Brü It Yourself | Tett For Tat Pils

Author: Marshall Schott

I’ve sort of become known for my adoration of the Fine Pilsner known as Miller Lite, a beer many love to hate, but that I view as melding crisp crushability with a delightful grainy note absent in other classic American Light Lagers. It’s also a killer value. One thing I’m confident we can all agree on is that American Light Lager is a far cry from the pale lagers associated with certain European regions, a prime example being German Pils, which I also have quite the fondness for.

Dry and bitter with a noticeable noble hop character layered over a grainy-sweet malt flavor, German Pils is one of the few “craft” styles that’s often spoken of as being approachable by the uninitiated. While my focus was on ale when I started homebrewing, I was fortunate enough to visit Germany the following year, and that’s when I was first introduced to “real” lager beer – I have fond memories of the deliciously unique cans of beer I got from vending machines Berline and the crystal clear lagerbier that filled my Maßkrug is Munich.

It was that experience that ultimately began my obsession with delicious pale lager, and while it took me a few years to work up the gumption to make one myself, I’ve since brewed many. Forced to take a brief hiatus due to an impending move, once I was in my new home and the brewery was built-out, a German Pils was high on my list and I was excited to finally get the chance to brew it.

| Making Tett For Tat Pils |

Given my love of Tettnanger hops and the Augustiner yeast strain, I designed a rather simple Pils recipe featuring both. Big thanks to Northern Brewer for providing the grains for this batch!

Tett For Tat Pils

After milling the grain, collecting the full volume of water, and adjusting it to my desired profile, I heated the water up before mashing in.

When the grist was fully incorporated, I checked to make sure it was at my target mash temperature.

Following the 60 minute mash rest, I removed the grains and flipped the switch on my controller to heat the wort up, at which point I prepared the kettle hop additions.

The wort was then boiled for 60 minutes with hops added at the times listed in the recipe.

Once the boil was finished, I quickly chilled the wort with my JaDeD Brewing Hydra IC.

I then transferred the chilled wort to a sanitized fermenter.

A refractometer reading showed the wort was at my target OG.

The filled fermenter was connected to my glycol unit and left alone for 25 minutes to chill to my desired fermentation temperature of 58°F/14°C, at which point I pitched 2 pouches of Imperial Yeast L17 Harvest.

The beer was left to ferment for a week before I raised the temperature to 68°F/20°C to encourage complete attenuation.

With signs of activity absent 3 days later, I took a hydrometer measurement confirming FG had been reached.

After cold crashing the beer to 34°F/1°C overnight, I added gelatin fining and let it sit for an addition 3 days before pressure transferring the beer to a CO2 purged keg.

The filled keg was placed in my keezer and burst carbonated overnight before I reduced the gas to serving pressure. I then let the beer lager for 4 weeks before it was ready to serve.

| IMPRESSIONS |

The beauty of pale lager including German Pils lies in its simplicity – a basic malt bill with a couple hop varieties and a clean fermenting yeast meld to create a refreshingly delicious pint that’s fitting for all seasons. At least that’s my opinion. German Pils unquestionably makes my top 5 list of favorite styles, which is why I chose it as my second batch in the new brewery.

While far from complex, and similar to several past batches I’ve brewed, my Tett For Tat Pils recipe relied on many of my favorite ingredients, namely Tettnanger hops and the Augustiner yeast strain. And the results were exactly as expected – a slight bready malt flavor complimented by rather pungent floral and earthy hop notes, all of which was wrapped in a clean fermentation profile. Curiously, this batch took a bit longer to come into its own than I’m used to, requiring 4 weeks of lagering compared to the typical 1 weeks. All’s well that ends well, I guess.

As the season shifts and the mercury rises, Tett For Tat has been very nice to have on tap, providing me an excellent post-work sipper. Moreover, the friends I’ve shared it with have been quite pleased as well, most of whom have opted for it over the cans of fine Pilsner that line my refrigerator door. This is one of those recipes that doesn’t aim to impress others as much as it does satiate their thirst, and that it certainly did.

If you have thoughts about this recipe or experience making something similar, please feel free to share in the comments section below!

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