If you are using liquid yeast you will need to grow up a large starter of around 3-4 litres and as you grow the starter, slowly reduce the temperature until it is close to your pitching temperature, so you might start your yeast starter at 18C/64F but by the time you ramp it up to 4 litres it should be between 7-9C (45F-48F). If you are pitching dry yeast this simply means pitching twice as much yeast as you would normally. Of course, there are variations on style and many breweries now produce hop-forward craft lagers or India Pale Lagers which can be an interesting take on the beer.Īs a standard rule of thumb, lagers need around twice the amount of yeast that an ale of a similar gravity would need, or to be more specific, around 1.5 million cells per millilitre of wort per degree plato. Hood and Liberty are good choices.Īs always you should feel free to play around with hop varieties and additions and are in no way constrained to strictly following style guidelines but if you are aiming to stay true to style then typically lagers are lightly hopped, malt-forward styles (other than Pilsners which typically have a much larger bittering addition and a BU:GU ratio of around 0.80). In German-style lagers, hops such as Hallertauer or Tettnang are common and in American style lagers, Mt. Saaz is typical for Czech pilsners and in classic examples will be the only variety used. There are many hop varieties that are traditionally associated with lagers. The water profile for a light lager may look like this With sulfates, levels of below 150ppm are desirable. Gypsum (calcium sulfate) additions are usually wrong for the style. Many homebrewers who brew lagers will start with distilled or reverse osmosis water and then make salt additions, in particular calcium carbonate, sodium chloride or calcium chloride. In many instances, a low sulfate level is desirable for making good lagers. They provide starch in the mash which is broken down into sugars but does not affect the end flavour of the beer (or their contribution is minimal). In a lot of American style lagers, adjuncts such as corn and rice are used. Carapils can also be an excellent addition to lager styles to help with head retention and body – less than 10% of the grain bill should be sufficient. Some brewers will also choose to add light caramel malts to their grain bill which can work well but should be avoided if making a Pilsner. If this is required, 1% of acidulated malt will reduce mash pH by 0.1.ĭepending on style you may wish to add some specialty malts for bread crust/malt flavours such as Melanoidin, Munich or Vienna. Depending on your water chemistry you may need to make adjustments to your pH and acidulated malt is a good option for this (especially if making authentic German lagers). Yes, lager brewing requires some technical know-how and some precise process control but as long as you follow some simple steps, a great lager is by no means out of reach.įor most styles of lager your malt bill is going to consist largely of good quality pilsner malt or possibly 2-row or lager malt. The clean and balanced profile leaving very little margin for error.Īs homebrewers, we shouldn’t be put off, however. It requires very precise control over several aspects of fermentation and unlike many ales where some dry hopping or fruit additions can cover a multitude of sins, lager brewing leaves the brewer very much exposed. ‘Brewing a lager can be a huge accomplishment as a home brewer. We spoke to Dave in our UK office who gave us his tips for brewing a lager at home. Though many craft beer drinkers may prefer highly hopped, or sour, or smoked beers it actually takes a high level of proficiency to brew a lager well, right from recipe formulation and throughout fermentation and packaging there is a lot to consider to make the clean, crisp and well-balanced beer people expect when you serve them a lager. Lastly, lagers are a very technical style of beer to brew. This ties up a fermenter and your fermentation chamber for a significant period of time which can be off-putting. Ales are ready relatively quickly in comparison to lagers which can undergo lagering periods of 12 weeks or more. Other techniques which are more widely available, such as ice baths, can yield good results but can make it difficult to maintain accuracy and repeatability going forward.Īnother issue with lager brewing is the patience required. For many brewers, this means building a dedicated fermentation chamber with temperature control which can be an off-putting project for some. Why is this? Lager brewing requires the ability to control your fermentation temperature, and the more accurately you can control fermentation temperatures the better your end results will be. Though lagers are how many of us got started with our love of good beers, the amount of homebrewers who actually brew lagers, compared to ales, is relatively small.
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