Beer of the Moment Article - Riggers' Budvar

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	Paul Rigby

Budvar


History
The history of brewing in Europe from the earliest civilisations right up to modern times is and has always been centred around two areas, one is now known as Germany and the other is Czechoslovakia. The pre history of brewing is essentially the same all over, the multitude of styles we see today are merely the result of localalized variations of the same basic ancestry, for example the style we know today as Pilsner developed in the Czech town of Plzen, Altbier in Dusseldorf Germany, Kolsch in Cologne again in Germany.
Budweiser Budvar is no different. The term Budweiser is derived from the town of Ceske Budejovice this name being a mouthful was shortened to Budweis. In order to differentiate the beers from this city from all the other brewing centres the town name became part of the name of the beer so the beer from Ceske Budejovice became “Budweiser Bier” (i.e. Beer from Budweis). Budvar still produces its beer in Ceske Budejovice so the name “Budweiser Budvar” is quite legitimate from a Czechoslovakian point of view, alas the US mega swill brewing conglomerate Anheuser-Busch (Trivia break - Anheuser-Busch brews 5 times as much beer as all the Czech breweries together) doesn’t agree and both companies have been embroiled in a trademark dispute for decades.
Further historical background on Czech brewing can be found in the Riggers Pilsner and Riggers Alt Beers of the Moment. Whilst they are about specific styles much of the historical information is relevant to this style.
So the historical background is clear but what style is Budweiser Budvar? It is basically a Czechoslovakian regional pale lager. Brewed with local pale Morovian malt, Zatec (Saaz) hops, moderate bitterness, soft water, and a lager yeast. Voila!

Enhanced Kit Version (23 Litres)
I suggest starting out by purchasing a good quality (preferably German) Lager kit. There are numerous choices of brands and the quality of the kits in this popular style are generally excellent and the final decision is yours, and as always I recommend using malt extract instead of dextrose or sugar. There really isn't much that can be done to enhance a kit beer but one of the primary attributes of this type of lager is hop character and this can’t be put in a can!
For hop flavour I recommend that you make a “hop tea” by putting half a litre of cold water into a saucepan and add 10 to 15gms of fresh Saaz hop pellets, bring to the boil as quickly as you like, and boil for 5 minutes. Add the strained liquid into the fermenter and discard the residue.
Procuring the elusive hop aroma is only achievable (in my opinion) by dry hopping in the fermenter. I suggest that you add 10 to 15gms of Saaz hops toward the end of fermentation.
Follow the usual kit method for the remainder of the brew.

Malt Extract & Mini Mash Version (23 Litres)
Base Malt - 2400gms Light Malt Extract
Mini mash - 700gms Hoepfner Pilsner Malt
300gms Hoepfner Carapils Malt
Put half a litre of cold water in a saucepan and add grains and heat up SLOWLY (over a 15 to 20 minute period) until just short of boiling. Strain the liquid into your boiler, and discard the grain residue.
Hops – For bittering use Saaz hops and aim at around 25 IBU
Grain & Grape staff will be happy to do the calculations for you.
For hop flavour make a hop tea as outlined above, for hop aroma add 10 to 15gms of Saaz to the fermenter toward the end of fermentation at an SG of around 1.016-18, or if you are in the habit of racking into a secondary fermenter (I recommend racking for every brew) then add hops into the secondary fermenter after racking,
Total boil time should be 90 minutes with the hops boiled for only 60 minutes.
Yeast - In this case there is only one true yeast and that is the seasonal Wyeast 2000 - Budvar, however almost any of the Wyeast European lager strains would be acceptable, and I suggest 2042 Danish or 2206 Bavarian as alternatives. If you prefer the convenience of dry yeast then try DCL Saflager.

Full Grain Version (23 Litres)
Grains - 4000gms Hoepfner Pilsner Malt (approx 77%)
1000gms Hoepfner Vienna Malt (approx 19%)
200gms Hoepfner Carapils Malt (approx 4%)
Mashing regimes are many and varied. Most modern malts are very well modified and only need a simple single step infusion mash to obtain very good results, however some of the more complex mashing regimes will provide the brewer with more control over the ratio of fermentable to non fermentable sugars as well other aspects of the beer’s character.
Hops – I recommend using Saaz hops exclusively in this beer. For bittering aim at around 25 IBU's, for flavour add 25 to 30gms for the last 10 minutes of the boil, for aroma soak 25 to 30gms at the end of the boil. I strongly recommend dry hopping with 10 to 15gms in the secondary fermenter after racking.
Total boil time should be 90 minutes with the hops boiled for only 60 minutes.
Yeast - In this case there is only one true yeast and that is the seasonal Wyeast 2000 - Budvar, however almost any of the Wyeast European lager strains would be acceptable, and I suggest 2247 European Lager, 2042 Danish or 2206 Bavarian as alternatives. If you prefer the convenience of dry yeast then try DCL Saflager.