Category Archives: lager

Try Again Bohemian Pilsner

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I’m craving a good Bohemian pilsner…especially that nice flavor and aroma of Saaz. My last effort was fairly disastrous, thanks to a bum batch of hops. Pro-tip: if it smells way too grassy before throwing them into the wort, throwing them into the wort won’t improve things.

In any case, I’ve got new hops, new grains, and a new recipe. I’ve cheated a bit with the grain bill, kicking in some melanoidin and Carafa III for a bit of extra malt flavor and color, respectively. For my interpretation I’ve amped up the Saaz a bit on the late-hop side, too.

Try Again Bohemian Pilsner

  • 10 lbs. Barke Pilsner malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.25 lb. Melanoidin malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.2 oz. Carafa III malt (Weyermann)
  • 2 oz. Saaz hop pellets (3.0% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Saaz hop pellets (2.2% alpha), 20 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Saaz hop pellets (3.0% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Saaz hop pellets (3.0% alpha), 5 minute whirlpool
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. Fermax, 10 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Bohemian lager dry yeast (Mangrove Jack’s M84)

Target Parameters

  • Infusion mash to hit target of 149°, 60 minutes, batch sparge.
  • 1.052 o.g., 1.011 f.g., 5.5% abv, 36 IBU, 5 SRM
  • Water built from RO with 0.5 g CaCl, 0.5 g epsom salts, with 6.5 mL of 88% lactic acid added to mash to adjust pH

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 3.5 gallons of water at 160°, to hit a mash temperature of 150°. The mash was down to 145° after 65 minutes. I added 1.25 gallons of water at 185°, let sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the first runnings. I then added 3.5 gallons of water, let sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the remainder of the runnings.
  • In total, I collected 6.8 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.046, for 83% mash efficiency!
  • I started the boil, adding hops and various finings and nutrients per the schedule above. After 60 minutes of boiling, I turned off the flame and added the final charge of hops.
  • After 5 minutes of whirlpooling, I chilled down to 75° or so. Then, I transferred the wort to the fermenter, and let it chill overnight (~10 hours), down to 48°.
  • I brewed the beer on 12 May 2018. On the morning of 13 May 2018, I oxygenated the wort for 45 seconds and pitched the yeast (rehydrated in 1 cup of boiled and cooled water).
  • Starting gravity was 1.053, nearly exactly on target.
  • After pitching, I set the temperature on the fermentation chamber to 52°, letting the beer free-rise from 48°.
  • One day after pitching (14 May 2018), no fermentation activity was yet visible, but the fermenter gave off bubbles when I agitated it gently. By the morning of 15 May 2018 (48 hours post-pitching), visible krausen was forming.
  • On 20 May (7 days after pitching the yeast), I raised the fermentation temperature to 54°.
  • On 23 May, I raised the fermentation temperature to 56°.
  • On 25 May, I raised the fermentation temperature to 58°.
  • On 27 May, I raised the fermentation temperature to 60°. At this point, the gravity was 1.014.
  • On 2 June, I cold crashed down to 33°.

Little Green EuroLager

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Warm weather is around the horizon, which means pale lager season is soon to be here.  Time to get brewing! This recipe is modified from the “Generic Green Bottle” formulation in Dave Carpenter’s recent Lager book. The book is a nice, accessible overview of the subject, supplementing the conversational text with a nice appendix of recipes for a variety of styles.

Relative to Dave’s recipe, I substituted in Warrior for Magnum, and used Belgian malt instead of German. Additionally, I used WLP830 instead of the suggested Wyeast 2042 Danish Lager yeast. My heart is in the right place, though–this is intended to be a clean, middle-of-the-road European lager, and I figure that the ingredient substitutions will keep the flavor in that realm.

Little Green EuroLager

  • 9.25 lbs. Château Pilsen malt (Castle Malting)
  • 0.25 lb. Carahell malt (Weyermann Malting)
  • 0.3 oz. Warrior hop pellets (15.8% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (4% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Saaz hop pellets (2.7% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. German Lager yeast (White Labs, WLP830)

Target Parameters

  • Infusion mash to hit target of 149°, 90 minutes, batch sparge.
  • 1.049 o.g., 1.009 f.g., 5.2% abv, 24 IBU, 3 SRM
  • Water built from RO and Claremont tap water to hit target of 40 ppm Ca, 10 ppm Mg, 9 ppm Na, 41 ppm SO4, 39 ppm Cl, 87 ppm HCO3, 37 ppm RA.

Procedure

  • Two days before brew day, I made a 2L starter. After 36 hours, I cold crashed the starter for another 24 hours.
  • I mashed in with 3.25 gallons of RO water with 2 g of Epsom salts, 2 g CaCl, and 5 mL 75% phosphoric acid, to hit a temperature of 149°. After 90 minutes, I sparged with 3.25 gallons of tap water (with 1/4 of a Campden tablet) and 1.75 gallons of RO water.
  • In total, I collected 7.1 gallons of wort at a gravity of 1.042, for 84% efficiency.
  • I boiled for 60 minutes, chilled to 75°, and then chilled to 49° over a period of 12 hours before oxygenating (a 60 second pulse) and pitching the yeast. I brewed the beer on 2 March 2018, and pitched the yeast on 3 March 2018.
  • I fermented at 52° for around 2 weeks, before raising to 66° or so. On 23 March, I dropped the temperature to 34° for a cold crash.
  • I kegged the beer on 3 April 2018, adding 1 tsp. of gelatin in 1 cup of water to clarify.
  • Starting gravity was 1.050, and final gravity was 1.006, for 5.8% abv.

Initial Impressions

My initial impressions of this beer, after it has been on tap for a few weeks, is that it is pretty awesome and almost exactly what I was looking for. Malt character is glorious, and the aroma is crisp. The yeast character is super clean. My only minor ding is that the bitterness can come across as a touch harsh; I’ve noticed that on a few batches of lighter beers where I use Warrior as the bittering hop. Despite that hop being billed as a good general bittering hop, I think it’s probably just a bit too forward for anything less robust than a porter or stout, or less hoppy than a pale ale. That aside, I’m absolutely enjoying the beer. It has received high compliments from several people whose opinions on beer I trust, which is an exceptionally gratifying piece of feedback.

First of Maibock

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My homebrew club is doing an in-club style competition for its May meeting, featuring–appropriately–maibock. Flying in the BJCP guidelines as a helles bock, this is a fairly malty, higher gravity German lager. It’s also not a style I’ve brewed before–this provides a great excuse (and is a reminder of how participating in a homebrew club can push you to try new things)!

This recipe is modified in part from one that appears in Gordon Strong’s Modern Homebrew Recipes. I adjusted the grain bill and hops slightly, and opted for an infusion mash rather than a decoction mash. The main commonality is that the recipe is basically pilsner, Vienna, and Munich malt, in descending proportions. I added in some melanoidin to help up the maltiness (particularly since I wasn’t doing a decoction mash). Finally, I adjusted this to be a 3.5 gallon batch, rather than a 5 gallon batch. This is a bigger beer, and I just didn’t want 5 gallons of the stuff!

The name is mangled from a Jonathan Coulton song; apologies to everyone.

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First of Maibock

  • 5 lb. Château Pilsen malt (Castle Malting)
  • 2.5 lb. Vienna malt (Great Western Malting)
  • 1.5 lb. Munich I malt (Weyermann Malting)
  • 0.25 lb. melanoidin malt (Weyermann Malting)
  • 0.45 oz. Magnum hop pellets (11.8% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Tettnang hop pellets (2.2% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. SafLager West European Lager yeast (S-23)

Target Parameters

  • Infusion mash to hit target of 152°, 60 minutes, batch sparge.
  • 1.068 o.g., 1.018 f.g., 6.5% abv, 27 IBU, 7 SRM
  • Water built from RO to hit target of 50 Ca, 5 Mg, 5 Na, 55 SO4, 70 Cl, 0 HCO3 ppm, RA -40

Procedure

  • To make my brewing water, I added 1.6 g gypsum, 0.3 g table salt, 1.2 g epsom salt, and 3.2 g calcium chloride to 6.5 gallons of RO water.
  • I mashed in with 3.15 gallons of water at 167° (and 4.75 mL of 75% phosphoric acid), to hit a mash temperature of 155°. After 40 minutes, the temperature was down to 152°. So, I added 0.65 gallons of water to bring the temperature back up to 157°. After a total of 60 minutes, I vorlaufed and collected the first runnings.
  • I added 2.75 gallons of water at 180°, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and drained the mash tun.
  • In total, I collected 5.5 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.049, for 78% efficiency.
  • I brought the kettle to a boil, adding hops and Whirlfloc per the schedule.
  • After 50 minutes of boiling, I measured the gravity and saw that it was at 1.058. This was well below my target, so I added 1.18 pounds of Briess pilsen DME to bring up the gravity.
  • After 60 minutes of boiling, I turned off the heat and chilled to 75°. I transferred to the fermenter, and put it in the fermentation chamber overnight to chill down to 54°. About 4 gallons of beer went into the fermenter.
  • I brewed the beer on 10 February 2018, and pitched the yeast on 11 February 2018. Prior to pitching, I hit the wort with 60 seconds of oxygen.
  • Starting gravity was 1.072.
  • On February 24, I let the beer free-rise to 64°. I’ll let it hang out at this temperature for a week or two before cold crashing.

Red Rye Lager

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Moving through the winter months, and moving through my practice in the world of lagers, I’m feeling like something a bit different. I’ve got a good, clean German pils conditioning, so yet another pale lager would be somewhat boring. St. Patrick’s Day isn’t that far away, so an Irish-inspired beer seemed intriguing. I like Irish red ales, but rarely brew them. And then I thought…what about a red lager? Let’s take an Irish red ale recipe, and lagerize it!

Thus, my Red Rye Lager was born. I started with the Better Red Than Dead recipe from AHA, and worked a bit of magic on it. Instead of Maris Otter, I subbed in pilsner malt. To add a little more character, I dropped in a pound of rye malt. Thanks to a suggestion on the AHA forum, I used Carafa III instead of roasted barley for color adjustment. The hops got switched over to lager-appropriate hops, too. Finally, I wanted a yeast that would be clean but flavorful–and a California Common yeast seemed perfect.

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This was a fun recipe to work out…I feel like it’s something a bit different and creative. It doesn’t really conform to any particular BJCP style, which is also a plus in my book! The style guidelines are handy, but I find sometimes discourage me from thinking outside the box. I’m not brewing this for competition, so the sky is the limit!

Red Rye Lager

  • 5 lbs. Château Pilsen malt (Castle Malting)
  • 1.5 lbs. Barke pilsner malt (Weyermann Malting)
  • 3 lbs. Munich I malt (Weyermann Malting)
  • 1 lb. rye malt (Briess Malting)
  • 0.5 lb. CaraRed malt (Weyermann Malting)
  • 2 oz. Carafa III malt (Weyermann Malting)
  • 0.5 oz. Magnum hop pellets (13.2% alpha), 45 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (4.0% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, 10 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. San Francisco Lager Yeast (White Labs, WLP810), prepared in 1.75L starter

Target Parameters

  • Infusion mash to hit target of 152°, 60 minutes, batch sparge
  • 1.053 o.g., 1.016 f.g., 4.8% abv, 26 IBU, 14 SRM
  • Water adjusted to hit target of 52 Ca, 10 Mg, 11 Na, 43 SO4, 53 Cl, 109 HCO3, RA 46 ppm.

Procedure

  • I prepared a 1.75L starter for the yeast, 24 hours in advance. Within 12 hours, it had a visible fermentation.
  • I mashed in with 4.5 gallons of RO water, with 2 g Epsom salt and 3 g CaCl added, in addition to 3 mL of 75% phosphoric acid. The strike water was around 165°, to hit a mash temperature of 154°. It was down to 149.5° after 60 minutes. At this point, I vorlaufed, drained the mash tun, and added 4.5 gallons of tap water at 180°.
  • After waiting another 10 minutes, I vorlaufed and drained the mash tun again.
  • In total, I collected 7.3 gallons of wort with a gravity of 1.047, for 81% efficiency. Wow! I wonder if it was because I had a slightly thinner mash than normal?
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and other ingredients per the schedule. After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the flame and chilled down to 70°.
  • I transferred the wort to the primary fermenter, and then hit it with 2 minutes of pure oxygen. I pitched the yeast, and sealed it all up. I will be fermenting at 60°.
  • The beer was brewed on 22 December 2017. Starting gravity was 1.053, exactly on target. I ended up with just over 6 gallons in the fermenter.
  • I cold-crashed the beer on 1 February 2018, and kegged it on 2 February 2018. Final gravity was 1.013, for 5.3% abv.

Tasting Notes

  • Aroma
    • A nice crisp spicy aroma, with a gentle malt aroma behind that. Really nice.
  • Appearance
    • A beautifully clear reddish amber color, with an ivory head that starts as thick, tall foam before settling down to a persistant blanket across the top of the beer. Really nice!
  • Flavor
    • The rye spice note is at the back of this beer; it’s not overwhelming, but definitely detectable, which is awesome. The malt backbone is very present, with that nice toasty note that you get from Munich. The bitterness is firm but gentle, standing up perfectly to the malt.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium bodied, moderately high carbonation. The finish is somewhat dry, but not overwhelmingly so.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This is a wonderful beer! All of the flavors blend perfectly, to make a tasty and very unique beer. This isn’t the sort of thing that I would enter into a competition, because it’s just too off-beat for any category. Not quite amber lager, not quite steam beer.
  • Overall
    • 10/10

Brew Updates: Palaeotis Pils 1.2 & Old Pine Pale Ale

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I’ve kegged two of my brews in the past week, incluing my German pils and my American pale ale. Here are the details!

  • After 10 days in primary, I kegged Old Pine Pale Ale on 12 December 2017. I added the dry hops at this point, in a bag. Depending on how it works out, I may or may not remove the hops. I force carbonated the keg, and had it on tap by 16 December. The brew is pretty hazy at this point, and should clear up with time. Final gravity was 1.012, down from 1.052, working out to 5.2% abv.
  • My latest iteration of Palaeotis Pils started fermentation on 20 November 2017. It fermented at 50° until 27 November, when I raised the temperature to 54°. I raised the temperature to 66° on 2 December 2017, and cold crashed it on 10 December 2017. I kegged the beer on 16 December 2017. Final gravity was 1.010; with a starting gravity of 1.049, we’re clocking in at 5.1% abv. There is a touch of haze, which I’m going to settle out with time and cold.