Lager update

Brewed my Bamberger Rauchbier yesterday--went really well. Highly efficient mash--did a sort of double decoction plus a lauter decoction. Very smoky and interesting. Weyermann smoked malt smells just unreal when it hits the strike water. Yum. Wound up overshooting both gravity and overall beer yield again. I think a calcium chloride addition made it a way more efficient decoction mash than my low-yielding Pilsner.

Speaking of which, the Pilsner is looking interesting, and maybe not in an entirely good way. Tasted from carboy--plan to bottle in a week. Very, very pretty, delicate gold. Nice bitterness, clean and pretty clearly articulated in the mouth. Smells a little weird though. I think it's acetaldehyde which I'm cautiously optimistic will clear up with aging. This makes me nervous. It's possible bottle conditioning and/or lagering will reduce this dramatically. Or it's possible it's contaminated, or that it's a oxidation or fermentation by-product that ain't going anywhere. I sure as hell hope it dissipates..