Brewing - Pilsner

Brewed a 10 gallon Pilsner today to test out the whole new eBrew Panel. It went great. I did this as a pure electric brew, even though I could connect up to the gas and run that too. I had to pack 20 gallons of water in 5 gallon buckets from my soft water tap and then added some CaCL2 (0.7g / gallon) to the initial mash to help lower pH.

Couple comments:

• Here is a link to how to Lager.
• I'm amazed how much easier it is to clean out the bottom drain MT. I simply LOVE this change to my system.
• The Boil Kettle is also easier to clean since you don't have any fire on the bottom, it seems to stay really clean. The electric element, on the other hand...that gets lots of hop scum on it.
• The 3500W RIMS tube really helped during the temp steps.

Lots of flexibility on the targets and how I play. Ultimately, I'm really happy I have a manual option for the HLT/BK and Mash by-pass. I used them a lot...

Some of the recipe specifics that I scratched up:

Characteristics

• Style: 1A Light American Lager
• OG: 1.041
• FG: 1.010
• ABV: 4.1%
• SRM: 2.2'L
• IBU: 17

Ingredients

• 7 lbs 2-row
• 7 lbs US Pilsen
• 2 lbs flaked rice
• 4 oz acidulated malt
• 2 oz Hallertauer pellet @ 60 min
• 1 oz Citra leaf @ dry hop
• Wyeast 2007 American Lager

Fermentation/Lager

• Target 65'F to fermenter
• Pitch yeast; leave 24-48 hours at 62'F
• Drop to 55'F at 2'F per hour; leave for 24-48 hours or until active fermentation starts
• Drop to 50'F at 2'F per hour; leave for 7-10 days or until FG reached
• Raise temp to 60'F at 2'F per hour (dry hop); leave for 36-48 hours
• lower temp to 50'F at 2'F per hour; leave for 24 hours
• lower temp to 40'F at 2'F per hour; leave for 24 hours
• dump trub and lower temp to 35'F at 2'F per hour; leave for 24 hours
• rack to secondary fermenter to lager for 6 weeks at 33-35'F