#49: Czech "Pilsner" Ale

After buying the international and American sampler boxes on a whim when I saw them on a super cheap clearance, I decided to do two or three of them straight up (well... either straight up or using a recipe from the Mr. Beer recipe book), while modifying the other three or four. I hadn't done a Mr. B straight-up standard extract brew since the first month I started brewing (I quickly moved to non-HME brewing out of preference).

First up in my venture into basic Mr. Beer brewing: the Czech "Pilsner" recipe (pilsner in quotes, as a true pilsner is a lager and this is an ale, but I digress). I did the HCCD once before early in my brew experience with booster and 1 lb of DME, as well as some Argentine Cascade for dryhop, and had a banana flavor that never conditioned out. I'm hoping that that isn't the case with this one. I will monitor my temps closely, as I believe that to be my problem from the last go.

I did do a slight modification, as I used .4oz Saaz and a .1oz smidge of Glacier for the dryhop instead of the Sterling listed in the recipe. Saaz and Sterling are good subs for each other in general, and as Saaz is the traditional aroma hop for a Czech Pilsner, all is good there. The smidge of Glacier was added simply to clear some excess inventory and to round things out at .5oz. I also used three Fromundas instead of one.

Super quick brew day. A boil with the Booster, and then add the HME and into the sanitized fermenter. I had kinda forgotten how easy these are, but I also remember this simplicity being why I quickly moved out of "soup mix" brewing (no offense to anyone who normally HME brews... I have no problem with it, and I've tasted some fine brews made from HME. I simply prefer the control I have over AG brewing).

The only issue I had was a loss of wort as I moved to the fermenter. Generally I use a bigger brewing pot, and then use my auto-siphon to transfer. This time, I went back to using the smaller pot that I used when I started, and did the pour into the fermenter. Unfortunately I poured a bit down the side beginning my pour. I suppose I should stick with the auto-siphon. Hydrometer reading tells the tale... 1.034. A bit lower than anticipated, but no worries...

Czech "Pilsner"
---------------
Brewer: Swenocha
Style: German Pilsner (Pils)
Batch: 2.12 galExtract

Characteristics
---------------
Estimated Gravity: 1.038 OG
Measured Gravity: 1.034
Recipe Bitterness: 20 IBU
Recipe Color: 3° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.008
Est Alcohol by Volume: 3.4%

Ingredients
-----------
MrB. High Country Canadian Draft1.21 lb, Extract, Extract
MrB. Booster 0.81 lb, Sugar, Other

MrB. High Country Canadian Draft1.00 oz, Pellet, 5 minutes
Saaz (Czech) 0.40 oz, Pellet, 0 minutes
Glacier 0.10 oz, Pellet, 0 minutes

Mr. Beer Dry Ale Yeast 3.00 unit, Yeast