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As a Dutch home brewer from the Netherlands, I grew up drinking Pilsners. For those who might not know, the Netherlands is home to several large and well-known Pilsner breweries, such as Heineken and Grolsch—with Grolsch being my favorite. However, the Dutch craft beer scene only began to flourish around 2012, influenced by the American trend of hop-forward beer styles like IPAs. Before this, most people primarily drank Pilsners, Belgian ales, and German beers. So, it was definitely time for something new to excite the taste buds. Ever since, the IPA became one of the more popular beer styles in the Netherlands, and many breweries release a new one almost every week.

After drinking so many Hazy IPAs lately, my palate is craving something crisper and more crushable, like a lager. That said, I must admit I’m a big fan of hoppy beers, so it still needs to have some hoppy character—but without being unbalanced. That’s why I recently brewed a Modern-style Pilsner featuring both noble and new-world hops, using modern hopping techniques. The result is a crisp yet soft Pilsner with aromas of white grapes, gooseberry, lime zest, and the classic spicy, herbal notes that define a Pilsner.

Recipe
Batch size: 5.5 Gallons
Brewhouse efficiency: 76%
Original gravity: 1.049
Final gravity: 1.010
IBU: 24
Color: 3 SRM (6.1 EBC)
ABV: 5.1%

Malts (10.5 lbs)
10 lbs (95%) — Dingemans Pilsen
0.50 lbs (5%) — Weyermann Carapils

Hops (5.95 oz)
0.35 oz (13 IBU) — Hallertau Blanc 10.5% — Boil — 60 min
0.35 oz (5 IBU) — Hallertau Blanc 10.5% — Boil — 10 min
2 oz (6 IBU) — Hallertau Blanc 10.5% — Aroma — 20 min hopstand at 167 °F
1.75 oz — Motueka 8% — Dry Hop — day 9
1 oz — Hallertau Blanc 10.5% — Dry Hop — day 9
0.50 oz — CZ Saaz 2.1% — Dry Hop — day 9

Yeast
2pkg — Lallemand NovaLager 

I have used Lallemand’s NovaLager for a quick and clean (modern) fermentation. But if you’d want to go for a more traditional fermentation, use a typical lager yeast strain such as Fermentis SafLager W-34/70, Omega OYL-106 German Lager I, Wyeast WY2124 Bohemian Lager or White Labs WLP830 German Lager.

Fermentation
Primary — 57 °F — 7 days
Diacetyl Rest — 61 °F — 2 days
Dry Hop — 57 °F — 1 days
Cold Crash — 39 °F — 3 days

After fermentation has completed, dump as much yeast as possible if you have a conical fermenter. Dry hop for approximately 24-48 hours. Cold crash for 3 days after the hops have been in contact for 24-48 hours. Be sure to dump as much hops as possible. Transfer the beer to a keg and lager for 4 weeks before bottling or serving.

By Matt, Brouwerij Zoetwater