exBEERiment | Grain Comparison: Domestic vs. Czech Pilsner Malt In A Czech Pale Lager

Author: Jordan Folks

In the quixotic quest to perfectly emulate classic European beer styles, many brewers in the U.S. prefer to source their ingredients from the region where the style was developed, believing it has a noticeable impact on the quality of their beer. In no other style is this more prominent than traditional pale lagers– crafting a perfect Czech Pilsner or Munich Helles requires the use of Bohemian or German Pilsner malts, respectively, at least that’s what many believe. However, others prefer using domestic ingredients when brewing such styles, be it for cost savings, sustainability, or imbuing local terroir.

As the second most prominent ingredient used to make beer, water being the first, it makes sense that brewers would focus on the impact it has on their beer, particularly when it comes to delicately flavored styles such as Czech Pale Lager. In addition, growing different varieties, Czech malting approaches historically result in a product with lower modification than their U.S. counterparts, which some traditionalists believe is necessary to achieving the unique organoleptic characteristics Czech lagers are famous for.

I’ve always been a strong believer that producing the most authentic European lagers requires the use of regionally appropriate malts; however, the cost and environmental benefits associated with using domestic malts cannot be denied, which makes this decision a bit trickier. Curious if I’ve been getting perceptible gains from using Czech malts in my Czech lagers, I designed an exBEERiment to test it out.

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a Czech Pale Lager made with either Czech or domestic pilsner malt.

| METHODS |

Considering the variable being tested, I designed a simple single malt Czech Pale Lager recipe for this xBmt, one using Great Western Idaho Pilsner and the other using Sladovny Soufflet. Big thanks to F.H. Steinbart for hooking me up with the malt for this batch!

10 Platos To Prague

A few days before brewing, I made a single large starter of Imperial Yeast L28 Urkel that would later be split between the batches.

After collecting the full volume of filtered water for each batch, adjusting each to my desired profile, and getting them heating up, I weighed out the grains. Prior to milling, I noticed the domestic malt appeared slightly paler than the Czech malt.

Since this was a classic Czech lager, I opted for a step mash with rests at 144°F/62°C, 160°F/71°C, and 170°F/77°C.

During the mash rests, I weighed out the kettle hop additions.

When the mashes were finished, I collected each wort and proceeded to boil them for 75 minutes, adding hops at the times listed in the recipe.

When the boils were complete, I chilled the worts during transfer to sanitized fermenters then took refractometer readings showing both were at the same target OG.

The worts were left to finish chilling to my desired fermentation temperature of 49°F/9°C, at which point I decanted the starter then evenly split the remaining slurry between each batch. After a week of fermentation, I added spunding valves to both fermenters and gradually raised the temperature to 62°F/17°C over the following 2 weeks before taking hydrometer measurements showing a slight difference in FG.

I gradually reduced the temperature of the beers to 32°F/0°C over the course of a few days then pressure-transferred them to CO2 purged serving kegs and fined both with gelatin. The filled kegs were placed on gas in my keezer and left to lager for 1 month before they were ready for evaluation.

| RESULTS |

A total of 27 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 2 samples of the beer made with domestic pilsner malt and 1 sample of the beer made with Czech pilsner malt in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. While 14 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to accurately identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, only 11 did (p=0.27), indicating participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a Czech Pale Lager made with domestic pilsner malt from one made with Czech pilsner malt.

My Impressions: Out of the 5 semi-blind triangle tests I attempted, I correctly identified the odd-beer-out just once. Although there was a slight visual difference between these beers, the aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel were similar enough to my palate as to make them indistinguishable. I felt both beers were great examples of Czech Pale Lager – light and refreshing with ample flavor.

| DISCUSSION |

When designing any beer recipe, brewers have a wide variety of grains to choose from, and in the case of pale lagers, that typically involves deciding whether to rely on regionally specific pilsner malt or opting for a less expensive domestic product. While many believe the former is necessary for the production of true-to-style European lagers, others feel it doesn’t matter nearly as much as the traditionalists. Interestingly, tasters in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a Czech Pale Lager made with domestic pilsner malt from one made with Czech pilsner malt.

Despite differences in growing region, climate, and likely even barley variety, as well as malting approach, the pilsner malts used in this xBmt were similar enough to produce largely indistinguishable beers. It’s possible this lack of a perceived difference was due to excessive hop and/or yeast character, though considering the style, that seems an unlikely explanation.

As is often the case, prior to my own triangle test attempts, I felt I detected a slight my noticeable difference between the beers in side-by-side samplings, an what I perceived unsurprisingly aligned with common conceptions of these malts. Lo and behold, when blind to which beer was in which cup, those differences faded such I couldn’t consistently tell them apart. While I’ve historically tended to gravitate toward continental pilsner malts when making classic European pale lagers, I’ve been emboldened by these results to use domestic alternatives when regionally appropriate options aren’t handy.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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