Not having ever drank a true patersbier the style nonetheless intrigued me enough to spend the rest of my Christmas gift certificate on the Northern Brewer kit as well as the Timothy Taylor Landlord clone know as the “Innkeeper.” More on the Innkeeper in a later post. Think of a patersbier as a Belgian pilsner. It contains all Belgian pilsner malt and quite a bit of noble hops but the difference being that it uses an abbey strain of yeast to add a phenolic and peppery  note to the beer.

Having already brewed and consumed it there are a few take aways on brewing this style of beer. One, the Safale Abbaye is an aggressive yeast and got a high level of attenuation but definitely had a sulfur bite and aroma to it even while fermeting on the cool side. I think I would let the fermentation free rise towards the end to blow all that sulfur out and then condition on the yeast for another week and not keg so soon. Two, with the high level of attenuation I would use a really soft water with the pale malt grist.

Besides those slight flaws it was a pretty sessionable beer but the overall consensus not a repeater. My wife commented it was “too earthy” tasting. I might revisit the style sometime in the future to see if I can nail it.

6 gallons

Estimated OG: 1.043
Estimated FG: 1.005
Estimated Color: 3.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
ABV: 5.0%

Grain
12 lbs Belgian Pilsner (2 SRM) 100%

Schedule
60 minute Boil
28.00 g Tradition [6%] – Boil 60 min 19 IBUs
14.00 g Saaz [3.75%] – Boil 60 min 5.9 IBUs
14.00 g Saaz [3.75%] – Boil 10 min 2.1 IBUs

Whirfloc or Irish Moss 20 min
1tsp yeast nutrient 15 min

Mash and Sparge
50% RO water
50% Ventura (high bicarbonates and sulfates)
4ml lactic acid added to mash water
2ml lactic acid sparge water
Mash in 4.75 gallons water 157F and let stabilize to 148F for 60 min
Mashout 170F
Batch sparge 4.7 gallons cold

Yeast
Safale Abbaye

Fermentation
Ferment until done 65F
Cold crash two day
Rack to keg and carbonate using your preferred method