[toddhert]

I attempted to make a german pils and ended up with something that tastes fruity and slightly yeasty. I fermented at 50, did a diacetyl rest for a couple days at 62, then lagered at about 35 for 3 weeks. I'm currently increasing the carbonation to see if it improves, as there is almost no hop character and very low carbonation at the moment. Any suggestions?

[redbeerman]

Recipe details would be helpful.  Yeast strain, mash temps, hop schedule, and grist have an influence on the beer as well as your fermentation.  For instance, Brewferm dry lager yeast may work OK, and I mean just OK with a dark lager, but does not work well for light lagers.  It gives a yeasty character that just won't go away and really accentuates hop bitterness.   Dry lager yeasts really aren't all that great, although I have used 34/70 with decent results and I hear that S-189 works well.   I tend to stick with liquid strains for lagers, they just work better for me.

[tomsawyer]

Could be you didn't pitch enough yeast, lagers require large starters or multiple dry yeast packs.  Could be you rushed it from primary.  There are myriad reasons it came out fruity.  This is a hard beer to brew well.

I initially tried Brewferm's lager yeast for a pils, wow that was a nasty brew.  Tasted more like pils minus the "L".  I've also brewed with S23, another failure.  Some of this may have been a lack of adequately cool temps.  Since I got a fermenting freezer I've cranked out a couple of nice German pilsners.

[Kit B]

How long was your primary fermentation & what was your recipe?

[santoch]

This sounds like a water issue to me.  Lack of calcium and sulfates rounds the flavors and accentuates sweet malt and esters.
You didn't say where you are from, but here in WA, the rain/snow runoff in the spring contains much lower mineral content than other times of the year.  It's pretty amazing how fruity the beers can taste.   Did you have a relatively slow conversion in the mash tun when you brewed this?  I would not be surprised if you said yes.

Ward labs can help you with a water analysis report.  It may be as simple as adding a half a teaspoon of gypsum or calcium carbonate (depending on your water report) to adjust the mineral levels.

HTH-

[tomsawyer]

This sounds like a water issue to me.  Lack of calcium and sulfates rounds the flavors and accentuates sweet malt and esters.
You didn't say where you are from, but here in WA, the rain/snow runoff in the spring contains much lower mineral content than other times of the year.  It's pretty amazing how fruity the beers can taste.   Did you have a relatively slow conversion in the mash tun when you brewed this?  I would not be surprised if you said yes.

Ward labs can help you with a water analysis report.  It may be as simple as adding a half a teaspoon of gypsum or calcium carbonate (depending on your water report) to adjust the mineral levels.

HTH-

I thought it was Cl that accentuated malt.  I do concur with adding gypsum to accentuate hop bitterness.  Supposedly the Czech pils is brewed with soft water though.

[Kaiser]

I would suspect fermentation issues as well. In addition to how much yeast was added I’d like to know how the batch was aerated and at what temperature the yeast was pitched.

Kai