Tasman Devil Pilsner (batch 368)

Well ... here it is 2025 already. Happy Brew Year!

As I mentioned in SheppyBrew 2024 Year End Brewing Stats, in 2024 I brewed my lowest volume of brewed beer since 2018.

I didn't even get to 100 gallons, which also has not happened since 2018.

I expect 2025 will yield about the same amount of beer, but I guess we'll have to see.

With holiday guests and other cheer, my beer inventory is getting a little low, and for quite awhile I've been wanting to get a New Zealand Pilsner on tap.

So ... this past weekend I brewed:

Tasman Devil Pilsner

We got some snow last week, and the mornings are pretty cold here in the Denver area, so I decided to brew in the garage Sunday.

I got started a little later than usual, mashing in a little before 7AM.

I had some harvested yeast from Decemberfest. Usually I try to get a starter made a day or two before brew day, but for whatever reason, I had not done that.

I collected some wort from my mash and cooled it with ice to get more of a "Vitality" starter going that morning.

Apparently, the yeast was pretty much ready to go, because it was rocking by the time I had the brew day done.

The mash went fairly well, although my pre-boil gravity measured lower than expected.

I ended up adding about half a pound of sugar to get the gravity up closer to plan.

Not a huge deal, but my mash / brew house efficiency has not been real consistent recently. Oh well. RDWHAHB.

The main thing I love about the style is the great tropical hoppy flavor in a simple pilsner base.

Although I'm calling this a "New Zealand" pilsner, I did use Eclipse in the hop bill, which is an Australian hop.

As I mentioned in Tasman Devil Pilsner, a big part of the reason I ended up with the name "Tasman" was because the Tasman Sea lies between Australia and New Zealand.

Anyway, I was draining and squeezing the bag before 9:15.

My boil was started right around 9:45

The boil went as planned.

I got the right hops and other ingredients added right on schedule.

The hop aroma was WONDERFUL.

I was chilling around 10:50, cutting it close for the Broncos game. I did end up finishing up during commercials.

I was able to get the wort into the mid-50's with just the hose and low ambient garage temperatures.

I did let the fermenter sit in the garage for a couple hours before bringing it down to the basement to set up the cooling system.

It was sometime between 1:30 and 2 pm before I got the yeast pitched. 

Then I got a bike ride in.

The fermenter kept the wort at 55ish, and the yeast started rocking sometime overnight.

I'll ferment in the 50's for the first few days. Probably about the time this article goes live, I'll have the temperature set to 60 or even just have it unplugged.

I'll probably also have dry-hopped by the time you're reading this.

I'll most likely have this kegged and be drinking it before the end of the month. I'm certainly looking forward to having it on tap.

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