Spring German Pilsner

As we move closer to May and fully into spring beer season, I wanted to be sure to revisit the Rye German Pilsner I did last spring. It was crisp and delicious so I decided to brew it again, but this time with Hallertau Tradition Hops.

This batch is called the $6000 Pilsner because it was brewed during some expensive plumbing repairs I needed...

You can find the Brew Father recipe here. The basic idea was to create a dry and crisp pilsner with Novalager yeast that showcases a certain hop and gets additional body and earthiness from a touch of rye malt. I think the idea worked and I look forward to brewing some iteration of this one each year.

This time it features Hallertau Tradition hops in the mid and late boil.

From Yakima Valley Hops:

Hallertauer Tradition is a hop variety bred at Hüll which is characterized by its fine aroma and average bitter content. It can be compared to Hallertauer Mittelfrüh and stands out due to good yields which remain relatively stable even in difficult growing years. This variety has a good tolerance to wilt and downy mildew.

The beer fermented from 1.046- 1.007, yielding a dry crisp 5.1% ABV beer. The recipe was very simple so it's not too hard to pick out the ingredients:

Pilsner Base malt for cracker and bread

Rye for earthiness and perhaps spiciness

Magnum for bittering

Tradition for a grassy and fruity edge

I really think the rye adds a complexity that may not be there with just the base malt. I also am not sure if the Magnum is contributing a slight herbal or floral character. It's surprisingly complex for such a simple recipe. I am trying to keep my recipes ideally to no more than 3 grains and 3 hops.

Really refreshing beer, very happy with this one. It still needs to clear up a bit but at 2 weeks it is looking pretty nice already :)