BJCP National · Lesson 11 · Recipe (R0)

R0 recipe: German Pils (5D)

R0 is the only question where parameters are scored, and the only one that asks you to design and justify a recipe and show the math. This is the applied version of lesson 0004: pick one style, build it to target, justify every choice against the Guidelines.

Aim. Write a recipe a judge could brew that would score to style, and defend each choice. Graders reward: correct targets, a grain bill and hop/yeast/water plan that maps to the style's sensory, explicit arithmetic, and a procedure with style-specific reasons. Vague ("some Pils malt, noble hops") loses the 40%.

Write to the rubric (structure your answer in these blocks)

Weight	Block
15%	Short style description (per Guidelines) - this is 15%, not an essay
15%	Parameters: batch size, OG, FG, IBU, SRM, ABV
40%	Ingredients + why + quantities + SHOW THE MATH
30%	Procedure mash to packaging + style justification

Style, in one or two lines (the 15%)

A pale, dry, bitter German lager with a prominent hop aroma; crisp, clean, refreshing, brilliant gold with excellent head retention. Initial malt is quickly overcome by hop flavour and bitterness into a dry, crisp finish, with medium-to-high bitterness lingering; hops are forward but do not totally dominate the malt. 2021 Guidelines 5D, Overall Impression + Aroma + Flavor.

Parameters (the 15%)

OG 1.044-1.050 · FG 1.008-1.013 · IBU 22-40 · SRM 2-4 · ABV 4.4-5.2%. Medium-light body, medium-to-high carbonation. 2021 Guidelines 5D, Vital Statistics + Mouthfeel. Pick a target inside each range and a batch size (e.g. 20 L), then design to hit it.

Ingredients + why (the 40% - quantities and math live here)

Element	Choice + why (to style)
Base malt	Continental Pilsner malt - the only malt the style lists. Gives the low-to-medium grainy-sweet, doughy malt (light honey, toasted-cracker) over a pale (SRM 2-4), dry body. Effectively 100% of the grist. 5D Characteristic Ingredients + Appearance.
Hops	Traditional German (noble) hops (e.g. Hallertau, Tettnang, Spalt). Deliver the moderate to moderately-high flowery/spicy/herbal aroma and the medium-to-high bitterness that lingers, keeping hops forward. Bittering charge to hit IBU; generous late/aroma additions. 5D Characteristic Ingredients + Aroma + Flavor.
Yeast	Clean German lager yeast - delivers the required clean fermentation profile so hops and malt read clearly. 5D Characteristic Ingredients.
Water	Minerally / higher-sulfate water can accentuate and lengthen the dry finish and sharpen the hop bitterness; a flinty mineral edge is acceptable. 5D Comments/Flavor/Mouthfeel; Study Guide (high-sulfate German Pils).

Show the math (this is what graders look for and most people skip): state your batch volume, then compute the grain bill from target OG and efficiency, e.g. OG points = (grain kg × extract potential × efficiency) / volume, and rearrange to solve for grain weight. Compute IBU from the bittering addition (alpha acid, weight, utilization). Drill the concrete metric (kg / L / PKL) numbers in Rachmistrz (/recepty.html) - the worked German Pils bill is there. Do not just write quantities; write the line of arithmetic that produced them.

Procedure + why (the 30%)

Full, long, open rolling boil of at least one hour to drive off DMS: Pilsner malt carries as much as eight times the SMM of pale malt, so a short, weak, or covered boil leaves an abnormally high DMS (cooked-corn). Study Guide, DMS/Vegetal + Boiling.
Cool lager fermentation with a diacetyl rest: hold 60-65 °F / 15-18 °C for a few days after racking to the conditioning tank, so the yeast reabsorbs diacetyl before cold lagering. Study Guide, Diacetyl.
Cold lagering for the clean, crisp, brilliant result; the low SRM and dry finish come from the pale grist + attenuation + minerally water, not from process shortcuts.

On R0 German Pils, which move most protects the style and the marks?

Say it out loud in full sentences before you reveal. Half-answers count as misses.

A full, long, open boil to drive off DMS, plus a diacetyl rest, and show the OG arithmetic explicitly

Pilsner malt is high in SMM, so the long open boil is essential to avoid DMS; the diacetyl rest keeps it clean; and R0 rewards shown arithmetic. Munich malt and ale yeast would break the pale, clean, hop-forward style.

Recipe content compressed from BJCP 2021 Guidelines 5D and the BJCP Exam Study Guide. R0 is the one question where parameters are required; show the arithmetic.