12 replies to this topic

[JimInNJ]

That thread about the most challenging styles to brew got me thinking about Lite Lagers. Anybody have any tips or tricks? Recipes?- Jim

[MolBasser]

Proper temperature controll in ALL phases of brewing is the best advice that I can give.BrewBasser

[MyaCullen]

Proper temperature controll in ALL phases of brewing is the best advice that I can give.BrewBasser

And perfect sanitation, neutral totally flavorless, water, and brewing to high gravity followed by blending with de-oxygenated water prior to packaging.

[Big Nake]

There's a lager page on my site with some info. The link is below. Also, in the "Corona" thread, I posted a recipe for a Mexican Lager and there is some info there too. Pale malt, maybe some corn, a little Vienna for some depth, only the cleanest hops (Hallertau, Tettnanger, Tradition, Styrian Goldings, maybe Spalt, Saaz, Hersbrucker...) and yeasts like WLP830, WLP840, Wyeast 2007, Wyeast 2124, Wyeast 2001, WLP940. You need soft(er) water than most people have so maybe consider using 1/2 distilled and 1/2 filtered tap water. Go to mrmalty.com and use his yeast calculator to determine the proper amount of yeast to pitch (you can select ale or lager, the gravity of the beer, whether the yeast is "new" or harvested, etc). Oxygenate your wort and pitch into wort that is AT or BELOW your desired primary fermentation temp. Ferment low in the range specified by the yeast and keep primary temps cool and consistent. Allow for a d-rest if you're worried about diacetyl from the strain of lager yeast you use. Try to lager the beer in the 34-38° range for a month or more. ABV should be 5 or less, IBUs should be 20 or so (your call) and SRM should be 3-4. Cheers.

[MolBasser]

Make sure you give it a good boil and chill it QUICKLY. DMS is your foe in this brew so you need to get that wort from boiling to pitch as fast as possible.BrewBasser

[jwatkins56550]

hasn't sierra nevada used their yeast at lager temps? I think I heard a jamil podcast mentioning that...

[MolBasser]

hasn't sierra nevada used their yeast at lager temps? I think I heard a jamil podcast mentioning that...

That dude was amazingly incorrect.And the answer is no. We use the right yeast at the right temp.BrewBasser

[dagomike]

There are a lot of variables, but key in on the fermentation. I think it's that way actually with most styles, but a naked lager is the least forgiving. Good oxygenation, good pitch of viable and vital yeast, and proper temp control.

[Big Nake]

Make sure you give it a good boil and chill it QUICKLY. DMS is your foe in this brew so you need to get that wort from boiling to pitch as fast as possible.BrewBasser

To get around that problem, some have suggested just using plain old American 2-row as the base malt instead of pilsner malt... as pilsner malt would give you more of a "Continental" flavor where a standard light lager may not have that. I've actually done this and you can still make a nice American Standard/American Premium with 2-row as opposed to pilsner malt. Cheers.Ps. On the chill thing... I timed my last chill and found that I get from boiling to under 140° (the supposed-magic DMS temp) in 1 minute, 45 seconds.

[BrewerGeorge]

To get around that problem, some have suggested just using plain old American 2-row as the base malt instead of pilsner malt... as pilsner malt would give you more of a "Continental" flavor where a standard light lager may not have that. I've actually done this and you can still make a nice American Standard/American Premium with 2-row as opposed to pilsner malt. Cheers.Ps. On the chill thing... I timed my last chill and found that I get from boiling to under 140° (the supposed-magic DMS temp) in 1 minute, 45 seconds.

This. Definitely, definitely this.8 lbs of American 2-row. 28 oz (that's two boxes) of Minute Rice. Anything noble to about 15 IBU's. Chill fast, pitch big, ferment cool, lager cold for 4 weeks. Add gelatin and force carb.Honestly, although I do it once a year just to prove to myself that I still can, it's not really worth the trouble to brew these yourself when PBR is only $13 for 30 cans.

[Gumbo Leviathan]

Ps. On the chill thing... I timed my last chill and found that I get from boiling to under 140° (the supposed-magic DMS temp) in 1 minute, 45 seconds.

I was quite impressed yesterday. I brewed a pilsner and did a 90 minute boil on it to hopefully reduce DMS. I wasnt sure how fast I could cool it and worried about this a bit, but using my home made immersion chiller I got my temps down from boil to 150 in only about a minute, and down to 70F in another 5 minutes or so. I dont think I ever had a temperature drop that fast. I attribute it to the fact that it was raining and I was brewing on the porch. The hose was snaking through a large puddle of water and must have cooled itself some as it got to my chiller.I had a HUGE mess of proteins sitting in the bottom of my brewpot when I siphoned it all off... And now its happily bubbling away at 50F yeah!

[dagomike]

From my experience, a quick chill doesn't compensate for a good long boil. I think if you boil for 100 minutes or so, and chill in a reasonable amount of time, you'll be fine with DMS. Different Pils malts will certainly made a difference too.