Czech Pilsner — Home Brew Recipe

Czech Pilsner — Home Brew Recipe

Czech Pilsner — A Classic Bohemian Lager

The Czech pilsner is the original pale lager, first brewed in Plzeň in 1842. Unlike its German cousin, the Czech version offers a richer malt presence balanced by the distinctive spicy, herbal character of Saaz hops. This recipe produces a brilliantly clear, straw-gold beer with a pillowy white head and refreshing finish.

Ingredients

Fermentables (for 23 litres)

  • 4.5 kg Pilsner malt
  • 300 g Carapils malt

Hops

  • 40 g Saaz hops (60 minutes)
  • 30 g Saaz hops (15 minutes)
  • 25 g Saaz hops (flameout)

Yeast

  • 1 packet Saflager W-34/70 or Mangrove Jack's M84 Bohemian Lager yeast

Other

  • 1 tsp Irish moss (15 minutes)
  • Half a Campden tablet in strike water

Method

1. Mash

Heat 14 litres of water to 67°C. Add the crushed grains and maintain a mash temperature of 65°C for 60 minutes. This lower temperature produces a more fermentable wort for that dry, crisp finish.

2. Sparge

Sparge with 18 litres of water at 76°C to collect approximately 27 litres of wort.

3. Boil

Bring to a rolling boil for 90 minutes. A longer boil helps drive off DMS precursors from the pilsner malt. Add hops according to the schedule above, and Irish moss at 15 minutes remaining.

4. Cool and Pitch

Rapidly chill the wort to 10°C. Transfer to your fermenter and pitch the lager yeast. Ferment at 10-12°C for two weeks.

5. Lager

Once fermentation completes, gradually reduce temperature to 2-4°C over several days. Lager for 4-6 weeks minimum. Patience is essential here — the cold conditioning smooths flavours and produces brilliant clarity.

6. Package

Bottle with 100g priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.4-2.6 volumes CO2. Czech pilsners benefit from higher carbonation.

Expected Results

  • ABV: 4.8-5.2%
  • IBU: 35-40
  • Colour: Pale gold
  • OG: 1.048-1.052
  • FG: 1.010-1.014

Brewing Tips

Water chemistry matters: Czech pilsners were originally brewed with extremely soft water. If your water is hard, consider diluting with distilled water or treating with a Campden tablet to remove chlorine.

Temperature control is crucial: Lager yeast fermented too warm produces fruity esters and off-flavours. A fermentation fridge or cool cellar maintaining steady temperatures below 14°C is essential for clean results.

Don't rush the lagering: While tempting to sample early, the cold conditioning period transforms the beer. Four weeks is minimum; six weeks is better.

Recommended Products

You'll find everything needed for this recipe at BrewCo:

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