lager

[nickjdavis]

[quote=rpruen post_id=848052 time=1580749258 user_id=25127]


I'm not dismissing it at all. I'm thinking of incorporating it into my normal brewing, maybe a pale larger malt based beer, dry hopped with cascade. I can see the possibility for something crisp and clean but with a hop forward character. Aromatic without being quite so 'in your face' as the beer I brew now. It's maybe because I don't have to cover up off flavours anymore, maybe just because I like to experiment.

Thanks for all the input

Regards
Richard
[/quote]

Richard, I wasn't meaning YOU being dismissive....my post was a response to IPA's post which, on the surface, was pretty dismissive of lager in general.

[Eric]

Let's be fair, the overwhelming majority of lagers drank today are, at best, moderate. Most are worse, but that does not mean that good lagers don't exist or cannot be made, just that good lagers takes a greater amount of effort than most are able or willing to make and I'll bet IPA will not disagree.

Richard, you've got your head against the wind brewing 1 litre batches and might be deceiving yourself. I don't know your water, but I'll suggest phosphoric acid is an Americanism and not German, who can and do make great lagers. Again not entirely German, but you might consider keeping your calcium by using hydrochloric acid to deal with alkalinity in your water supply. Paul Kolbach explained how low calcium affected brewing. He never said that brewing with low calcium made better beer as some would have us believe.

If we might consider the lagering process, storage over winter after primary fermentation in autumn. The best examples of such brews would be made using the prime of that years barley, sufficiently rested after malting, together with the best of that years hop harvest. Not an easy task for a British homebrewer. Don't give up, you could do it with determination. The less we talk about modern processes, the better.

[rpruen]

Richard, you've got your head against the wind brewing 1 litre batches and might be deceiving yourself. I don't know your water, but I'll suggest phosphoric acid is an Americanism and not German, who can and do make great lagers. Again not entirely German, but you might consider keeping your calcium by using hydrochloric acid to deal with alkalinity in your water supply. Paul Kolbach explained how low calcium affected brewing. He never said that brewing with low calcium made better beer as some would have us believe.

Yes I agree brewing 1 gallon batches is a pain. I am just about to tie up a corny until next summer and do a full batch. If it turns out at all like the trial runs, then I think it worthwhile. If nothing else it has taught me that water treatment is important, but isn't everything, its the foundation to the beer. I have selected a water profile, more mineralised this time, I feel it would benefit the beer. As you say phosphoric acid isn't very german. The full batch will likely use Lactic acid and / or acid malt to keep things more traditional. Though if it turns out phosphoric is better, then I will go back to it in a shot.

If we might consider the lagering process, storage over winter after primary fermentation in autumn. The best examples of such brews would be made using the prime of that years barley, sufficiently rested after malting, together with the best of that years hop harvest. Not an easy task for a British homebrewer. Don't give up, you could do it with determination. The less we talk about modern processes, the better.

No its not an easy task, but I never expected it to be. I agree the ingredients need to be top quality, a slightly off hop will ruin everything. There being that little wiggle room, or margin for error. However I like to do things that are challenging, it keeps things interesting. It's also a slow process, as the beer only matures so fast. As for modern brewing techniques, I guess I am using them, as I have a kegerator, but the rest is fairly basic. Hence why brewing larger will be an autumn/winter proposition.

Thanks for the input

Regards
Richard

[Cobnut]

If you have the capability to brew under pressure, you can produce lager much quicker and at ale temperatures or even higher.

I have successfully done this, having been inspired by this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt_kQtdj_Qs

To be fair, I did cold condition (lager) the beer I made (a Munich Helles) for 3 weeks before bottling & kegging, but as Nick says above, the lagering can be in the bottle. The benefit of bulk conditioning (for fear of teaching you to suck eggs) is that when you do bottle (or keg) you are staring with a beer that has already cleared very well.

FYI, my Helles was 94% pilsner malt, 4% acidulated malt with no water treatment. I used Mount Hood hops (related to Hallertauer, I believe, which I would use in a repeat brew) and MJ Bohemian Lager yeast (2 rehydrated packs in a 24L batch). It drank very well thank you very much :

[rpruen]

If you have the capability to brew under pressure, you can produce lager much quicker and at ale temperatures or even higher.

I have successfully done this, having been inspired by this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt_kQtdj_Qs

Interesting thanks for that I'd love one of those

FYI, my Helles was 94% pilsner malt, 4% acidulated malt with no water treatment. I used Mount Hood hops (related to Hallertauer, I believe, which I would use in a repeat brew) and MJ Bohemian Lager yeast (2 rehydrated packs in a 24L batch). It drank very well thank you very much :

I honestly think I overdid the hops, but other than that, I think I have it under control. I can experiment adding a few % speciality grains, just to perk the flavour up a bit. It's a case of taking things steady, and changing each batch by one thing, then seeing how it comes out.

Regards

Richard