I'm relatively new to brewing but one would think that by now you would have way more listed than a newbie could possibly need.

Not true.

Hi and welcome to the Forum,

BeerSmith has "Extra light dry malt extract " in the database as well as several other malt extracts listed. I have never heard of a Pilsner dry malt extract but I would think the specs would be similar to the "Extra light dry malt extract".

Cheers
Andrew

Thank you Andrew.

What would I use for a Light Liquid Malt Extract?  That is by far the most popular ingredient in every recipe I've tried...but I fail to find it on the extract list.

Briess lists a Pilsen DME on their website but they don't have a data sheet up for it.  I dropped them a note.

If you can point me toward a product that has a data sheet I'll be glad to help you enter it.  Or I can help you modify one to meet your specs.

Fred

"Pale liquid extract" and "Pilsner Liquid extract" is there as well. Liquid extracts have a small "can" symbol on the left hand side of the ingredients list to make them a little easier to find.

Cheers
Andrew

Thank you Fred...I don't have a data sheet on the Pilsner DME...I am in fact using the Briess DME you mentioned but I haven't seen any spec information myself.

It's a long story but basically I brewed a clone of Paulaner Hefeweizen a couple of months ago.  The recipe calls for Weyermann Bavarian Wheat LME which is 65 Wheat/35 Pilsner as I recall.  Well, in the intervening months the price of that extract has doubled and I'm trying to re-work the clone to use Pilsner DME and Wheat LME...where the wheat is 65 wheat/35 barley.  There doesn't seem to be a way around the added barley but I'm using a Pilsner DME to make up for what I'm losing...if that makes any sense at all.

No matter what happens I'm going to end up with more barley in this recipe simply because I cannot find another Wheat/Pils combination.

What character are you trying to capture?

I'd say to try the recipe with another brand of wheat extract first.

Fred

Hi,
  The "Extra Light Dry Extract" would be the name to use in the database for Pilsner Dry Malt Extract.

  Let us know if there is anything else you need - we have lots of additional grains available for download on the main Support page from the main site as well.

Cheers,
Brad

Thanks Brad...forgive me while I get my feet on the ground with your software.  It's tough being a newbie brewer AND try to learn a new program. I think it's all the brain cells I've killed over the years.

Fred:

I had rave reviews of the Paulaner clone I did using they BYO recipe.  In a side-by-side comparison the actual Paulaner had more of a wheat taste than my version. That was ok because I had people tell me they liked mine better than the original. lol. So I guess the answer is I'm trying to capture what I did before, but since the extract is ridiculously expensive I'm re-working the recipe.  Between my own head-scratching and the Beersmith software this is what I've come up with:

Original
1.0 lb Pilsner malt - steeped @ 155 F for 30 min
2.0 lb Wheat malt - steeped @ 155 F for 30 min
1.5 lb Wheat DME
3.75 lb Weyerman Bavarian Wheat LME (Late Addition)
Hallertau hops for 60 minutes (I've forgotten the amount and % but it comes to 18 IBU)

Mine
1.0 lb Pilsner malt - steeped @ 155 F for 30 min
2.0 lb Wheat malt - steeped @ 155 F for 30 min
1.0 lb Briess Pilsner DME
4.5 lb Briess Wheat LME (Late Add)
1.0 oz Hallertau Pellet @ 4.6% for 60 min
.25 oz Tettnang Pellet @ 3.9% for 15 min

This would be my first cut at more-or-less creating my own recipe.  I'm using the Pilsner DME to replace the Pilsner portion of the Weyermann LME. 

The original had .975 lbs of Wheat DME and 2.43 lbs of Wheat LME.  It had .525 lbs of Barley DME and 1.32 Pilsner LME.
Mine has 2.92 lbs of Wheat LME, 1.58 lbs of Barley LME, and 1.0 lb Pilsner DME (though I may bump that up just a bit.)

The bottom line is that it appears that I'll have about 1 lb more barley and roughly .6 lbs less wheat extract.

That would imply that I'll have less of a wheat character to the beer...which wasn't particularly 'wheaty' to start with.  Can this be overcome by adding more wheat malt in the steeping?  I think this recipe is ok and would taste fine really...not too worried about it - just trying to learn the process a little better.

Sorry for posting this here as this isn't the recipe discussion forum...but since I've got your attention....

Nothing wrong with what you are doing.  Since you are using a new recipe, this will be the basis for any future changes.  I assume you are using a German Hefe yeast,  be aware that a change in ferment temps will change the balance of esters/phenolics given off by this yeast and thus change the character of the resulting beer.

One more thing,  you are NOT steeping,  that is a partial mash.  That is good as the pils malt must be mashed, and likely the wheat too.  I would target 150-152 F for the partial mash, 155F is ok but will give you a little more body.

Fred

Thanks Fred.

I guess I need to get my terminology straight.  Partial Mash. Got it.

I am using a Hefe Yeast.  The one I used in the original recipe was WL Heffeweizen IV and this time I'm using Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen Activator ACT3068.  I had really bad luck with the WL yeast. I did two batches of the Paulaner clone - the first one had a 100+ hour lag which essentially ruined the beer.  The next time I made a starter and it worked fine.  I know the equivilant of WL Hefe IV is Wyeast Wheat 3333 but I decided to try the Weihenstephan since it's such a popular weizen yeast.

Since then I've tried Wyeast Activators and really like them...they always launch on time and on target...and with the cost of everything going through the roof I really can't afford to screw up a batch.  That's one reason I bought Beersmith - to help me work through some of these recipes to minimize the risk that I'll botch it.

Problem - Batch of beer taste funny almost undrinkable, safe bet to say its ruined.

Solution - Invest in a small stainless steal water distiller and attach a thermometer and temp control the the on/off switch.

In case anyone has any interest -

I modified my above recipe by adding an extra .5 lbs of wheat malt and extended the partial-mash time. So the final version is this:

1.0 lb Pilsner malt - @ 155 F for 45 min
2.5 lb Wheat malt - @ 155 F for 45 min
1.0 lb Briess Pilsner DME
4.5 lb Briess Wheat LME (Late Add)
1.0 oz Hallertau Pellet @ 4.6% for 60 min
.25 oz Tettnang Pellet @ 3.9% for 15 min
Wyeast Weihstephen Yeast

OG: 1.052 (right on target)
FG: 1.01
ABV: ~5.6% (a bit high?)

The taste is very good with the expected banana scent and 'breadiness'.  It does lack a specific wheat taste though. It's a very good beer that will go down quickly, but I would like the wheat flavor to come out more...is there a different yeast you could suggest?

Thanks!