Tag Archives: International Pale Lager

Dakota Gold Pils

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Summer is a great time for pale lagers! For this recipe, I riffed on the Schell’s Pils clone I’ve brewed in the past. It is intended to be a German pils, which is a style I quite enjoy. This recipe uses only 2-row malt, rather than pilsner malt, for the base, with a bit of CaraPils or similar malt.

For this iteration, I tried out Mecca Grade’s pale American malt as the primary base grain, using a bit of Rahr 2-row to finish out that supply. I also subbed in Carafoam instead of Carapils. The hops are entirely whole cones from South Dakota (thanks, Dad!). I had to guess on the alpha based on what is typical for the style, and as you’ll see in the results probably guessed high.

Dakota Gold Pils

  • 7 lb. 9 oz. Lamonta Pale American malt (Mecca Grade)
  • 2 lb. 7 oz. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
  • 0.5 lb. Carafoam malt (Weyermann)
  • 1.09 oz. Hallertauer whole hops (3.0% estimated alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Sterling whole hops (4.5% estimated alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Saaz whole hops (3.5% estimated alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Saaz whole hops (3.5% estimated alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. yeast nutrient (WLN1000, White Labs), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Diamond Lager dry yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.047 s.g., 1.010 f.g., 4.8% abv, 35 IBU, 5 SRM
  • Full volume mash, 149° for 60 minutes, 168° mash-out for 10 minutes
  • RO water with minerals added to hit target of 59 ppm Ca, 8 Mg, 89 SO4, 63 Cl, RA=-47, alkalinity=0.

Procedure

  • Starting with 7.6 gallons of RO water, I added 2.7 g gypsum, 2.2 g epsom salt, and 3.4 g of calcium chloride, to hit the target water profile. I also added half of a sodium metabisulfate tablet, to remove any latent oxygen in the water.
  • I heated the water to 154° and added the grains to hit a target mash temperature of 149°. I did not add any lactic acid, because the pH was calculated to be approximately fine (pH of 5.4) without any additions.
  • After a 60 minute mash, I heated to 168° for the mash-out, and pulled the grains after 10 minutes of this.
  • In total, I collected 6.8 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.039, for 70% efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings as indicated by the recipe. After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled to ~70°. I transferred the wort to the fermenter, and chilled down to 50° before pitching the yeast.
  • Starting gravity was 1.047. I brewed the beer on 15 April 2023, fermenting at 52°. I held it here until 13 May 2023, when I cold crashed the beer.
  • I kegged the beer with a closed transfer on 28 May 2023. Final gravity was 1.009, for 5.0% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Brilliantly clear, straw-colored beer that pours with a fine and persistent white head. Absolutely beautiful!
  • Aroma
    • Sweet malt aroma. Not really much for hops.
  • Flavor
    • Cracker and sweet malty flavor. Moderately low bitterness, with a very clean fermentation profile. There is not a ton of hop character, surprisingly.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light body, moderately high carbonation, and smooth finish with a slightly extended bitterness.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is an excellent beer! A touch more bitterness and hop flavor/aroma would be great, but it is otherwise fantastic in drinkability and appearance. It’s not really a German pils at all–it should be more bitter–but that’s OK. Were I to assign a BJCP category, I would probably put it in International Pale Lager. This is the definition of a lawnmower beer!
  • Overall
    • 10/10 as a beer on its own; 6/10 as a German pils.

Spring Lager

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Heading into the warmer months, I love having some crisp, drinkable lagers on-hand. I often err on the side of a traditional German pils, but it’s nice to explore other realms of lager space. It may be rather generic, but the “International Pale Lager” style in the BJCP sure can be refreshing during warm weather.

This batch was ridiculously simple–100 percent Viking Pilsner Zero malt, Liberty hops at 60 minutes and 10 minutes, and Novalager for my yeast. The latter is a new strain from Lallemand, bred to be clean and highly flocculant. I was intrigued to try a new dry yeast, especially given how much I love Diamond Lager. It can’t hurt to have a few more tools in my toolbox.

Spring Lager

  • 10 lb. Viking Pilsner Zero Malt
  • 1 oz. Liberty hop pellets (4.0% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Liberty hop pellets (4.0% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Novalager dry yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.049 s.g., 1.003 f.g., 5.9% abv, 20 IBU, 4 SRM
  • Full volume mash, 144° for 45 minutes, 160° for 45 minutes, 168° mash-out for 10 minutes
  • RO water built up to hit target water parameters of 54 ppm Ca, 42 ppm SO4, 64 ppm Cl.

Procedure

  • I started with 7 gallons of RO water, adding 2 g gypsum and 3.5 g of calcium chloride, to hit my water targets.
  • I heated the water to 149°, adding the grains as well as 1.1 mL of 88% lactic acid. I held the temperature at 144° and recirculated for 45 minutes, before raising the temperature to 160°. I held it here for 45 minutes, and then mashed out at 168° for 10 minutes.
  • In total, I collected 6.2 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.044, for 73% 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 to 70°.
  • I transferred the wort to the fermenter, and chilled it down to 50° before pitching the yeast. I held the temperature at 52° for fermentation.
  • I brewed the beer on 20 February 2023. Starting gravity was 1.051.
  • I held the beer at 52° for five days, before pulling it to ambient (~50°) for the next stage.
  • I moved the beer to “house ambient” (~66°) on 18 March, and then kegged on 26 March 2023.
  • The final gravity was 1.010, for 5.4% abv.
  • I held the beer at near-freezing; it had dropped clear by 15 April 2023.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Brilliantly clear and straw in color, with a moderately persistent white head.
  • Aroma
    • Grainy sweet malt character, with a slight floral and spice hop profile.
  • Flavor
    • Medium-light malty and slightly grainy flavor as well as a bit of cracker for the malt, with medium-low bitterness. Very clean yeast profile.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light body, medium carbonation. Smooth finish that tilts towards the malt.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Absolutely! It’s not the most exciting beer, but it’s a darned great one. It’s super flavorful, but not too much flavor–in other words, exceptionally drinkable. This is more interesting an a light adjunct lager. I’m also impressed by the clarity. This is a perfect “lawnmower beer”! The combo of Novalager and Viking Pilsner Zero really pay off.
  • Overall
    • 10/10