New MKRKIT: Patio Pilsner
4.8% ABV | 33 IBU | 2.3 SRM
The Patio Pilsner is a light lager with a balanced bitter backbone. The body is comprised almost entirely of Pilsen malt, the lightest malt available. Its delicate body provides a platform for the eastern European derived hops to express their floral and spice characteristics. While this beer is light, it shouldn’t be confused with a “lite” beer, as its full malt complexity and hop profile gives any craft beer lover plenty of reasons to take another sip.
Grain
The grain bill is very simple: 1000g of Pilsen malt and 20g of acidulated malt. Acidulated malt is used by breweries that adhere to the Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law that dictates what ingredients can be used in a beer (barley, wheat, hops, yeast, and water), and what ingredients cannot (literally everything else). Acidulated malt is just regular barley that has been subjected to lactic acid fermentation and is widely used in Pilsners to drop the pH of the mash. It doesn't add any sourness to the overall beer, but it makes sure the mash pH stays slightly lower to prevent the conversion of S-methyl methionine (SMM) to dimethyl sulphoxide (DMS).
Hops
The hop bill is comprised of Vanguard, Tettnanger, and Sterling. Vanguard is a United States grown relative of Hallertau Mittelfrüh and yields an herbal spiciness to the beer. Tettnanger is similar to Hallertau but has a softer spice and more floral overtones. Sterling is a close relative to Saaz and shares a lot of its classic noble hop characteristics, but it was bred to be a more resilient hop in the field and thereby more available to us brewers!
Yeast
A massively popular lager yeast from VLB Berlin is used in the Patio Pilsner. This yeast is a true bottom-fermenting lager yeast that has good flocculation and a neutral character, and is used to make classic Pilsners in Germany, Czech Republic, and in craft breweries the world over.
The Patio Pilsner MKRKIT can be found in the MKRKIT section on the BEERMKR app available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.