NZ Pilsner with S-189
Hi all, Ed here! I'd like to share my experiences around brewing the perfect (for me) New Zealand Pilsner with Fermentis SafLager S-189.
New Zealand Pilsner is my favourite go to style to have on tap. It's the beer I reach for after a hard day's work, or maybe after an easy one too!
Being a home brewer I like to play around with ingredients. There are a few hops you can play with, but in my book Nelson Sauvin and/or Riwaka need to shine through for that NZ Pilsner feel. I bitter with either Pacific Jade or any noble hop I might have around to get some of that European hop flavour in the background.
On the malt side I like to keep things simple - Pilsner malt for 90% or more of the malt bill. I've paired it with Gladfield Gladiator (works well), and currently really enjoy a splash of Vienna or Munich (5-10%) for a bit more of that breadiness & complexity.
For yeast I'm a big believer in using a lager yeast for this style. I know people use US-05 for it but you just don't get that crispness that a lager yeast delivers; there's always a (stone) fruit component with ale yeast.
I tend to use pressure fermentation (Fermzilla Allrounder for the win!) to naturally carbonate my beer (which is a whole other post!) and so sulphur production is a big concern with lager yeasts.
I recently stumbled across Fermentis S-189. It feels like a yeast that's not on many brewers' radar, including mine. A lager yeast from Switzerland, I've now used it for 3 or 4 batches I have to say: give it a try! For me it produced a very clean, highly drinkable lager with little sulphur and it dropped clear very fast. Did I mention it's also a bit cheaper than most other lager yeasts out there?
After fermentation is complete, I crash cool, add sometimes some clarification agent (WW Brewclear or simple Gelatine) either to the keg or the fermenter, wait a day or two and it's ready to drink.
Enough rambling, prost!