Tag Archives: Dortmunder Export

Last Chance Lager

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The Dortmunder Export (German Helles Exportbier) is a surprisingly neglected style, but one that I have enjoyed brewing over the years. It’s a great pale lager for hard waters, and a nice and malty style at that.

I made “Last Chance Lager” to use up some of my grains on-hand, while also highlighting the Dortmunder Export style. There’s not much to say about the recipe, other than that it paralleled previous versions in overall design philosophy. I like pilsner as the dominant malt, with a measure of Vienna and Munich to up the maltiness and add some character. I used Munich II instead of Munich I as part of the grist, which presumably will increase the maltiness relative to previous iterations.

Last Chance Lager

  • 7 lb. 15 oz. Barke Pilsner Malt (Weyermann)
  • 1 lb. 8 oz. Vienna malt
  • 1 lb. Viking Pilsner Zero malt
  • 12 oz. Munich II malt (Weyermann)
  • 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (5.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (5.2% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. BruTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (5.2% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Diamond Lager yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.051 s.g., 1.013 f.g., 5.0% abv, 29 IBU, 5 SRM
  • Full volume mash, 152° for 60 minutes, 168° mash-out for 10 minutes
  • Claremont tap water adjusted with lactic acid and mineral additions, to achieve calculated water profile of 64 Ca, 8 Mg, 26 Na, 97 SO4, 91 Cl, 24 HCO3. RA=-31 ppm, alkalinity=20 ppm, effective hardness 51 ppm.

Procedure

  • I started with 7 gallons of tap water, adding 5.85 mL of 88% lactic acid to neutralize the carbonates, followed by a half Campden tablet, 2 g gypsum, 2 g epsom salt, and 0.8 g calcium chloride in order to hit my water target parameters. I raised the temperature to 158°, mashed in with the grains, and added 3 mL of 88% lactic acid in order to adjust pH.
  • I held the mash at 152° with recirculation for 60 minutes, before raising it to 168° for 10 minutes. Following this, I removed the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.4 gallons with a gravity of 1.042, for 64% mash efficiency. That’s lower than I hoped, but not awful.
  • I boiled for 60 minutes, adding hops and finings per the recipe. Then, I turned off the heat and chilled down to 72°, before transferring to the fermenter and letting it chill the rest of the way (~50°) before pitching yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 7 January 2023, and fermented at around 50° to 52°. Starting gravity was 1.050, just a bit shy of my target.
  • I kegged the beer on 12 March 2023, transferring to a CO2-purged keg. Final gravity was 1.012, for 5.0% abv. Exactly on target!
  • The beer took a long time to clarify — even after 2 weeks at near-freezing temperatures, it was still pretty hazy. Another month dropped out most, but not all, of the haze.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • A gold beer that pours with a creamy and persistent white head. This is very clear, but not perfectly so.
  • Aroma
    • Doughy malt aroma, with a slight spicy hop character. Clean yeast profile; i.e., not noticeable.
  • Flavor
    • Moderately low bitterness. There is a nice malty quality to this beer, with a rich and bready quality. Malt-forward.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, medium carbonation, smooth finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • I really like this style, and this recipe is a good incarnation. I love the smooth maltiness that you get in a Dort. My only minor fault is that the beer could be a touch clearer, but that’s a very minor ding on an otherwise excellent beer. I can safely say that I have mastered this style!
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Tremonia Lager 1.1

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With the end of the year, I did a rebrew of Tremonia Lager, one of my favorite recipes from the past 12 months. This round uses an identical malt bill, although I switched out the bittering hops (Sterling instead of Magnum), and used Diamond lager yeast from Lallemand instead of W34/70. The water is slightly modified too, to accommodate our seasonal water changes and reduce the magnesium load.

Tremonia Lager 1.1

  • 9.5 lb. pilsner malt (Weyermann)
  • 1.5 lb. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 1.5 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.85 oz. Sterling hop pellets (7.4% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Mt. Hood hop pellets (4.6% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Mt. Hood hop pellets (4.6% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Diamond Lager yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.057 o.g., 1.014 f.g., 5.6% abv, 26 IBU, 5 SRM
  • Infusion mash, 152° for 60 minutes, full volume
  • Claremont tap water adjusted with lactic acid and mineral additions, to achieve calculated water profile of 102 Ca, 45 Mg, 74 Na, 66 SO4, 89 Cl, 25 HCO3, -79 ppm RA, 20 ppm Alkalinity, 99 ppm effective hardness.

Procedure

  • I tested my water the night before brewing, and added 6.75 mL of 88% lactic acid to neutralize carbonates. Then, I added 2 g of gypsum and 0.5 g of calcium chloride, to achieve the target water profile listed above. Unlike my first batch of this beer, I used no Epsom salts.
  • I mashed in with 7.5 gallons of water at 159°, to hit a target mash temperature of 152°. After sitting for 10 minutes, I began recirculation, for a 60 minute mash rest at 152°. Then, I heated the mash to 168°, holding it here for 10 minutes.
  • After removing the grain basket, I had 6.6 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.049, for 69% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the kettle to a boil, adding hops and finings per the schedule. I also added 1 tsp. of BrewTan B at the end of the boil, to help maintain freshness of the beer.
  • I chilled the beer down to 75° or so, and then transferred to the fermenter for the final chill down to 50°. Then, I pitched the yeast.
  • Starting gravity was 1.055. I brewed this beer on 21 November 2020.
  • On 30 November 2020, I raised the temperature in the fermenter to 60°, and then cold crashed to 33° on 4 December 2020.
  • I kegged the beer on 10 December 2020, with a semi-closed transfer into the purged keg. It lagered for a few weeks at this temperature before going on-tap.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Very clear, nearly brilliant gold beer, with a persistent fine white head. Beautiful!
  • Aroma
    • Malt-forward, with a light sweet maltiness and low hop level.
  • Flavor
    • Malty, delicious, with cracker-like character. There is a firm, moderately high bitterness, but not much hop character beyond that.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, moderate carbonation, with off-dry finish and lingering bitterness.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This is a nice beer! I like the previous version a touch better, but this one is still pretty good. The hop character was a touch better previously, and I think the mineral balance is slightly out of whack, giving a slight harshness to the bittering. I might adjust the minerals to be just a touch closer to the “old” version next time around.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Tremonia Lager

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Despite their sometimes bland reputation, pale lagers have a surprising breadth of variation. One type I’ve not yet explored is the Dortmunder Export, lumped into the German Helles Exportbier category under the BJCP 2015 guidelines. As described there, it’s a style that packs a fair bit of malt character (especially for a pale lager) and noticeable but not overwhelming hopping, against a relatively mineralized water profile. The latter aspect was particularly appealing for me, given the nature of our local tap water. Let’s just say I’m not going to be making a Bohemian pilsner straight out of the water faucet, but with a bit of tweaking I can get right into the appropriate water zone for a Dortmunder Export.

I did a fair bit of research for this brew, checking out the recipes available already (including this nice article) and trying to approximate something of my own. Compared with other lagers, there are surprisingly few example recipes. My first recipe draft was about 90% pilsner malt and 10% Vienna. After posting this to the Homebrewers Association Forum, common feedback was that some Munich would also be in character and even desirable. So, I adjusted the recipe to include approximately 70% pilsner, 15% Vienna, and 15% light Munich malt. In practice, my percentages were slightly off of this just because I was using up some of my malt stock (for instance, I had 2 ounces of extra Vienna malt, and it seemed silly to leave that behind). I also had a blend of two pilsner malts, because I used up one bag and opened another. Finally, I chose Magnum as the backbone for my bittering, with Mt. Hood as the flavor/aroma addition.

For this recipe, I decided to use my new Lamott water testing kit and some chemistry to adjust my tap water prior to the mash. My goal was to use acid to neutralize much of the carbonate load, and then adjust from there. Excluding the carbonate, my water is actually pretty good most of the time, and can be built up for many styles. It just takes some time and careful adjustment.

The name for this references a supposed archaic Latin name for the city of Dortmund. It sounded cool, so it stuck.

Tremonia Lager

  • 4 lb. 5 oz. Superior Pilsen Malt (Great Western)
  • 4 lb. Pilsner Malt (Weyermann)
  • 1 lb. 10 oz. Vienna Malt (Great Western)
  • 1 lb. 8 oz. Munich I Malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 oz. Magnum hop pellets (13.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Mt. Hood hop pellets (4.6% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Mt. Hood hop pellets (4.6% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Saflager W34/70 dry yeast

Target Parameters

  • 1.052 o.g., 1.012 f.g., 5.3% abv, 27 IBU, 5 SRM
  • Infusion mash, 152° for 60 minutes, batch sparge
  • Claremont tap water adjusted with lactic acid and mineral additions, to achieve calculated water profile of 64 Ca, 8 Mg, 26 Na, 97 SO4, 91 Cl, 24 HCO3. RA=-31 ppm, alkalinity=20 ppm, effective hardness 51 ppm.

Procedure

  • The night before brewing, I started the water adjustment process. With 9 gallons of Claremont tap water, I added 7.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to bring down the alkalinity. I stirred the hot tap water sporadically over a 4 hour period, to let the CO2 get kicked out. This amount of lactic acid should be well below the flavor threshold. I tested the water chemistry after this, and confirmed that much of the bicarbonate was dropped out. To this water, I then added 2 g gypsum, 2 g epsom salt, and 0.8 g calcium chloride, along with half a Campden tablet (for chloramine removal), to hit the water properties listed above.
  • I mashed in with 4 gallons of water at 163°, to hit a mash temperature of 152.5°. I added 2.5 mL of 88% lactic acid to drop the pH slightly. The mash had dropped to 149.5° after 25 minutes.
  • After 60 minutes, I added 1.3 gallons of water at ~185°, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected first runnings.
  • Next, I added 3.75 gallons of water at ~185°, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected the remainder of the runnings.
  • In total, I collected 7.5 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.044, for 78% efficiency. I’m happy with that!
  • I boiled the wort for 60 minutes, adding hops and finings per the recipe above.
  • Once the boil was done, I chilled down to 52°, and sprinkled the dry yeast directly into the wort. I did not oxygenate this batch, beyond simple aeration when going into the kettle.
  • I brewed the beer on 16 May 2020, reaching a starting gravity of 1.050. Final gravity was 1.013, for 4.9% abv.
  • I kegged the beer into a CO2-purged keg on 6 June 2020. After a few days of carbonation at 33°, I added 0.75 tsp. of gelatin dissolved and pasteurized in 1/2 cup of water on 12 June 2020, in order to speed up the clarification processs. I noticed nice clarity within 48 hours, and nearly brilliant clarity within a week. Thank you, gelatin! I realize I risked adding some oxygen at this point, but want to see if there are any noticeable effects as I finish the keg.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • It has the color of burnished gold and is wonderfully clear, with a persistent and creamy white head that leaves slight lacing on the side of the glass.
  • Aroma
    • Moderate bready and slightly sweet malt aroma, with a hint of hop spice against that; very clean yeast character
  • Flavor
    • Moderately bitter, with a grainy/bready malt character that finishes with just a hint of malty sweetness and lingering bitterness; really nice!
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, medium carbonation, very slightly dry on the finish but not overly so
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Absolutely! I really love this recipe, and love this style as a result. It’s a nice notch up from pilsner in terms of maltiness, without getting too heavy or too high in alcohol. I find the beer to drink really easily, too…maybe too easily. I see this as a recipe that I can play around with hop varieties and malt brands, but I really see no reason to make any substantial adjustments. The Pilsner/Vienna/Munich balance is pretty much spot-on!
  • Overall
    • 10/10