New Zealand Pilsner: Style Profile
While on a Q&A panel at the Brew Your Own Boot Camp this past February in Santa Rosa, California, I was asked a question about what I thought the next big thing would be in beer styles. I didn’t think about it very long before answering, “lagers, specifically Pilsner-type beers.” I was mostly thinking about a backlash against overdone IPAs and heavy, undrinkable beers. My co-panelists Michael Tonsmeire and Ashton Lewis agreed, with Ashton adding, “When you go to a brewery, you see the brewers drinking Pilsner or Kölsch.” Satisfied with that answer, I really didn’t think about it further.
Fast-forward a month and a half, and I’m in Nelson, New Zealand giving the final keynote at the New Zealand Homebrewers Conference. At the end of my talk, I was asked a similar question about beer styles. This time after having done some local research (i.e., visiting hop farms and drinking, not necessarily in that order), I had a better answer, “New Zealand Pilsner.” I wasn’t just playing to the crowd, but I found that this local style had all the attributes I was looking for in a beer — interesting hop profile, smooth and drinkable, normal strength, and well-attenuated but not super dry. Combining some of the better attributes of Pilsner and Kölsch with intriguing modern New Zealand hops.
I was planning to do a Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) judge orientation and practice session while in New Zealand, but asked the locals if we could also arrange a tasting of commercial examples of New Zealand Pilsner. They were happy to oblige, and brought eight local versions to sample (see photo on page 29). They also had a draft of a style description they were using for local competitions.
Since this isn’t part of the published 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines, the best place to store minor styles such as this is in Category 27: Historical Beer. However, for judging purposes, I would group it along with Category 12: Pale Commonwealth Beer since it shares a similar balance and profile with some of the other beers in that category (especially British golden ale). It could also be grouped with Pilsner-type beers, Kölsch, blonde ale, or American wheat for competition purposes.
Sensory Profile
Since this style is driven by New Zealand-type hops, we should first talk about the general sensory characteristics of these products. Of course, individual hop varieties have different profiles and they are often mixed when used so it’s a bit dangerous to generalize.
I find some of the hop varieties have a tropical fruit character (such as passionfruit or lychee), but many also have a citrus character (most frequently lime or lime zest, sometimes white grapefruit). I often get a honeydew melon character in some of the hops, while others that are described as fruity might have more of a stone fruit character (apricot, peach). I do get a “green” character in some of the hops that I describe as a mix between green bell pepper and grass. These characteristics seem to be in the hops themselves, not so much in how they are used.
The Nelson Sauvin hop is very distinctive in its gooseberry and white wine-like aroma. While other hops might have characteristics that suggest elements of a Sauvignon Blanc, the Nelson Sauvin hop stands out. It would be a mistake to assume that every New Zealand beer will use this hop, however, since it is quite strong and can easily overpower a beer.
New Zealand hops generally don’t have some of the more coarse characteristics of hops such as onion, garlic, dank, catty, or piney. There can be a crossover between other non-New Zealand hop varieties in fruitiness and citrus qualities, though. In general, if you are detecting a “modern” or “New World” hop aroma and it contains some exotic tropical fruit characteristics, you are probably on the right track.
New Zealand Pilsners are not as heavily hopped as an IPA, so expect a more balanced character. The hops should not overpower the malt, and the bitterness should be noticeable but not highly aggressive. Think more in terms of an English bitter in balance; you can tell it’s a bitter beer, but you can easily imagine a more bitter beer.
The base malt profile in a New Zealand Pilsner is fairly neutral, often just showing some grainy-sweet, bready, or lightly crackery malt flavors. It generally doesn’t have a caramel flavor, or a more highly toasted malt character. The malt might have a light Graham cracker (toasted honey cracker) taste, but not so much as in German beers.
However, the body and finish of a New Zealand Pilsner is a bit fuller and softer than a German Pils. The body is usually closer to medium, and the finish is softer and rounder – it doesn’t seem crisp or biting. In this regard, it is perhaps closer to a Czech premium pale lager (Czech Pilsner) in its mouthfeel. The water doesn’t usually have much of a sulfate content, so the minerally dryness often found in a German Pils is absent.
The fermentation profile of the beer is clean and generally free of sulfur. The beer can be made with lager or ale yeast, but the fermentation profile should be clean and smooth with very little fermentation esters, if any. As with most beers, this style is best when fresh. Oxidation and age dulls the hops, increases the malt sweetness, and throws off the balance.
Ingredients & Methods
I’ll start with the easy pieces first, water and yeast. The water in New Zealand is generally low in minerals and most brewers avoid adding much sulfate to their Pilsners as they are fearful of developing too much sulfur in the finished product. Calcium chloride is the preferred source of added calcium, which also enhances the soft mouthfeel and smoothness of the finished beer.
Dry yeast is most common in New Zealand, and I heard brewers talking about using Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 most frequently as the lager yeast, and Safale US-05 as the ale yeast. Both are quite clean, and produce good results; you don’t want to pick a yeast that produces many fermentation byproducts, especially sulfur, diacetyl, and esters. Commercial brewers might favor the ale yeast for faster production times, but the lager yeast with sufficient lagering will produce a smoother, cleaner beer. Regardless of yeast chosen, restrained fermentation temperatures will also help produce a cleaner beer, and cold conditioning benefits the final presentation. Basically, treat a lager like you would a German lager and an ale like a Kölsch and you’ll be fine.
The grain bill can be fairly simple in this beer since you are looking for a yellow to gold color. The beer can be made with all Pilsner malt; however, I would avoid using all German Pilsner malt because the malt flavor would be too strong. Domestic (New Zealand) Pilsner-type malt varies, with some having stronger flavors as well. Using a simpler 2-row brewers malt to cut the stronger-flavored malts is an approach. Crystal malts are generally avoided, except perhaps a little Carapils-type malt or very light crystal malt for body. Brewers discussed avoiding crystal malt because the sweetness can make the hops seem fruitier and generally interfere with the clean flavors they desire. Some brewers discussed adding a light touch of Vienna malt, wheat malt, or other light touches of character malts; however, when I tasted some of those products, they had a bit too strong of a malt flavor and seemed like a variation of a Czech Pilsner more than a German Pilsner. Some of those added malt flavors can mimic malt oxidation flavors (honey-like sweetness), so I’d rather avoid them for that purpose alone.
Mashing for attenuation is desirable, but the beer shouldn’t be bone-dry so an aggressive step mash isn’t really needed. I would tend to use a single infusion mash in the range of 149–151 °F (65–66 °C). No one discussed using sugar, so I would make this as an all-malt beer.
The balance of the beer should be bitter, but brewers I spoke to on my trip stressed that the bitterness should be clean not harsh. They said higher IBU levels should be avoided since that tends to bring out the harshness and unpleasant flavors. One brewer mentioned that the bitterness level can rise a bit if the final gravity is higher, but that for an average-strength (5%) beer with a final gravity of 1.010 to 1.012 that 35 IBUs was about right.
As the hops are driving the profile of the beer, I was interested in their chosen techniques. I was a bit surprised to find that they don’t rely as heavily on the very late additions (like whirlpooling) or dry hopping as many American styles. While the oil content of New Zealand hops can be quite high, the brewers are concerned about bringing out harsh overtones if used in higher concentrations. Late boil additions seemed to be the choice for most brewers. I speculate that using too many cooler additions would tend to enhance the green or grassy character of the hops and not bring out the fruitiness as much.
This is not to say I didn’t try some great beers that used whirlpool additions and dry hopping. I would just avoid the very high concentrations that are used in some modern styles (hello, New England IPA). Remember that this is a clear beer, so a hop haze is not desirable — use some restraint in these very late additions.
I did hear several brewers discuss the Nelson Sauvin hop and recommend that it not be used in dry hopping. No one was using it as a single varietal since it is so strong. However, many believed that it added a great character when used in limited late hopping additions. Riwaka and Motueka seemed to be the most common aroma and flavor additions, and Pacific Jade was frequently mentioned as a great bittering hop. Green Bullet and New Zealand Cascade were also mentioned.
There are quite a few hop varieties from New Zealand that could be used in this style. The best reference I found for New Zealand hops is on the NZ Hops website at www.nzhops.co.nz/hop-overview. Clicking on individual varieties will bring up their data sheet. I’m interested in some of the varieties that provide a stone fruit quality such as Rakau and Wai-iti, but think they’ll likely work best in combination with other New Zealand hops.
When reading published hop profiles, it can be confusing when so many of the varieties use similar descriptors. I recommend getting samples of the various hops and doing some tests with them to learn the character that you perceive, and to discover what combinations are most pleasant to you. Rub and smell the fresh hops, make hop teas, do small single-hop batches of beer, blend the results, and evaluate for your preferences.
Remember that if you’re playing around with hop varieties that you might also want to work in some Australian or US hops with similar characteristics to see what combinations you might like. I could certainly see Galaxy™, Citra®, Amarillo®, and Mosaic® as being used along with some of these varieties. Just don’t overdo the overall hop additions; keep telling yourself that you’re making a Pilsner not an IPA.
Homebrew Example
I put together a recipe that uses ingredients that should be readily available in the US market, but I’ll also mention some of the ways someone in New Zealand might brew the beer. I’m aiming for a fairly hop-forward beer at the upper end of the bitterness for the style.
Since the malt profile is relatively neutral, I used a mix of American 2-row and German Pilsner malt. Using all Pilsner malt would give the beer too strong a malt flavor and might make it taste like a weird German beer. Using all American malt might make it too neutral. So a mix of the two works to cut the German Pilsner malt intensity without adding much color. I used about 3% of malted wheat to improve head retention. This should produce a relatively pale beer.
New Zealand produces its own malt, so locals there might use something like the new Gladfield German Pils malt, which could be used for 100% of the grist. I received a sample of this to evaluate, so I’ll be doing some brewing experiments to compare this against my reference batch.
I didn’t want to pick up any additional flavors from malt, so I avoided any specialty malt or character malt additions, such as using light crystal malts. I think those flavors interfere with the flavor of the hops, and can make the beer seem too sweet. As the beer ages and oxidizes, it can naturally pick up some additional sweetness so I avoided putting those flavors in from the start.
As the beer is relatively dry, I’m using a single infusion mash at 149 °F (65 °C). I could also see step-mashing this beer like a German-style Pilsner, using steps at 145 °F (63 °C) and 158 °F (70 °C).
I picked the “big 3” of New Zealand hops: Riwaka, Motueka, and Nelson Sauvin, to use in this recipe. The Riwaka gives a passionfruit and grapefruit character, the Motueka adds lime zest and tropical fruit, while the Nelson Sauvin provides that unmistakable gooseberry quality. I think you could go with all Riwaka or Motueka, but Nelson Sauvin is too strong to use as the only hop. I used first wort hopping to increase the hop flavor and provide a smoother bitterness (which is also why I pushed the IBUs a bit higher) and add the remaining hops in the last 10 minutes of the boil. I avoided hop bursting, whirlpool additions, and dry hopping because I wanted to avoid any additional grassiness or raw hop flavors.
If you can’t get the same types of hops, you can substitute other hops with tropical characteristics, even Australian Galaxy™. I brought back some Rakau hops to experiment with, and something like Wai-iti might also be interesting. Both of these have more of a stone fruit character. I would avoid hops that have piney, dank, garlic, onion, or catty notes, and others that are too strongly associated with American beers (which might make the beer seem like a pale ale).
New Zealand has relatively low mineral water, so I used my normal reverse osmosis method with a light additional of calcium chloride. This helps play up the rounder, smoother flavors without adding any sulfur. I chose the Saflager W-34/70 strain as dry yeast is more popular in New Zealand. I gave it a decent lagering time at near-freezing temperatures to help reduce any yeast-derived sulfur. If you want to make this as a cold-fermented ale, New Zealanders would use the Safale US-05 dry yeast. Local professional brewers there mentioned that Wyeast 1272 (American Ale II) yeast is also a good choice.
A long lagering time should also naturally produce a clear beer. If you go for a more accelerated production program, you might need to fine or filter the beer. I like to fine lagers with gelatin, so that’s what I’d use. However, I much prefer to give lagers sufficient time to clear since this gives the beer a cleaner flavor profile.
By the numbers
OG: 1.044–1.056
FG:1.009–1.014
SRM:2–7
IBU:25–45
ABV:4.5–5.8%
New Zealand Pilsner
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.012
IBU = 38 SRM = 3 ABV = 5%
This pale lager combines some of the better attributes of Pilsner and Kölsch with intriguing modern New Zealand hops.
Ingredients
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) US 2-row malt
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) German Pilsner malt
5 oz. (142 g) German wheat malt
5.3 AAU Motueka hops (FWH) (0.7 oz./20 g at 7.5% alpha acids)
6 AAU (14 g) Nelson Sauvin hops (10 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12.1% alpha acids)
5.5 AAU Riwaka hops (5 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 or Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
On brew day, prepare your ingredients; mill the grains, measure your hops, and prepare your water. This recipe uses reverse osmosis (RO) water. Add ¼ tsp 10% phosphoric acid per 5 gallons (19 L) of brewing water, or until water measures pH 5.5 at room temperature. Add 1 tsp. calcium chloride (CaCl2) to the mash.
On brew day, mash in all the grains at 149 °F (65 °C) in 16 qts. (15 L) of water, and hold this temperature for 60 minutes. Raise the temperature by infusion or direct heating to 168 °F (76 °C) to mashout. Recirculate for 15 minutes. Fly sparge with 168 °F (76 °C) water until 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort is collected.
Boil the wort for 75 minutes, adding the hops at times indicated in the ingredients list. The first wort hops are added to the kettle just before sparging begins. Chill to 48 °F (9 °C) and rack to the fermenter. Oxygenate, then pitch the yeast. Start fermentation at 48 °F (9 °C), allowing temperature to rise naturally to 50 °F (10 °C) as fermentation progresses. After fermentation is complete, rack the beer to secondary and lager for 12 weeks at 0 °F (32 °C). Fine the beer with gelatin if needed. Bottle or keg as usual.
New Zealand Pilsner
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.012
IBU = 38 SRM = 3 ABV = 5%
Ingredients
6.8 lbs. (3.1 kg) Pilsner liquid malt extract
5.3 AAU Motueka hops (FWH) (0.7 oz./20 g at 7.5% alpha acids)
6 AAU (14 g) Nelson Sauvin hops (10 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 12.1% alpha acids)
5.5 AAU Riwaka hops (5 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
Fermentis Saflager W-34/70 or Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Use 6 gallons (23 L) of water in the brew kettle; heat to 158 °F (70 °C) then turn off the heat. Add the malt extract and stir thoroughly to dissolve the extract completely. You do not want to feel liquid extract at the bottom of the kettle when stirring with your spoon. Turn the heat back on and bring the wort to a boil.
Boil the wort for 60 minutes, adding the hops at times indicated in the ingredients list. The first wort hops are added to the kettle just after the malt extract is dissolved but before bringing to a boil. Chill to 48 °F (9 °C) and rack the wort to the fermenter.
Oxygenate, then pitch the yeast. Start fermentation at 48 °F (9 °C), allowing temperature to rise naturally to 50 °F (10 °C) as fermentation progresses. After fermentation is complete, rack the beer to secondary and lager for 12 weeks at 0 °F (32 °C). Fine the beer with gelatin if needed. Bottle or keg as usual.
BJCP Style Guidelines (Proposed Draft)
27. Historical Beer: New Zealand Pilsner
Overall Impression: A pale, dry, golden-colored, cleanly-fermented beer showcasing the characteristic tropical, citrusy, fruity, grassy New Zealand-type hops. Medium body, soft mouthfeel, and smooth palate and finish with a neutral to bready malt base provide the support for this very drinkable, refreshing hop-forward beer.
Aroma: Medium to high hop aroma reflective of modern New World hop varieties, often showing tropical fruit, citrus (lime, white grapefruit), gooseberry, honeydew melon, with a light green bell pepper or grassy aspect. Medium-low to medium malt in support, with a neutral to bready-crackery quality. Very low DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide) acceptable but not required. Neutral, clean yeast character, optionally with a very light sulfury quality. The hop character should be most prominent in the balance, but some malt character must be evident.
Appearance: Straw to deep gold in color, but most examples are yellow-gold. Generally quite clear to brilliant clarity; haziness is a fault. Creamy, long-lasting white head.
Flavor: Medium to high hop bitterness, cleanly bitter not harsh, most prominent in the balance and lasting into the aftertaste. Medium to high hop flavor with similar characteristics as the aroma (tropical, citrus, gooseberry, melon, grass). Medium to medium-low malt flavor, grainy-sweet, bready, or crackery. Clean fermentation profile (fermentation esters are a fault). Dry to off-dry with a clean, smooth finish and bitter but not harsh aftertaste. The malt may suggest an impression of sweetness but the beer should not be literally sweet. The finish may be dry but not seem crisp or biting. The balance should always be bitter, but the malt flavor must be noticeable.
Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-light body. Medium to medium-high carbonation. Smoothness is the most prominent impression. Never harsh nor astringent.
Comments: The hop aromatics often have a similar quality as many New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wines, with tropical fruit, grassy, melon, and lime aromatics. Often brewed as a hybrid style in New Zealand using a neutral ale yeast at cool temperatures. Limiting the sulfur content of the finished product is important since it can clash with the hop character. If judging in competition, this style fits best within Category 12. Pale Commonwealth Beer.
History: Largely defined by the original created at Emerson’s Brewery in the mid-1990s, New Zealand pilsner has expanded in character as the varieties of New Zealand hops have expanded in number and popularity.
Characteristic Ingredients: New Zealand hop varieties, such as Motueka, Riwaka, Nelson Sauvin, often with Pacific Jade for bittering. Other new world varieties from Australia or the US may be used, if they have similar characteristics. Pale base malts, Pilsner or pale types, perhaps with a small percentage of wheat malt. Fairly low-mineral water, typically with more chloride than sulfate. Clean lager yeast or very neutral ale yeast.
Style Comparison: Compared to German Pils, not as crisp and dry in the finish with a softer, maltier presentation and a fuller body. Compared to Czech Premium Pale Lager, less malt complexity, a cleaner fermentation. Similar in balance to a Kölsch or British Golden Ale, but with a hoppier aroma. Compared to any of these German styles, showcasing New Zealand hop varieties with tropical, citrusy, fruity, grassy characteristics, often with a white wine-like character. Should not be as hoppy or bitter in balance as an IPA.
Vital Statistics: OG: 1.044–1.056 IBUs: 25–45 FG: 1.009–1.014 SRM: 2–7 ABV: 4.5–5.8%
Commercial Examples: Croucher New Zealand Pilsner, Emerson’s Pilsner, Liberty Halo Pilsner, Panhead Port Road Pilsner, Sawmill Pilsner, Tuatara Mot Eureka
Tags: Bitter, pale-color, standard-strength, bottom-fermented, hoppy, pilsner-family, lagered, craft-style, Pacific-style profile
