Day Tripper

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Fit Turkey Wrap

Mill or crush the grains to a medium-coarse crush. Heat approximately 13 L of strike water to 74°C to target a mash temperature of 63°C (accounting for grain temperature). If you are using a HERMS or RIMS system, adjust strike temperatures accordingly.

Mill and heat water

Add the crushed grains to your mash tun and dough in with the strike water to reach 62.5–63.5°C. Hold the mash at 63°C for 60 minutes for a moderately fermentable wort typical of Czech pilsners.

Mash in

After 60 minutes, raise the mash temperature to 75–76°C (mash out) for 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity and improve lautering, then begin vorlauf until wort runs clear.

Mash out

Sparge with ~12 L of water heated to 75°C to collect approximately 20–21 L of pre-boil wort. Target pre-boil gravity around 1.045–1.048 (10.9–11.8 °P) for a final 5% ABV after fermentation and losses.

Sparge

Bring the collected wort to a vigorous boil. Watch for boilovers as pilsner worts can foam strongly. Total boil time: 60 minutes.

Bring to a boil

At the start of the 60-minute boil, add 20 g Saaz hops. This addition provides a restrained, noble hop bitterness. Expect IBUs in the low-to-mid 30s depending on efficiency; adjust quantity if you know your system.

Bittering hop addition (60 min)

With 15 minutes remaining in the boil, add 1 tsp Irish moss or Whirlfloc and the 30 g late Saaz hop addition. This late hop addition gives delicate noble flavor without strong green character.

Clarifier addition (15 min)

After flameout, chill off heat and add the 15 g Saaz directly to the kettle and stir to create a whirlpool. Let sit 10 minutes for aroma extraction, then chill wort quickly to yeast-pitching temperature.

Optional whirlpool/aroma (0–10 min post-boil)

Cool the wort rapidly to 10–12°C for lager yeast (or 12–14°C for a warmer lager/german ale approach with a hybrid yeast). Transfer to your sanitized fermenter, top up to 20 L if needed, and aerate vigorously (aeration or pure O2 to brewer's recommendation).

Chill & aerate

Pitch the rehydrated dry yeast or a properly prepared liquid yeast starter. Aim for a healthy pitching rate for lager: roughly 0.75–1.0 million cells per mL per °P. For convenience, one W-34/70 dry pack is adequate for 20 L at this gravity, but a starter for liquid yeast is recommended.

Pitch yeast

Maintain fermentation at 10–12°C until vigorous activity subsides (typically 7–10 days). You should see visible krausen within 24–48 hours for a healthy pitch at this gravity.

Primary fermentation (lager schedule)

After primary activity slows (specific gravity nearing within ~10% of terminal), raise temperature to 16–18°C for 24–48 hours to allow yeast to reabsorb diacetyl and clean up fermentation byproducts.

Diacetyl rest

After the diacetyl rest, gradually lower the temperature over 2–3 days to 1–3°C and hold (lager) for 3–5 weeks to promote clarification and mellowing. Longer lagering (6–8 weeks) will further improve polish and flavor stability.

Lagering

Measure final gravity to confirm fermentation complete (stable reading over 2–3 days). If bottling, dissolve 85 g corn sugar in 200 mL boiling water, cool, and gently mix into the fermented beer. If kegging, carbonate to 2.3–2.7 volumes CO2 via force carbonating or keg conditioning.

Prepare for bottling/kegging

If bottled, store at 18–22°C for 10–14 days to carbonate, then cold condition at 2–4°C for at least one week to clear. If kegged, allow time for CO2 absorption and cold conditioning for clarity and flavor integration.

Conditioning

If your tap water contains chloramine or chlorine, treat with a Campden tablet per 20 L prior to brewing. Adjust water profile to emphasize sulfate-to-chloride ratio around 1.5–2:1 (slightly sulfate-forward) for a crisp pilsner bitterness: add about 1.5 tsp gypsum and 0.5 tsp calcium chloride to the mash/sparge water total for 25 L (adjust to your water report). Taste and adjust cautiously. Keep sanitation and cold chain strict for lagers.

Pilsner (2-row) malt

Light Munich malt

Carapils / Dextrine malt

Corn sugar (dextrose) - priming (bottling)

Saaz (Humulus lupulus 'Saaz') - bittering

Saaz - flavor/late additions

Saaz - whirlpool/aroma (optional)

Czech lager yeast (Wyeast 2278 / White Labs WLP800 / dry SafLager W-34/70)

Water - strike & sparge (to yield ~20 L wort)

Gypsum (calcium sulfate) - optional

Calcium chloride - optional

Irish moss or Whirlfloc (clarifier)

Campden tablet (optional, for chlorine removal)

White Bay Czech Pilsner

Full-bodied, pure, savoury. Great for fuller bodied, richer dishes that need body and power.

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White Bay Czech Pilsner Recipe

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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