Italian Pilsner

Birra Perfetta

Yeast Driven Website

And Italian pils? Well, I had to do a little digging to find out whether Agostino Arioli does it for Tipopils, but the answer appears to be no. Instead, he uses a simpler step mash. ...

One of the things that makes Tipopils unique is its dry-hopping philosophy.

First, the additions are small—like, really small.
Second, they come in two stages: one during active fermentation and one during “maturation” aka lagering.

My first addition, made just before the d-rest, was a mere 7 grams (remember this was a 4-gallon batch, so it’d be fractionally higher for a 5-gallon batch). The second, made during the crash down to lagering temps, was 14g. Yep, that’s less than an ounce of 3.9% AA dry hops. I wasn’t sure I’d even taste it in the end product, but I trusted in Arioli and Alworth. They didn’t let me down. ....

I’d really like to try this recipe again with some other noble hops, and maybe even a super-noble like Loral. Brynildson uses Saphir,

Beervana

https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2020/5/26/more-to-italian-pilsners

Arioli’s approach seems to be: start with a German model and trick it out. The recipe Arioli offered me looks very German—pilsner malt, a tiny hint of CaraMunich, and Perle, Northern Brewer, Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, and Saphir hops. Yet other techniques are less traditional. “When we are talking about lager, especially pils beer,” he said, “Italian beers are more hoppy, more fruity, and also a bit more malty.”

Possibly the most important element is fermentation temperature. “We ferment at higher temperatures, and this makes a certain differences,” Arioli says. While it’s typical to ferment in the middle-forties, Arioli goes higher, as much as ten degrees. The coldest he ferments is around 52˚ F. We know that higher fermentation temperatures produce more esters, but there may be more going on than that here. Arioli also dry-hops during primary fermentation with Tipopils. We know the biochemistry changes hop expression when yeast is still active, and that must be in play here—the hoppy character he gets is certainly unusual. It’s richer and more integrated, deeper somehow, than in any other lager I’ve tried. Interestingly, Arioli dry hops at very low levels (30 grams/hectoliter in primary, 70 grams/hecto during maturation), but nevertheless gets massive character. This is the classic less-is-more approach of an Italian (as opposed to the American more-is-more thinking). Finally, Arioli doesn’t just dry-hop the beer, he does a quick post-flameout addition as well.

….

Arioli is also far more attentive to pH than other brewers I’ve spoken to. He starts with a low mash pH and suggests adjusting your sparge liquor to a pH of 5.5. Why? Because higher pH may extract tannins from the husk of the grain, giving the beer astringency. Arioli’s suggestion of 5.5 ensures no tannins are extracted. He also starts fermentation at a low pH for yeast health—usually around 5.1—and sometimes adjusts the wort again at this point.

BYO

https://byo.com/article/italian-pils/

Brewmaster Matt Brynildson of Firestone Walker. As Matt elaborates, this beer is made with Weyermann Pilsner as a base malt plus, like many craft-brewed versions, with 5 percent Weyermann Carafoam^®. The bittering hop is Magnum at the start of the boil, while two additions of Spalter Select at 30 and 10 minutes before flameout provide the flavor. Finally, two additions of the fruity, spicy, and floral German Saphir provide the aroma in the whirlpool and as a dry hop after fermentation.

In Salt Lake City, Utah, Kevin Templin, Owner/Brewer of TF Brewing, has created a very drinkable, single-step infusion interpretation of the style, which he calls Adriatic Pilsner. .. His hops are entirely Slovenian, which give the beer, in Templin’s words, “an herbal, mint-like quality.” For bittering and flavor, Kevin adds Styrian Bobek (a diploid aroma hybrid between Northern Brewer and an unknown seedling). The aroma hop is the intense Aurora, which has the same genetic origin as Bobek. It goes into the whirlpool and also serves as the dry hop. He ferments this lager at a low 45 °F (7 °C)

At Schilling Beer Company of Littleton, New Hampshire...he hops in the Birra Alpinista are, again, Magnum for bittering, as well as Hersbrucker and Styrian Bobek for flavor and aroma (including for dry hopping). The brewery describes this creation as an “indelibly pale lager” with a bouquet of “delicate scents of chrysanthemum and lemony verbena,

BYO recipe - For bittering the Birra Venezia, we selected Hallertauer Blanc with its white wine aromas. The flavor hop in the middle of the 90-minute boil is the appropriately named Hüll Melon, while the aroma hops are a mixture of the brand new Tettnanger offspring Aurum and the Spalter offspring Diamant, both added in the whirlpool and the lagering tank. They contribute a lingering noble, hoppy-fresh, herbal-spicy, and floral bouquet to the brew.