2C - Classic American Pilsner

Classic American pilsner, or CAP as it's affectionately called by many homebrewers, is one style everyone should try and brew. Its history coincides with the immigration of European settlers into America and the use of the materials at hand.

Many homebrewers wonder why American breweries used adjuncts like corn and rice in the their beers when they weren't used in Europe. The reason is that our barley was primarily of the 6-row variety which was high in protein and husks. To use the 6-row barley exclusively to make beer in the early days of the last century was difficult. The protein in the barley made the beer hazy and unstable, and the husks gave the beer an astringent flavor that most found objectionable. The German brewers were the ones that came up with the solution. By using a large percentage of corn in the grist, the beer not only came out crystal clear and stable, it now had a nice corn sweetness which most people liked. It was just lucky that the 6-row barley also had extra enzymes to convert the starches in the adjuncts to fermentable sugars. The result was a clean flavorful lager which lasted up until prohibition.

If you can't find flaked maize or rice, you will have to do a cereal mash with polenta, corn meal, or raw rice if that's what you prefer to use. Click here to learn how to it's done.

Cluster hops was the variety grown at the time and was the one most likely to have been used for bittering. It isn't liked much these days because of its rustic harshness, but in those days it was the hop of choice for bittering. The German brewers probably preferred their native hops for flavor and aroma, such as Saaz, Hallertau, and other noble German varieties. The hopping rate was rather high and it is possible that the German brewers used first wort hopping in their beers to yield a smooth clean hop aroma and flavor. There is no evidence it was used but most of the German brewers would have known about the technique.

The German brewers brought over their own lager yeast when they immigrated to America. These days any good pilsner yeast will work well. For best results, pitch cold, around 45°F (7°C) and let the temperature slowly increase to about 48-50 °F (9-10°C) for the bulk of the fermentation. This should eliminate most of the diacetyl produced by the yeast. Give the beer a diacetyl rest at the end by raising the temperature to about 55-60°F (13-16°C) for a couple of days to insure the yeast clean up all the by-produces of fermentation.

Watch your sparge water temperature and keep it below 168°F (76°C) so you don't extract too many tannins from the husks. These details will help you brew an award winning classic American pilsner.

• Aroma: There is a low to medium corn-like sweetness when corn is used and/or a light grainy aroma from the malt. The hop aroma is medium to moderately high. To emulate the pre-prohibition classic American lager brewed by the German brewers, use the noble German hops. As with most lagers, you should find no fruitiness or diacetyl, just the clean lager character. Some DMS is acceptable in this beer.
• Appearance: Classic American pilsners are yellow to deep gold in color with a big, long lasting white head. The beer should be crystal clear.
• Flavor: There should be a moderate to moderately high maltiness. It will not be quite as high as the Bohemian or German pilsners because of all the adjuncts used. When corn is used you will get the grainy corn-like sweetness typical of this adjunct. When rice is used, the beers will be more crisp and dry and lack the corn-like sweetness. Rice generally acts like table sugar in that it increases alcohol without adding any flavor. The hop flavors are medium to high from noble German hop varieties. The hops may be added as normal in a late addition or you may like to try the first wort hopping method where the hops are added just after the runoff is started and kept at sparge temperature until they are boiled in the wort. Somehow this method causes the hop constituents to bind with the wort and give a smooth clean hop character most people prefer. The hop bitterness is medium to high as well and should be clean but not harsh. You should taste no fruitiness or diacetyl, just the typical well lagered smoothness of a lager.
• Mouthfeel: The classic American pilsner has a medium body and a rich creamy mouthfeel. Carbonation levels are medium to high.
• Overall Impression: The classic American pilsner should compare favorably with most European pilsners, but it will show the native American grains and corn when used. Noble hops shine through to balance the corn-like sweetness. This beer is much more substantial then the light American lagers mass produced and sold as lite beer.
• Comments: When trying to brew a pre-prohibition American pilsner, the OG would have been higher, in the 1.050-1.060 range while post-prohibition classic American pilsners would have been in the 1.044-1.048 range. Along with the OG and alcohol differences, the IBUs dropped from 30-40 down to the 25-30 IBU range after prohibition. To be true to history, you can use cluster hops as the bittering hop and any noble hop for the flavor and aroma. I'm not sure if a pre-prohibition classic American pilsner would fit into the style guidelines or not, you'll have to be the judge when entering them into competitions.
• Ingredients: Six-row barley should be used if brewing a historically correct version of th CAP. Use up to 30% flaked maize to dilute the protein levels of the 6-row barley. Native American hops such as Clusters and traditional noble varieties for aroma and flavor are appropriate. Do not use the modern American "C" type hops such as Cascade or Centennial as they throw the beer's flavor out of style.
• Vital Statistics: OG: 1.044-1.060 FG: 1.010-1.015 IBUs: 25-40 SRM: 3-6 ABV: 4.5-6%.
• Commercial Examples: There are not really any commercial examples of this beer except for an occasional brewpub or microbrewery special, most are brewed by homebrewers that appreciate the style and it's history.

Information for this page was adapted from the BJCP Style Guidelines for 2008 and New Brewing Lager Beer written by Gregory J. Noonan and published by Brewers Publications, 1996.

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