h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

January 7, 2006

Ingredients

8 lb Alexander’s Pale Malt Extract
4 oz Clover Honey
1 lb Weyermann Cara-Helles Malt 9L
½ lb Dingemans Carapils Malt 7.7L
4 oz Munton’s Crystal Malt 60L
2 oz Northern Brewer Hops – 6.8% (pellet)
3 oz Czech Saaz Hops – 3.7% (plug)
½ tsp Irish moss
Wyeast #2000 Budvar Lager

Boiling Times

60 minutes
-malt extract
-honey
-2 oz Northern Brewer hops (bittering)
20 minutes
-1 oz Czech Saaz hops (flavoring)
15 minutes
-Irish moss
10 minutes
-1 oz Czech Saaz hops (flavoring)
2 minutes
-1 oz Czech Saaz hops (aroma)

Specific gravity – 1. 042

To mark the 21st batch of homebrew, my Brewster and I agreed on making a lager, more specifically – a Pilsner. We haven’t cooked up a recipe like this since the summer. Plus, this will be the first time that we truly lagered a beer, meaning that it will ferment completely in cold temperatures.

The recipe began as a basic Pilsner style beer, but a few character changes were introduced. Honey and crystal malt, plus increases in the amount of hops, will guarantee something a little more special. It should liken to Urquell.

The only way that I can actually achieve a cool fermentation is because of the season. The primary was placed in the room off the side of the balcony. It contains the air and water heaters, but they do not appear to increase the temperature all that much. I took readings throughout the day and found the average temperature to be about 55F without much variance. This meets the recommended range of 50-58F. After about eighteen hours, there is still no activity.

I’m guessing that it will need a week in the primary. From there, we plan on storing the secondary on the balcony itself, hoping to keep an average temperature of 38F. So, I’ll try to watch the weather and keep it from freezing. Mid to late March is the bottling target.

The main concern of my Brewster is that this batch would come out tasting like Budweiser The last thing we want to is to disgrace the Czech tradition, like most of the 20th century American stuff. If those were the only beers available to me now, homebrewing would be all that I did.

Hats off to my Brewster for being creative!

Cheers!