Category Archives: lager

AquiloPils

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Concept beers are fun–building a recipe around a story has a mix of constraint and creativity that scratches the brewer’s itch for me. A new opportunity for such a beer popped up recently, when a little dinosaur with which I am very familiar unexpectedly wandered into the spotlight. Aquilops (pronounced “uh-QUILL-ops), a raven-sized cousin of Triceratops that lived in Montana around 106 million years ago, is somehow going to make an appearance in the upcoming Jurassic World movie! As lead author on the original Aquilops publication (along with colleagues Rich Cifelli, Des Maxwell, and Matt Wedel), this was quite a surprise. The 12 year old me who watched Jurassic Park in the theater is pretty geeked out that one of “my” dinosaurs is joining the cast of a Hollywood blockbuster franchise. This dino is in Lego kits, FunkoPops, action figures, Dr. Pepper cans, and even a Scarlett Johansson ASMR video. That’s cool, but what about a beer? I can only guess that the cute dinosaur aimed selling merchandise to kids is not going to be showing up on beer cans anytime soon, so I had to take matters into my own hands.

Aquilops is no stranger to beer recipes–back when we named it, I brewed “Eagle Face Oatmeal Stout” (referencing the translation of the name from its Greek and Latin roots). The beer was served in our club booth at AHA, and even graced the pages of Zymurgy magazine. The oatmeal stout is pretty tasty, but we’re not really in oatmeal stout weather at the moment. I wanted a crisp and quaffable lager to put on tap, and thus AquiloPils was born.

The original fossil skull of Aquilops was found in Montana, and its closest known relative lived in Japan, so a pilsner with nods to classic American lagers and Japanese lagers evolved naturally. Plus, these kinds of beers are a fun technical challenge and always a crowd pleaser. I sourced Montana-grown barley malt, and Sorachi Ace hops were a perfect fit for the recipe (the ones I got from my LHBS were American-grown, which followed the theme nicely). This kind of beer needed an adjunct, so I used 10% flaked rice in the grist. I wanted a perfectly crisp and dry beer, and thus incorporated a long and low mash rest. Finally, because this is supposed to have a very clean yeast profile, I chose Novalager. The brewing process went smoothly, and after some time cold conditioning as well as a dose of Biofine Clear, the beer was brilliantly clear and incredibly tasty.

Matt–one of my co-authors on the paper, a good friend, Aquilops enthusiast, and the person who brought me on to the project in the first place–celebrated a milestone birthday recently, so I was proud to provide a keg for his party. What better way to enjoy AquiloPils than with good friends, co-authors, and a whole ton of paleontologists? It was a crowd pleaser! To celebrate, I also drafted a logo for this beer, of a little Aquilops clutching a glass of the beer. This project was fun from start to finish!

Me (left) and the birthday boy, with our cups of AquiloPils (photo courtesy Matt Wedel). Check out Matt’s musings on our critter in the movies over at the SV-POW! blog.

AquiloPils

  • 9 lb. pilsner malt (Montana Craft Malting Co.)
  • 1 lb. flaked rice (Briess)
  • 2 oz. rice hulls
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 0.4 oz. Sorachi Ace hop pellets (9.7% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Novalager yeast (Lallemand)
  • 1 pkg. Biofine Clear

Target Parameters

  • 90 minute infusion mash at 146°, full volume mash, with 10 minute mash-out at 168°
  • 1.044 o.g., 1.004 f.g., 5.3% abv, 15 IBU, 3.5 SRM
  • Water profile built with RO water to hit 59 ppm Ca and 105 ppm Cl.

Procedure

  • I built the water up from scratch, using 7.25 gallons of RO water and 6 g of calcium chloride to hit my target water parameters.
  • I heated the strike water to 151°, added the grains, and also added 20 mL of 10% phosphoric acid, holding the mash at 146° for 90 minutes. Then, I raised the temperature to 168° for 10 minutes, before pulling the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.5 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.040, for 72% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the kettle to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe.
  • After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled the wort to 70°, before transferring it to the fermenter. I chilled the beer the rest of the way to 50° in the fermentation chamber.
  • I brewed this beer on 15 March 2025, with a starting gravity of 1.049 – well above my target!
  • Fermentation started at 52°; I increased the temperature to 54° on 17 March, and 60° on 20 March. I cold crashed the beer to 33° on 26 March and held it there until I kegged the beer using a closed transfer on 19 April.
  • Final gravity was 1.004, for 5.9% abv.
  • On 15 May 2025, the beer was still fairly hazy, so I added a package of Biofine Clear. Within a day or two, haze had almost entirely dropped out, and within three weeks the beer was brilliantly clear.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Brilliantly clear, straw colored beer with thin white head of low persistence.
  • Aroma
    • Medium-light sweet malty aroma, no hop or yeast character to speak of.
  • Flavor
    • Medium malty character, low bitterness, a bit of that light red apple yeast character.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-high carbonation, light body, dry and crisp finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is pretty close to what I envisioned! It hits the gimmick well and is also super drinkable. The batch yielded a little too high on starting gravity (I was just too efficient in the mash!), so it would be good to notch that back a touch. Otherwise, it’s a perfect beer. I might also try W34/70 for a future iteration, to get more of that apple-like American lager flavor. Finally, I could up the rice percentage some to around 20%, if I wanted a better match with “typical” American lager recipes.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Stygimoloch Bock 2025

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One of my favorite recipes has been Stygimoloch Bock, which looms large in my mind for its rich maltiness and drinkability. Somewhat surprisingly, then, my records show that I brewed this only twice before, in 2019 and 2020. Time for another batch!

The recipe is pretty well locked in, so I made only the smallest of adjustments. I swapped out the Caramel Munich 60L by Briess for CaraMunich by Weyermann, to get a 100% German malt bill. I also used Perle for the bittering hops (versus Magnum or Mt. Hood in previous versions) and swapped in Diamond lager yeast. So, I suppose that means it’s a very different recipe in some ways across versions, but the malt is the core here, and the proportions on that are fairly unchanged.

Stygimoloch Bock 2025

  • 9 lbs. Munich II malt (Weyermann)
  • 5 lbs. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 8 oz. CaraMunich II (Weyermann)
  • 4 oz. melanoidin malt (Weyermann)
  • 1 oz. Carfa Special III malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 1.15 oz. Perle hop pellets (6.3% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 3 pkg. Diamond lager dry yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 60 minute infusion mash, 152°, full volume mash
  • 1.068 o.g., 1.017 f.g., 6.8% abv, 23 IBU, 16 SRM
  • Claremont tap water, with carbonates knocked back by addition of 6.5 mL 88% lactic acid, to hit target parameters of 44 ppm Ca, 8 ppm Mg, 89 ppm Na, 50 ppm sulfate, 110 ppm Cl, 20 ppm bicarbonate.

Procedure

  • I neutralized the carbonates in the tap water with 6.5 mL of 88% lactic acid in 7.65 gallons of water, along with a half of a Campden tablet to take care of chloramines.
  • I heated the water to 159° and added the grains, holding at a mash temperature of 152° for 60 minutes, with recirculation.
  • After 60 minutes, I raised the mash to 168°, held it there for 10 minutes, and then removed the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.4 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.055, for 64% mash efficiency.
  • In order to raise the gravity a bit, I brought the runnings to a boil and boiled hard for 15 minutes before adding the hops.
  • Once the hops were added, I proceeded with 60 more minutes of the boil, adding finings per the recipe.
  • After boiling for a total of 75 minutes, I turned off the heat, and chilled down to 72° before transferring into the fermenter and cooling down to 50°. It took around 3 hours before I pitched the yeast.
  • I brewed this beer on 18 January 2025. Starting gravity was 1.067.
  • Starting fermentation temperature was 50°; I raised it to 51° on 21 January, and then to 60° on 10 February 2025. I cold crashed to 34° on 13 February 2025.
  • I pulled the beer to room temperature on 17 February 2025 to make room in the fermentation chamber, and then kegged it on 18 February 2025, with a non-closed transfer.
  • Final gravity was 1.020, for 6.3% abv.
  • I cold conditioned the beer until 26 March 2025, when I put it on tap. The beer was brilliantly clear at this point.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Brilliantly clear, deep amber beer, which pours with an ivory head of moderate persistence. It’s simply gorgeous!
  • Aroma
    • Toasty dark bread crust and dark fruit aroma in addition to rich maltiness. Clean yeast profile, hops perceptible.
  • Flavor
    • Rich maltiness with bread crust quality alongside that. Moderate bitterness, but the malt is definitely the center of attention.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-full body, moderate carbonation, smooth finish, with only a slight lingering bitterness. Slightly dry, but not cloying.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This recipe is a winner! It’s a perfect beer to close out the winter months and welcome cool spring afternoons and evenings. I wouldn’t change a thing about it at this point.
  • Overall
    • 10/10

Let There Be Rauch!

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Smoked beers can be nice as an occasional treat (especially in the winter), and I have made a few over the years. One classic style that has escaped my brew log to date, however, is rauchbier. I remember trying one years ago, from a fellow homebrewing paleontologist, and it is still one of the most memorable beers I have ever sampled! The combination of smoke and maltiness was unlike anything I had tried previously, and the beer lives on in my memory, well over a decade later (and probably closer to 15 or 20 years now).

After years of thinking about rauchbier but never making one, I was spurred into action by Dan Jablow’s article (“Making Friends With Smoked Beer”) in the November/December 2024 issue of Zymurgy. He included a 1 gallon recipe called “Let There Be Rauch!”, and the approach seemed simple enough. So, I scaled it up to 5.5 gallons and adjusted the hops slightly to move the bitterness level into the higher end of the style’s range in the BJCP guidelines.

Let There Be Rauch!

  • 5 lb. beechwood smoked malt (Weyermann)
  • 3 lb. Munich light malt (BESTMALZ)
  • 3 lb. pilsner malt (Rahr)
  • 1 lb. Caramunich II malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (5.5% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh (5.5% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 WhirlFloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 3 pkg. SafLager West European Lager dry yeast (Fermentis S-23)

Target Parameters

  • 1.054 s.g., 1.015 f.g., 29 IBU, 11 SRM, 5.2% abv
  • Full volume mash with 60 minutes at 154° and 10 minutes at 168°; 60 minute boil
  • Water built from RO and tap water to hit target water parameters of 59 ppm Ca, 4 ppm Mg, 29 ppm Na, 56 ppm SO4, 88 ppm Cl, 52 ppm CaCO3, RA=-2

Procedure

  • I collected 2.5 gallons of tap water (with Campden tablet) and 5 gallons of RO water, with 3 g CaCl and 2 g gypsum, to hit the target water parameters.
  • I heated the strike water to 161° and added the grains to hit a mash temperature of 154°. I added 2 mL of 88% lactic acid, to adjust the pH. I held the mash at 154° for 60 minutes, with recirculation, before I raised the temperature to 168° for 10 minutes.
  • Upon removing the grains, I had a total of 6.6 gallons at a gravity of 1.045, for 68% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil and added finings and hops per the schedule.
  • After 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat, did an initial chill to ~70°, and then transferred the beer to the fermenter. I chilled it further to 52° before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 24 November 2024, with a starting gravity of 1.055. I fermented the beer at 54°, and let it free rise to 60° on 3 December 2024.
  • I cold crashed to 35° on 5 December 2024, and kegged the beer with a closed transfer on 8 December 2024. The beer had a very nice and subtle smoke flavor/aroma.
  • Final gravity was 1.018; this works out to 4.9% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Beautiful! It is a brilliantly clear light amber beer, with a creamy and persistent off-white head
  • Aroma
    • Bready malt with a touch of toastiness at a moderate level, a medium level of smoke–almost lightly bacony, Very pleasant balance.
  • Flavor
    • Bread crust and malty flavor at a moderate level; smoky flavor, somewhat bacon-like, at a medium level. Moderate hop bitterness with a slightly spicy quality. The smoke balance is perfect against the malt; not overwhelming at all, but pleasantly alongside each other!
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium carbonation, medium body, only slightly dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • It’s not often I nail something on the first batch, but this is just a great recipe! It dodges the peaty phenolics of some versions, and is both interesting and drinkable. I am pleased!
  • Overall
    • 10/10

Pfriem Pilsner 2024

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I have done a version of this three times previously, usually with some minor variations for hops or yeast. This time, I decided to do the hop varieties and timings exactly as written (with adjustments for alpha acid), to follow the original Pfriem Pilsner clone recipe from Dave Carpenter’s Lager book. Without further ado, here’s what I did.

Pfriem Pilsner 2024

  • 9.75 lb. pilsner malt (Rahr)
  • 6 oz. Carafoam malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, in mash
  • 0.75 oz. Perle hop pellets (6.3% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Tettnang hop pellets (2.4% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Tettnang hop pellets (2.4% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 0.75 oz. Saphir hop pellets (2.3% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Spalt Spalter hop pellets (4.3% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1.5 oz. Tettnang hop pellets (2.4% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 0.75 oz. Saphir hop pellets (2.3% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 0.5 oz. Spalt Spalter hop pellets (4.3% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 2 pkg. Diamond dry lager yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.046 s.g., 1.007 f.g., 5.1% abv, 4 SRM, 38 IBU
  • Full volume step mash, with 45 minutes at 142°, 45 minutes at 156°, and 10 minutes at 168°; 70 minute boil
  • Water built up from RO, to hit target parameters of 62 ppm Ca, 11 ppm Mg, 121 ppm SO4, and 51 ppm Cl, with RA=-50 ppm

Procedure

  • I built up my mash water from 7.5 gallons of RO water, with 3 g calcium chloride, 3 g epsom salt, and 4 g gypsum. Then, I heated it to 146° before adding the grains and holding at 142° for 45 minutes, with recirculation. Then, I raised the mash to 156° for 45 minutes and finished up at 168° for 10 minutes.
  • After the mash, I pulled the grains. I collected 6.8 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.041, for 74% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, boiling for 10 minutes before adding the first round of hops and proceeding with the rest of the recipe as written. In total, this was a 70 minute boil.
  • At the end of the boil, I turned off the heat, added the whirlpool hops, and whirlpooled for 10 minutes before continuing with the rest of the chill.
  • Once the beer was down to 72°, I transferred to the fermenter and chilled down to 46° in my fermentation chamber, before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed this beer on 28 October 2024, and the starting gravity was 1.049.
  • The starting fermentation temperature was 48°, and I held it here until 3 November 2024, when I raised the temperature to 52°. On 17 November, I raised the temperature to 54°, and then to ambient (~62°) on 24 November 2024.
  • I kegged the beer on 25 November 2024. Final gravity was 1.009, for 5.3% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Clear, but short of brilliant; there is just a tiny touch of barely visible haze. It is a straw-colored beer that pours with a fine and persistent white head, which leaves some nice lacing on the glass.
  • Aroma
    • Light notes of cracker and honey in the malt, and a pleasant light floral hop aroma, with a touch of fresh hay. This beer smells awesome!
  • Flavor
    • Medium-high bitterness, grainy sweet malt character; hop flavor is lightly herbal. Minerally feel to finish out the flavor.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium carbonation, medium light body, dry finish. Minerally, but not unpleasantly so.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • I am feeling pretty good about this recipe overall. It is perhaps a touch more bitter than I prefer in all of my pils, but I like the hop aroma and malt character; the overall aroma is amazing! I wouldn’t mind a touch taller head (but that may be in the pour), and I also must ding the beer a bit for its clarity. I wonder if the persistent light haze is from the large dose of whirlpool hops? I could have used some finings, and might do that next time for a pilsner-type beer, because clarity is something important to me for these.
  • Overall
    • 8/10

Collaboration Brews – Citra Blonde Ale and Andy’s Pilsner

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This past summer, I got to brew with my dad, who first got me thinking about brewing many years ago (I remember helping him way back as a teenager, even if I couldn’t enjoy the product at the time). He started as an extract brewer decades ago, took a break, got back into it, and then eventually switched to all-grain brewing (alongside wine making). Dad makes almost exclusively lagers, with his regular rotation including a Pre-Prohibition PIlsner and a Vienna Lager.

Dad currently brews on an Anvil Foundry 10.5 (gifted by us kids a few years back), doing a handful of batches annually to keep his cellar stocked. Awhile back, I shared my Citra Blonde Ale recipe with him, and he liked it enough to add a version into his repertoire. I also helped him put together a simple German pils, which is made with hops he grows himself.

We’ll usually brew something when I’m visiting, but I almost never get to sample the results due to the distance. So, it was extra nice to get a shipment with a bottle of each of the beers we made this summer. I was also able to get my hands on the notes (thanks, Dad!), which are presented in only lightly edited format.

Citra Blonde Ale

  • 5.25 lb. Briess Pilsen malt
  • 5 lb. Briess 2-row malt
  • 0.75 lb. Munich malt
  • 0.5 lb. Vienna malt
  • 0.5 lb. Carapils malt
  • 0.5 oz. Citra hops (boil 10 min.)
  • Whirlfloc tablet (boil 1- min.)
  • 0.5 oz. Citra hops (boil 5 min.)
  • 1.0 oz. Citra hops (steep for 5 min. after shutting the heat off).
  • BRY-97 American West Coast Ale (dry) and Safale US-05 (dry) yeast, 1 packet each

Procedure

Double-milled grains with 0.035 in. gap.  Steeped grains at 152 degrees.  Mashed out at 168 degrees for 10 minutes.  Boiled for 50 minutes.  Added 0.5 oz. Citra hops, Whirlfloc.  Boiled for 5 minutes.  Added 0.5 oz. Citra hops. Boiled for 5 minutes.  

Shut off heat.  Added 1.0 oz. Citra hops.  Steeped for 5 minutes.  Removed hops and cooled to 69 degrees.  S.G.=1.054.  Added American West Coast Ale yeast BRY-97 (best by 08-2024) and Safale US-05 (best by 01-24).

Fermented in the basement at approx. 65 degrees for 12 days.  S.G.=1.006.  Continued to ferment in the basement for 3 more weeks, then moved to 34-degree fridge.  Chilled for about 3 weeks, then filtered, force carbonated and bottled.

Brewed July 18, 2024.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Medium yellow color, relatively clear. A touch of chill haze. Thin white head that subsides after pouring.
  • Aroma
    • A nice orange/ citrus hop aroma at a moderate level; moderate/low malty aroma
  • Flavor
    • Citrus hop flavor, low bitterness level, grainy malt character, no yeast to speak of. Nice round maltiness.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light body, moderate carbonation, smooth finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a great recipe, even after a few months. Clean, drinkable, interesting but not overpowering.
  • Overall
    • 8/10

Andy’s Pilsner

This is a SMaSH-esque recipe, based on various SMaSH pilsners that I have made over the years. The closest equivalent would be Farke’s Best Pils.

  • 10 lb. Briess Pilsen malt
  • 1.0 oz. Saaz (2023) hops in boil (60 minute boil)
  • 1.0 oz. Mt. Hood (2023) hops (10 minute boil)
  • Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. DIamond Lager dry yeast (Lallemand)

Procedure

Double-milled grain at 0.035 in. gap.  Steeped grain at 150 degrees for 50 minutes.  Mashed out at 168 degrees for 10 minutes.  Brought to a boil and added Saaz hops.  

Boiled for 60 minutes.  Added Whirlfloc tablet and Mt. Hood hops.  Boiled for 10 minutes.  Cooled to 70 degrees.  S.G.=1.051.  Added 1-1/2 qts. tap water.  S.G.=1.047.

Chilled to 52 degrees.  Added 2 packages of Diamond Lager yeast (BB 08-2024 & 09-2023).  Fermented for 10 days.  S.G.=1.006.  Racked to 5 gal. carboy.   Continued to ferment at 52 degrees for 12 days.  Warmed to 74 degrees for diacetyl rest for 4 days.  Chilled to 34 degrees for approximately one month, then cold filtered, force carbonated and bottled.

Brewed July 18, 2024.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Very clear, straw color, with thin white head that subsides fairly quickly.
  • Aroma
    • A bit of spicy hop at the forefront, and some grainy maltiness behind that. Very nice!
  • Flavor
    • Malty sweetness at the front, and medium level of spicy hopping. Clean fermentation profile.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-low carbonation level; medium mouthfeel; smooth and slightly dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a great recipe! Carbonation might help with giving a touch more head. Malt and hop levels are perfect. This is a nice pilsner.
  • Overall
    • 8/10