Better Brew Czech Pilsner

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calumscott

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First saw this new beer kit concept in a facebook post by my LHBS. Always one to try something new, and being in need of some lagers, I picked up the Czech Pilsner.

I brewed it, as I generally do the first time I brew a kit, exactly as it said on the squidgy packet, just a kilo of dextrose and off we go.

Two weeks in FV (it had finished long before, I just didn't get round to bottling it) and bottled with 1 tsp dextrose for a good fizz.

Two further weeks at fermentation temp and a week in the shed and, although still young, this is a class kit brew!! The heavy priming load really works to make a proper fizzy lager and it needs it too - this is a seriously hopped beer, and a really good fizz delivers all the aroma right to the palette. The head is a perfect lager head and it stays pretty much to the bottom of the glass.

I'm VERY impressed with this. It passes the "Will I brew it again?" test with an emphatic "yes" and I'm also going to work my way through the rest of them too!

It seems to me that the claims on the packet about better ingredients are true, its certainly hoppy, it produces a lovely head, the flavour depth is tremendous, plenty of body.

Beats all premium and most craft lagers I've tried! Now, I guess I'm going to have to brew the next one with a kilo and a half of LME just to see if it gets any better!!!

Awesome beer, if only all kits were as good as this...

EDIT: I reckon this will stand up really well to a curry too and as luck would have it there's a Balti with my name on it en-route to my front door... further reviewing may follow if I stay sober enough.

EDIT 2: I'm sure this'll improve with time, I think the combination of it being young and properly fizzy is to blame, but the yeast pack in the bottle isn't very stable. I'm getting a slightly cloudy pour. Like I say, I reckon time will improve that.
 
One thing would be interested to ask... Did the instructions require brewing at lager temps or ale temps? i.e. less than 16'c or above? Really tempted to get one when get a chance, but would deffo prefer to know answer to this question :-)
 
Good point lovelldr.

This was brewed in my kitchen at room temperature.

They have designed the kits such that they don't have to be brewed at normal lager temperature. According to their marketing materials they've spent some time getting yeast strains that suit the style well (i.e. better than the standard fare you get with kits) but still allow brewing at normal kit brewers temperatures. So while it's not necessarily as "clean" as you would get with a properly cool fermented and cold lagered lager it isn't too far away at all.

I would be very interested, if someone with a brewing fridge fancied it, to see the results from these kits brewed with a real lager yeast at proper lager temperatures. My guess is that it would be pretty spectacular!

Oh, and it goes VERY well with a curry! :D
 
I've done this kit and would reiterate everything said above. Really good tasting lager that I will brew again.
 
I had also just bought this kit and was wondering about the optimum fermenting temp?

The product literature is a bit vague it describes the yeast as a slow fermenting beer yeast (not specifically a ale or lager yeast).

I've just made it up with 500 g of light spray malt and 500 g of dextrose. It has sat by my back door overnight. The strip thermometer is reading 16 - 18 degrees C an external thermometer makes the temp to be 14. Am I wasting my time or will fermentation start in a couple of days albeit at a slower rate?
 
If you read the bumph online at the hambleton bard site it tells you a bit more about it.

If you've used their yeast leave it in the kitchen and it will turn out just great.

And what's more you'll be drinking it in three weeks!!
 
Excellent, thanks Calum and thank my poorly insulated kitchen/lagering cave!
 
calumscott said:
If you read the bumph online at the hambleton bard site it tells you a bit more about it.

If you've used their yeast leave it in the kitchen and it will turn out just great.

And what's more you'll be drinking it in three weeks!!

Guess what I've got in the kitchen ready to brew tomorrow Calum.... ;)

:D :D :D :D :D :D

:cheers:
 
Took about 24 hours to get going but now fermenting away nicely at 15 degrees. Got a healthy layer of sediment that is giving off plenty of bubbles. So far so good with the low temp brew.....

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I am loving the sound of this review. Especially the bit about how well it goes with a curry :D

I've just bought this kit and will be brewing at the weekend. Yaaay
 
Brewed this one about a month ago and i must say it is a fantastic tasting beer.
Been brewing mostly ales and stout as i haden't found a kit lager that i truley enjoyed drinking.
Those days are gone with this baby,Lovely crisp pilsner reminded me of the German Krombacher pils
and that stuff is pretty expensive.
Only down side is if you invite your mates around don't expect to have much left in the morning. :hmm:
Will be brewing this again asap! :thumb:
 
I was just looking at this kit.

The last Czech Pils I tried was the Brewers Choice a dry kit + hop tea system, and I wasn't overly impressed with the resulting beer.. Although I have a feeling it would have been better if I had done a proper boil.

Is this kit a pre-hopped malt extract? Just add extra Kg of sugar and away we go?

I've been holding off on doing another lager as I don't have a temperature controlled fermenter. I'd love to be able to properly lager my brew.
 
Seems to be pre hopped, I added DME, the raw wort taste is very "hoppy". Mine stalled at a temp of 10 C so I moved it to a slightly warmer spot, started going again at 14 degrees. Still not sure what kind of yeast it is.
 
Thanks to these reviews this is the next brew lined up for chateau sod.
(My gf has developed a love of pilsner and I browsed here to see what you chaps had to say about the various kits.)

The yeast instructions call for a temp of 20deg but some of you are brewing much cooler than that?

Basically, why? :hmm:
(My previous got stuck, immovably, at .20 so I don't want to fuss with this one too much.)

Also, I assume using LME is a no brainer for this one?
 
nightsod said:
The yeast instructions call for a temp of 20deg but some of you are brewing much cooler than that?

Basically, why? :hmm:
Probably because we are using a genuine lager yeast which needs cooler temperatures for fermentation. Most kits are supplied with an ale yeast, which you can get away with using if you ferment cooler than 'normal (say 16-18C).
 
Mine fermented fine at 14-15 degrees. Stopped at 1012 after 14 days. Very impressive for a kit, after only a couple of weeks the kegged stuff is crisp and highly drinkable !
 
oh

my

goodness :eek:

Tried a bottle of this tonight and it's mega :thumb:












That is all :shock:

:cool:
 
Ok... :shock: wheres SWMBO's credit card!? Its time to order...

I am yet to find a 'lager' kit that is drinkable.... maybe this is the one.

Are people using Lager yeast or the kit yeast?

D
 
Darcey said:
Ok... :shock: wheres SWMBO's credit card!? Its time to order...

I am yet to find a 'lager' kit that is drinkable.... maybe this is the one.

Are people using Lager yeast or the kit yeast?

D

Haway man Darcey keep up!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

All the good vibes me and CalumScott have been giving off about the BB stuff you must know by now :D They supply their own lager yeast with the kit :thumb: :grin: :grin: :grin:

I've done both the BB Export Lager and this one. Get one ;) :cool:

:cheers:
 
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