# 🍺 Top-down Brew: Czech Lager - Premium Pale

Original Gravity

Enter the desired original gravity as specific gravity (1.0XX) or degrees plato (°P).

Style specification: 1.044 to 1.060 or 11 to 14.7 °P

Target volume

Enter the desired volume at the end of the boil. The volume units can be either liters, gallons, or US barrels.

Measurement Units
Metric US US Barrels

Select the preferred unit of measurement for the inputs and outputs. Metric uses liters, grams, and kilograms. US uses gallons, ounces, and pounds. US Barrels (31 gallons = 1 barrel) is in barrels, pounds, and ounces.

Mash Efficiency

Enter the anticipated mash efficiency percentage. If this is not known, try the following values based on the sparge method: Steeping (50%), No-sparge or brew-in-a-bag (65 to 75%), Batch sparge (80%), or Continuous (fly) sparge (85 to 90%).

Grains

Enter the name, fermentable %, Lovibond, and yield (SG or percent) with comma separations.

The base grain is a continental pilsner malt, such as Weyermann or Moravian pilsner malt. Small amounts (about 5%) of very light crystal malt may increase foam and body. Acidulated malt is optional for achieving a proper mash pH.

- Beer-analytics.com Czech lager premium pale analyses
- Brew United's grain database
- BYO magazine grain and adjunct resource

Sugars

Enter the name, fermentable %, Lovibond, and yield (SG or percent) with comma separations. The grain and sugar percentages must add to 100%.

Sugars are not needed. Malt extract brewers could use 100% light malt extract. Most of these are based upon pilsner malt and may already have small amounts of light specialty malts such as CaraPils.

- BYO magazine sugar resource

Bitterness

Enter the desired bitterness in international bittering units (IBUs).

Style specification: 30 to 45 IBU. The beer-analytics.com averages suggest a BU/GU of .74.

Hops

Enter the hop name, IBU %, AA %, and boil minutes with comma separations.

The Czech Saaz hop is a defining feature. Possible substitutes are American-grown Saaz or Sterling (a hop bred from Saaz). Magnum is sometimes used for bittering. Most of the reviewed premium pilsner recipes have three or four hop additions, but no dry hopping.

- Beer-analytics.com Czech lager analyses
- Brew United hop database
- BYO magazine's hop resources

Late Boil Additions

Enter late boil additions like spices with the name and dosage (grams/liter), with a comma separation.

Spices are not needed for this style.

Dry Hops

Enter dry hops with name and dosage (grams/liter), with a comma separation.

Dry hopping is not needed for this style.

Yeast
Ale Lager

Select the yeast type, ale or lager.

There are several liquid Czech lager yeasts to choose from. German lager yeasts like W34-70 might be acceptable substitutes.

← Click here when the data entry is done.

## Results

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## Notes

2021 BJCP 18B - Czech lager: Premium pale characteristic ingredients: "Traditional Czech hops. Czech malt. Czech lager yeast. Water low in sulfate and carbonate provides a distinctively soft, rounded hop profile despite high hopping rates. The bitterness level of some larger commercial examples has dropped in recent years, although not as much as in many contemporary German examples."

Vital Statistics: OG: 1.044 – 1.060, IBUs: 30 – 45, FG: 1.013 – 1.017, SRM: 3.5 – 6, ABV: 4.2 – 5.8%

The iconic commercial example of this style is Pilsner Urquell. The introduction of this beer in the mid-1800s revolutionized brewing to make pale lager beers a world-wide standard.

The brewing water needs to be soft, low in carbonates and sulfates. The pH may need special attention. Decoction mashes are traditional, but some experts feel that a good example can be brewed with standard infusion or step mashes.

## Sources

Beer-analytics.com Czech lager premium pale analyses

2021 BJCP 03 - Czech lager styles

Carr, N. (2014). Bohemian Pilsner: Style Characteristics, Brewing Tips, & History

Dornbusch, H. (2004, March-April). Bohemian pilsner: The world's first blond lager. BYO, p. 21 - 24.

Dornbusch, H. (2008, May - June). Czech pilsner: Recreating a brew revolution. BYO, p. 40 - 45.

Strong, G. (2014, November). Bohemian pilsner: Brewing the classic pale lager of the Czech Republic. BYO, p. 59 - 66.

Strong, G. (2015, May-June). The everyday Czech pale lager: The newest addition to the BJCP style guide. BYO, p. 30 - 35.

Zainasheff, J. (2009, November). Bohemian pilsner: Crisp, balanced, and spicy. BYO, p. 19 - 23.

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