Short & Shoddy | New Zealand Pilsner

Author: Jordan Folks

It’s not uncommon for someone to ask me what my favorite beer style is, which is difficult for me to answer because of how many styles there are, so I usually go pretty general. I absolutely love European-style lagers, from Czech Pils to Munich Dunkel, and I’m also infatuated with West Coast IPA, the crisper and arguably more hoppy sibling of American IPA.

When making West Coast IPA, I often opt for New Zealand hop varieties for the pungent fruity characteristics they contribute, characteristics local Kiwis found also work well in more delicate styles. In fact, back in the mid-1990s, New Zealand’s Emerson’s Brewery produced a unique beer that combined the qualities of a traditional Pilsner with the bold tropical notes from locally grown hops. This was the genesis of what would ultimately come to be known as New Zealand Pilsner, which the BJCP lists as an emerging style with the following description:

A pale, dry, golden-colored, cleanly-fermented beer showcasing the characteristic tropical, citrusy, fruity, grassy New Zealand-type hops. Medium body, soft mouthfeel, and smooth palate and finish, with a neutral to bready malt base provide the support for this very drinkable, refreshing, hop-forward beer.

Whether a Munich Helles or a modern hoppy West Coast Pilsner, I typically ferment my lagers cool with plenty of yeast, the way its been done for centuries. However, I recently learned that some of the most respected Kiwi brewers opt for warmer fermentation temperatures for their New Zealand Pilsners despite using a classic lager yeast strain. This style seemed a perfect fit for the Short & Shoddy treatment!

| BREWING THE BEER |

The inspiration for this New Zealand Pilsner recipe came from past batches of hoppy lager I felt turned out great, only I swapped in Kiwi hops and made adjustments to account for the Short & Shoddy process. Shout out to F.H. Steinbart for hooking me up with the malt for this batch!

Short & Shoddy New Zealand Pilsner

I started this brew day at 2:42pm by collecting the full volume of filtered tap water, adjusting it to my desired mineral profile, and getting it heating up before milling the grain.

When the water was properly heated, I stirred in the grist then set my Clawhammer Supply controller to maintain my target 150°F/66°C mash temperature.

During the mash rest, I prepared the kettle hops.

When the brief 30 minute mash rest was complete, I removed the grains and proceeded to boil the wort for just 30 minutes, after which I quickly chilled it to 60°F/16°C with my JaDeD Brewing SS Coil Hydra .

A refractometer reading showed the wort was at 1.047 OG, for a brewhouse efficiency of 54%.

After transferring the chilled wort to a fermentation keg, I pitched 200mL of 3^rd generation Imperial Yeast L13 Global slurry.

Finally, I placed the beer in a chamber controlled to 65°F/18°C at 5:04pm, for a total brew day duration of just 2 hours and 22 minutes. The beer was left to ferment for 6 days before I added the dry hops, then following day, I took a hydrometer measurement indicating FG had been reached.

At this point, I cold crashed the beer to 34°F/1°C overnight before transferring it to a CO2 purged serving keg along with some gelatin fining. The filled keg was placed on gas in my keezer where it was left to lager for 10 days before I began serving it to tasters.

| RESULTS |

A total of 22 people of various levels of experience participated in this Short & Shoddy evaluation. Participants were informed of the specific beer style and provided the BJCP description prior to completing the survey. Tasters were then instructed to rate how hoppy, malty, and dry they perceived the beer to be on a 0-5 scale where a rating of 0 indicated “not at all” and 5 indicated “extremely.”

Tasters were provided a list of common hop, malt, and yeast characteristics then instructed to select from each the one they perceived as being most prominent in the beer.

Hop Characteristics

Malt Characteristics

Yeast Characteristics

Next, participants were asked to indicate whether or not they detected any off-flavors in the beer; those who did were provided a list of common off-flavors and instructed to select the one they perceived as being strongest. Out of the 22 total tasters, just 3 reported perceiving the following off-flavors: acetaldehyde (2), sulfur (2), astringent (1), and metallic (1).

Tasters were then asked to rate how well the beer represented the intended style, based on the provided BJCP description, on a 0-5 scale where 0 meant “not at all” and 5 meant “exactly.”

Finally, tasters were asked to rate how much they enjoyed the beer on a 0-5 scale where 0 indicated not at all and 5 indicated extremely.

My Impressions: I perceived fairly strong lime and tropical fruit notes with light diesel in the aroma, while the flavor was marked by lime, pilsner malt, and a notably clean fermentation profile. If any esters were present, I didn’t pick them up. I did detect a very slight sulfur note, though it wasn’t at all aggressive or unpleasant. All in all, I felt this beer was great!

| CONCLUSION |

If there’s one term that’s part and parcel to brewing, it’s got to be “innovation,” which is evidenced by the plethora of unique beer styles in existence today. Indeed, this inventive mindset stretches beyond the brewer, as they’re only able to create new things due to having access to novel ingredients. New Zealand Pilsner is a shining example of this  – a style with European lager roots that’s made all its own by the use of modern Kiwi hops.

Traditional lagers are often viewed as being more difficult to brew, not only because they’re said to require cool fermentation temperatures, but they’re generally simple nature leaves little for any flaws to hide behind. Interestingly, tasters of this Short & Shoddy New Zealand Pilsner that had an abbreviated mash and boil while being fermented warm with lager yeast not only seemed to enjoy it, but felt it was a solid representation of the style. Moreover, tasters rated the beer’s dryness and hop character as being the most prominent features, while malt was rated the lowest.

As far as hop character goes, ratings align nicely with the BJCP description with fruity, melon, and pine/resinous being among the most endorsed, while tasters overwhelmingly felt it possessed a cracker/bread crust malt flavor and generally clean fermentation profile.  Overall, I was quite pleased with how this New Zealand Pilsner turned out and felt it was my best since starting down the Short & Shoddy path. For those who enjoy crisp, hoppy lagers and New Zealand hops, this is a great recipe that’s surprisingly easy to brew.

If you have thoughts about this Short & Shoddy brew, please feel free to share it in the comments section below!

Support Brülosophy In Style!

Follow Brülosophy on:

FACEBOOK   |   TWITTER   |   INSTAGRAM

If you enjoy this stuff and feel compelled to support Brulosophy.com, please check out the Support page for details on how you can very easily do so. Thanks!