Tested our newly built Brew Kettle today by brewing up a batch of German Pilsener. Everything went surprisingly well, but had some small problems also. We will have to lower the inner kettle, as there was a lot of dead space with the current setup (which meant slower cooling with the immersion chiller as it wasn’t fully immersed). Also, the pump got jammed once during the mash. I brewed outdoors, which might not have been the smartest thing to do during the summer, as the sweet wort aromas attracted tons of insects. I managed to find a dead wasp in the kettle after I drained it into the fermenter, so hopefully the batch hasn’t got contaminated. I pitched two packets of W-34/70, and threw the fermenter into the fermentation fridge set at 10C. I got around 55-60% efficiency, so the prediction was quite correct. I ended up with a little less volume, but a little higher gravity, than expected. The new mill was working great, and will tighten the gap for the next crush, as I think the crush could definitely be finer. Hopefully this turns out nice! I’m hoping for a Prima Pils-like pilsner, with lots of floral hoppiness. Below are some pictures from the brewday and the recipe.

Recipe: German Pilsener
Style: German Pilsner
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 33.46 l
Post Boil Volume: 27.04 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 22.00 l   
Bottling Volume: 18.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 11.3 EBC
Estimated IBU: 43.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 56.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 66.2 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt           Name                                     Type      #    %/IBU         
6.500 kg      Pilsner (4.5 EBC)                        Grain     1    92.9 %        
0.250 kg      Aromatic Malt (51.2 EBC)                 Grain     2    3.6 %         
0.250 kg      Wheat (6.0 EBC)                          Grain     3    3.6 %         
16.00 g       Magnum [12.70 %] - Boil 60.0 min         Hop       4    21.1 IBUs     
33.00 g       Saaz [2.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min            Hop       5    7.1 IBUs      
20.00 g       Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil  Hop       6    6.4 IBUs      
33.00 g       Saaz [2.70 %] - Boil 15.0 min            Hop       7    4.6 IBUs      
20.00 g       Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil  Hop       8    4.1 IBUs      
33.00 g       Saaz [2.70 %] - Boil 0.0 min             Hop       9    0.0 IBUs      
20.00 g       Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil  Hop       10   0.0 IBUs      
2.0 pkg       Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70)  Yeast     11   -