Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

It’s back for a limited time. This European style Pilsner is pale, light bodied, dry and very refreshing. Hop additions of Czech Saaz and New Zealand Nelson Sauvin provide distinctive grassiness and herbal spice, white wine character and gooseberry.

Heat 16 liters of strike water to about 74°C to achieve a mash temperature of 62°C. Mash in crushed Pilsner malt, Munich malt and Carapils so the settled mash rests at 62°C. Hold for 60 minutes for a very fermentable, dry profile. Stir gently and check for a stable temperature; adjust if needed.

Perform a mash out by heating to 75–76°C for 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity and improve run-off if desired.

Sparge with ~9 liters of water at 75–78°C until you collect ~23 liters of wort in the kettle (pre-boil volume accounting for trub loss). Typical pre-boil gravity target is ~1.038–1.040.

Bring wort to a rolling boil and start a 60-minute timer.

Add 18 g Czech Saaz at the beginning of the boil for bitterness. Maintain a steady, gentle rolling boil to get good hop utilization and evaporation (aim to boil off ~6–8% of volume).

60-minute addition

With 15 minutes left in the boil, add 20 g Czech Saaz and 1 tsp Irish moss or Whirlfloc if using, to help clarity. Add yeast nutrient now if desired.

15-minute addition

At 5 minutes remaining add 20 g Nelson Sauvin to contribute bright herbaceous and white wine-like characters without heavy bitterness.

5-minute addition

At flameout, turn off the heat and cool the wort to ~80°C. Add 20 g Nelson Sauvin to the whirlpool and stir gently to wet hops. Let the wort rest (hopstand) for 15–20 minutes to extract aromatic compounds with lower isomerization. This emphasizes the gooseberry/white-wine notes.

After hopstand, chill wort as quickly as possible to yeast pitching temperature to preserve hop aroma—target 10–12°C if using lager yeast (or 12–14°C for warm lager fermentation-like character).

Transfer chilled wort to a sanitized fermenter, leaving behind trub and hop debris. Oxygenate or aerate wort sufficiently for a healthy lager yeast pitch (shake, pure oxygen, or vigorous splashing).

Pitch the Pilsner yeast (rehydrated or starter) at recommended pitching rate for 20–23 L batch. Aim for an initial fermentation temperature of 10–12°C for a clean, classic Pils profile. If using ale-type lager yeast or hybrid, follow yeast supplier guidance.

Ferment at 10–12°C until primary fermentation reaches near-final gravity (typically 7–10 days). Ensure active fermentation within 24–72 hours.

Slowly diacetyl rest: raise temperature to 15–16°C for 2–3 days to encourage the yeast to clean up any diacetyl.

Lagering (cold conditioning): After diacetyl rest, crash cool to 1–3°C and lager for 3–6 weeks to clarify and mellow the beer. This step is key to achieving the clean, crisp Pilsner character.

Optional - Dry hop in the last 3–5 days of fermentation (after most active fermentation) with 15 g Nelson Sauvin and 10 g Czech Saaz in a sanitized hop bag or free in fermenter to add light fresh hop aroma. Keep temperature low (close to fermentation temp) to avoid grassy harshness.

Before bottling or kegging, measure final gravity. Target final gravity around 1.008–1.010 for a dry, light-bodied pilsner. Calculate attenuation and alcohol by volume (approx. 4.5–5.0% ABV expected).

If bottling, dissolve 5 tsp priming sugar in 50–100 ml boiling water, cool, add to sanitized bottling bucket, rack beer onto priming solution, bottle and cap. Condition at room temperature 10–14 days to carbonate, then cold condition for clarity. If kegging, carbonate to ~2.5–2.8 volumes CO2 and serve cold.

Adjust your mash and sparge water to the target profile: add brewing salts to reach roughly 100 ppm Ca, 150 ppm SO4, and 40 ppm Cl. Typical additions: gypsum (CaSO4) to boost sulfate, calcium chloride for chloride if needed—add small amounts and re-measure. A higher sulfate-to-chloride ratio emphasizes hop crispness and dryness in Pilsners.

Serve cold (4–8°C) in a tall pilsner glass. Expect a pale straw color, light body, crisp dry finish, subtle grassy Saaz spice, and gooseberry / white-wine character from Nelson Sauvin. Best enjoyed fresh and chilled.

Pilsner malt (base)

Light Munich malt

Carapils / dextrin malt

Czech Saaz (alpha ~3.5%) - bittering (60 min)

Czech Saaz - flavor (15 min)

Nelson Sauvin - late flavor/aroma (5 min)

Nelson Sauvin - whirlpool/aroma (hopstand, 10-20 min at 80°C)

Nelson Sauvin - dry hop

Czech Saaz - dry hop

German / Czech Pilsner yeast (liquid or rehydrated dry)

Yeast nutrient (optional)

Irish moss or Whirlfloc (optional)

Water (brewing strike and sparge)

Corn sugar (for bottling) or priming sugar

Calcium (Ca)

Sulfate (SO4)

Chloride (Cl)

You Need to Chill Pils

Make You Need To Chill Pils Recipe in just 24h . It’s back for a limited time. This European style Pilsner is pale, light bodied, dry and very refreshing. Hop additions of Czech Saaz and New Zealand Nelson Sauvin provide distinctive grassiness and herbal spice, white wine character and gooseberry.

You Need to Chill Pils

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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