409: NZ Pilsner in Perspective with Paweł Lewandowski of Mount Brewing

While hop-forward lager may be a relatively new phenomenon in the States, New Zealand brewers have been brewing their own version of pilsner for decades using homegrown hops. Yet threading the needle in a precise style with hops that can have strong notes, such as mineral and diesel, is no small feat.

In this episode, Paweł Lewandowski, the award-winning head brewer at Mount in Mount Maunganui, on the North Island, walks us through the creative and technical process behind their “beer geek pilsner”—a beer that multiple brewers recommended to us as a standout example of the style. Motueka, Nelson Sauvin, and Riwaka work together in a golden ratio with two pilsner malts, wheat malt, actively managed fermentation temperatures, and concise lagering to produce a pilsner with 45 IBUs and a full body that expresses the more structured side of the country’s signature hops.

During the episode, Lewandowski discusses:

• the style’s origin, beginning with Emerson’s in the 1990s
• building a heftier body with pilsner and wheat to support strong hopping
• his experiments with step-mashing that led back to single-infusion
• using Motueka, Nelson Sauvin, and Riwaka at various points during the boil, whirlpool, and dry hop
• year-over-year flavor variation in New Zealand hop varieties
• balancing selection criteria to work across a range of styles
• warmer lager fermentation, with a 24-hour temperature drop early on
• lower pH and shorter lagering times for bright, hop-forward pils
• contrasts between New Zealand and West Coast pils
• using the “golden ratio” for hop blends

And more.

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