BeerBorg

The Czech pilsner has been in the bottles for 4 weeks now. It was my first MR B. batch, just plain HME. Now I will call a success but nothing real special. It has a flavor in it I just cant place. My best try would be kinda woodsy, it hits about the middle of the tongue. This doesn't taste much like a pilsner to me, and it is darker, but its not bad. In short, its drinkable, but is that normal for this HME.

Thanks from a newbie,
Dave

That flavor is Pride of Ringwood hops... It really unfortunate that they used those hops instead of an appropriate hop for the style. I also found this HME to be a bit dark and too heavy in PoR. I'm letting mine set for a good long time in hopes the flavor will diminish.

It's Pride of Ringwood Coopers uses for Bittering hops like Swen says. It's the worst in that extract and the North West Pale Ale IMHO. (don't ever buy a 5 gallon can of Coopers Pilsner if you don't like it, it's the same stuff).

It makes both of those extracts basically "useless" to me to use when I make frankenbrew with an HME. I can take the Canadian or the Patriot or other lower IBU extracts and turn them into something decent with some DME and hops and a bit of grain because the POR isn't as noticeable (to me at least), but not with those. By all logic the Pilsner should be a good Belgian base but it's not. The Canadian is a much better base to build on.

BTW, I do think there is saaz in the pilsner as a finishing hop. But the POR is just too much for saaz to cover up. You need something like Simcoe, Columbus, Northern Brewer, Nugget, a bunch of Fuggles or the like... something spicy/earthy/resiny strong flavored in it's own way. I don't find that purely citrusy hops do it as well.

The darker colored or more malty extracts tend to cover it up better too. IE I find that the Oktoberfest is fine to build on, the Stout/Porter I can work with.... The seasonals have been fine in that regards as well. The bewitched has some POR flavor, but it's covered up by the crystal and if you add some DME/Hops you can pretty much mask it.

EDIT: BTW, another reason it doesn't taste like a Pilsner is that the Coopers yeast is an ale yeast, not a lager yeast. That makes it easier for most folks to brew without special equipment, but it's not going to give you the crisp finish of a real pilsner.

I wasn't to crazy about the pils either, but it did get better with age. I gave the last 2 from that batch 6 months in the bottle, and they were better. That is thing about that extract, it will turn people off to pils, thinking that is what they will get.

BeerRust wrote:I wasn't to crazy about the pils either, but it did get better with age. I gave the last 2 from that batch 6 months in the bottle, and they were better. That is thing about that extract, it will turn people off to pils, thinking that is what they will get.

Now that you mention it, it is silly that they would include this in the starter kit as you are right. Most people before they get the craft bug pretty much only drink pilsners (lagers). So they make a lager expecting it to taste like a lager (ie what they always drink) and when it doesnt I am sure a lot of people get turned off. But, it does remind me that I still have a can of it left and the pantry is now at perfect lager temp, so may just have to pick up a true lager yeast and see how it turns out. However, I am a bit worried about how much the PoR may stand out with the crisper finish.

Thanks for the replies and the good info. So thats the infamous PoR hop flavor. Not horible, but not great either. So its only real strong if you do the HME by its self. And not so bad if you spice it up in a recipe.

DaYooper wrote:But, it does remind me that I still have a can of it left and the pantry is now at perfect lager temp, so may just have to pick up a true lager yeast and see how it turns out. However, I am a bit worried about how much the PoR may stand out with the crisper finish.

Mine was done with S-23 lager yeast...

tekn50 wrote:Thanks for the replies and the good info. So thats the infamous PoR hop flavor. Not horible, but not great either. So its only real strong if you do the HME by its self. And not so bad if you spice it up in a recipe.

I'd say, rather, that it's not noticeable in the darker extracts, but it's hard to mask in the lighter ones. But that's just MHO... YMMV... I have found it worst in GBCP, Northwestern Pale Ale, and (to a somewhat lesser degree) the Diablo IPA. I didn't notice it in the light lager. I didn't notice it as much in the Patriot Lager, but it's still there. I haven't done the American Ale or Cervesa yet, so I can't speak to those. But I didn't really notice it in any of the darker extracts, or in the wheat.

I picked up some of all the "New" Mr. Beer HME's when they came out and still have some left, I have two of the Czech Pilsner and I am planning on making it Lager to see if I can clean it up. I hope so since I have two cans

Trollby wrote:I picked up some of all the "New" Mr. Beer HME's when they came out and still have some left, I have two of the Czech Pilsner and I am planning on making it Lager to see if I can clean it up. I hope so since I have two cans

I added , 1 lbs light DME , 1 Ozs Centential at flame out, and orange peel.

FWIW, the beer I just bottled with 2 cans of Patriot (from the 2-1 deal) and 1oz of hopstanded Citra tasted great and I didn't notice the POR.

mashani wrote:FWIW, the beer I just bottled with 2 cans of Patriot (from the 2-1 deal) and 1oz of hopstanded Citra tasted great and I didn't notice the POR.

The POR must stand out more in the Pils, it's the only recipe that I have done that had a " different " taste. Wasn't horrible but different. But I had that just couldn't drink it.

For any wondering if what they are tasting is the PoR, the simple test I did was to go out and buy one of these:



Coopers uses PoR across the board on this one... for bitter, flavor, aroma... so it's a good beer to experience the flavor and aroma that this hop brings.

BeerRust wrote:

mashani wrote:FWIW, the beer I just bottled with 2 cans of Patriot (from the 2-1 deal) and 1oz of hopstanded Citra tasted great and I didn't notice the POR.

The POR must stand out more in the Pils, it's the only recipe that I have done that had a " different " taste. Wasn't horrible but different. But I had that just couldn't drink it.

It's pretty strong in the NWPA too.

Not a huge fan of POR myself. However I did brew the GBCP with a lb of light DME and Saaz flavor/aroma boil. It turned out pretty well. Also did as a true lager with S23 yeast.

Just bottled the Mr. Beer Pilsner and mine came out light in color, just like a Czech Pilsner. I'll know in four weeks if it tastes like one.