9 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

My wife and I went to dinner last weekend and I ordered a Hofbrau Oktoberfest. The waiter came back to say that the bartender told him they just ran out of it so I ordered a Stiegl Lager from Austria. This is a relatively wimpy gold lager (I assume it's their pilsner... they have many styles) brewed in Salzburg, Austria. I did some research and formulated a recipe and brewed it this morning.

MYGL

8½ lbs Weyermann Pilsner malt
1¼ lbs Munich Light
4 oz Carafoam (mash temp was 150° for 90 mins)
1.25 oz Spalt pellets 3% for 60 mins (4.5 AAU)
1 oz Saaz 4.0% for 10 minutes
Wyeast 2206 Bavarian lager yeast

OG: 1.053, FG: 1.012, IBU: 25, SRM: 5, ABV: 5.2%

This tricky part was the yeast. I don't know if 2206 is the right profile for this beer, but the original did have a little more happening than just a standard pilsner character. All of the ingredients were super fresh and the 2206 was smacked Sunday, starter made Monday and spun on the stirplate for almost 48 hours. Does anyone out there have any experience with this beer? I thought it was pretty nice, overall. Their website says that they use mainly Noble hops from the Mühlviertel (whatever that is) but for their pilsner they also use Saaz. Cheers.

[cavman]

Looks nice, the hop levels make it seem more like a Dortmunder than a pilsner however.

[Jimmy James]

I've had Stiegl from the big cans several times. I don't think it's too bad. Reminds me a little of Staro. Not familiar with the Wyeast part numbers but I'd probably go with whatever one is the Urquell strain, or something Czech. I think they had Staro's yeast as a special release at one point, which would probably work well for a Stiegl clone.

[Big Nake]

I'd probably go with whatever one is the Urquell strain, or something Czech.

Yeah, we're on the same page there. When I was at the LHBS getting the pilsner malt, I also picked up a Wyeast 2001 Urquell activator too. I had already smacked the 2206 so I went with that, but the 2001 was under consideration for sure. Also, I found out that the OCT-NOV-DEC VSS strains will not include 2782 Staro-Prague lager yeast as it did last year, which is too bad. It's a great yeast. This 2206 may produce a beer with a maltier character than Stiegl really has, but it will still be a nice beer and I could always try it again with the 2001 too. Cheers!

[jayb151]

Yeah, we're on the same page there. When I was at the LHBS getting the pilsner malt, I also picked up a Wyeast 2001 Urquell activator too. I had already smacked the 2206 so I went with that, but the 2001 was under consideration for sure. Also, I found out that the OCT-NOV-DEC VSS strains will not include 2782 Staro-Prague lager yeast as it did last year, which is too bad. It's a great yeast. This 2206 may produce a beer with a maltier character than Stiegl really has, but it will still be a nice beer and I could always try it again with the 2001 too. Cheers!

Ken, if you want to grow up some of that Staro-prauge, I still have some sitting in my fridge. It would probably take some lovin', but if you want it it's yours.

[Big Nake]

Ken, if you want to grow up some of that Staro-prauge, I still have some sitting in my fridge. It would probably take some lovin', but if you want it it's yours.

JB: Did you use it in something? Or is it still in the activator? I was hoping it was coming back out for this quarter's VSS, but Billy up at Perfect Brewing tells me that all three of the VSS strains for OCT-NOV-DEC are English Ale yeasts. I don't think we need to get into handing off yeast, but I do appreciate the thought, JB. It's a versatile yeast, fo sho.

[DaBearSox]

I had a pretty high end guy come in asking for me to find this beer tonight. Kinda ironic...bought like a grand worth of wine/beer tonight, we got to talkin and somehow wound up with him talking to his PR people about getting me a beer trip in Germany...i need to find this stuff...It was the Stiegl Gold Brau

[Malzig]

Their website says that they use mainly Noble hops from the Mühlviertel (whatever that is) but for their pilsner they also use Saaz.

The Mühlviertel is the region of Austria most closely associated with the Czech Republic, so it seems like a Czech yeast would be a distinct possibility. Did you have the Goldbrau Premium or the Pilsner? It does sound like the Premium is more of an Export style. The recipe, as it stands, seems more like a Dortmunder Export than a Pilsner.

[Big Nake]

It was only until I checked their site (a few days later) that I realized how many different styles of beer they brew. This beer was pale yellow (not as pale as a Bud Light), had that very distinct continental pilsner-malt flavor, a touch more in the hop department than a standard gold beer would have and it was pretty nice overall. I wish I knew if it was the pilsner or the Goldbrau but at this point I don't know. I see that, geographically, Salzburg is very close to Munich but it's also near Budejovice and Plzen so all bets are off on the yeast. Maybe I'll make the exact same recipe but use the 2001 next time. Cheers guys.

[Big Nake]

Maybe this beer just jumped out at me because it was fresh. Everything about it suggested that it was fresh & properly handled. So many times when I get something like a Pilsner Urquell or even an Ayinger or Paulaner product (anything from Europe, really), I am disappointed because they seem old, stale or mishandled.