LAGER - COCKED UP........???

[louiscowdroy]

I was wondering if someone could tell me whether or not I have cocked this recipe right up? I bought 4kg of Lager Malt from Malt Millers and WLP830 German Lager Yeast from Hop & Grape. Thought to myself, Hops......so I originally purchased Saaz. Then realising that Saaz was really designed for Czech styles I checked my freezer and had some Hallertauer (Mittlefruh) & Hallertauer (Hersbrucker) so I used them.

However, and its a big however.....the grain bill.......4Kg Lager Malt, but I then had a brain wave and put 500g of Munich Malt in too. But when I drop the wort into the fermenter it looked more dark than I thought, EBC of 8.

Have I cocked this Lager up? Is it going to taste like a Pale Ale? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards, Louis from Harrogate.

[far9410]

Might be a bit heavier/ maltier than your average lager, but certainly not cocked up, put your recipe up, it could be really nice

[louiscowdroy]

Oh and I didn't liquor back either.....I thought I had enough, but now look at the ABV.......nightmare:

GERMAN LAGER EXPERIMENT ONE - 28 NOV 13

Date: 28 Nov 13

Gyle Number: N/A

Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio

Lager Malt 2.5 EBC 8 lbs. 13.0 oz 4000 grams 88.9%
Munich Malt 25 EBC 1 lbs. 1.6 oz 500 grams 11.1%


Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio

Hallertauer Mittlefruh Whole 5.2 % 90 mins 0 lbs. 0.7 oz 20 grams 20%
Hallertauer Hersbrucker Whole 2.7 % 45 mins 0 lbs. 1.1 oz 30 grams 30%
Hallertauer Hersbrucker Whole 2.7 % 10 mins 0 lbs. 1.8 oz 50 grams 50%

Final Volume: 17 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.014
Alcohol Content: 6.3% ABV
Total Liquor: 26.2 Litres
Mash Liquor: 11.3 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 78 %
Bitterness: 28.7078677925048 EBU
Colour: 10 EBC

I think this is going to taste awful............ ((

[orlando]

Oh and I didn't liquor back either.....I thought I had enough, but now look at the ABV.......nightmare:

GERMAN LAGER EXPERIMENT ONE - 28 NOV 13

Date: 28 Nov 13

Gyle Number: N/A

Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio

Lager Malt 2.5 EBC 8 lbs. 13.0 oz 4000 grams 88.9%
Munich Malt 25 EBC 1 lbs. 1.6 oz 500 grams 11.1%


Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio

Hallertauer Mittlefruh Whole 5.2 % 90 mins 0 lbs. 0.7 oz 20 grams 20%
Hallertauer Hersbrucker Whole 2.7 % 45 mins 0 lbs. 1.1 oz 30 grams 30%
Hallertauer Hersbrucker Whole 2.7 % 10 mins 0 lbs. 1.8 oz 50 grams 50%

Final Volume: 17 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.014
Alcohol Content: 6.3% ABV
Total Liquor: 26.2 Litres
Mash Liquor: 11.3 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 78 %
Bitterness: 28.7078677925048 EBU
Colour: 10 EBC

I think this is going to taste awful............ ((

Why do you say that, it might be too strong if you were looking for a thirst quencher but otherwise look tastier than most lagers? I do question your hop IBU's though, not enough decimal places to be really accurate .

[far9410]

That looks awful, parcel it up and send it to me for safe disposal

[jmc]

Sounds like it could be a lovely. There are loads of stronger Lager styles like Marzen or Bock so you may be in their territory. You could liquor back now with cooled boiled water if you definitely want a quaffer but I wouldn't bother.

You could also order another 4kg of Lager malt for a weaker version that you could use the yeast cake with.

[louiscowdroy]

Sounds like it could be a lovely. There are loads of stronger Lager styles like Marzen or Bock so you may be in their territory. You could liquor back now with cooled boiled water if you definitely want a quaffer but I wouldn't bother.

You could also order another 4kg of Lager malt for a weaker version that you could use the yeast cake with.

Oh that's a brilliant idea !! Thank you. I'm going to order from Malt Miller now. Could someone say whats the best Hops to use? And Yeast?

I'm trying to make a light, crisp, refreshing, cool, tasty Lager for my wife....any help would be fantastic....!!

Kind regards, Louis from Harrogate.

[louiscowdroy]

Sounds like it could be a lovely. There are loads of stronger Lager styles like Marzen or Bock so you may be in their territory. You could liquor back now with cooled boiled water if you definitely want a quaffer but I wouldn't bother.

You could also order another 4kg of Lager malt for a weaker version that you could use the yeast cake with.

How would I use the yeast cake......could you advise me please?? Thank you. Louis )

[jmc]

Sounds like it could be a lovely. There are loads of stronger Lager styles like Marzen or Bock so you may be in their territory. You could liquor back now with cooled boiled water if you definitely want a quaffer but I wouldn't bother.

You could also order another 4kg of Lager malt for a weaker version that you could use the yeast cake with.

How would I use the yeast cake......could you advise me please?? Thank you. Louis )

Earlier in the year I made a simple lager type brew based on Boingy's Kronenbourg recipe and that went down well with lager-drinking friends.

If you've placed your order already you could just use the 4kg of Lager malt and maybe skip honey if you want to keep ABV low.
BTW: The maize is there to thin it out a bit.

You can plug the recipe into Beer Engine or similar to calculate amount of malt to get to your target ABV %.

I'm sure others more knowledgeable about lager brewing can suggest other recipes.

For pitching the yeast, some would just use the whole yeast cake from the previous brew but you can calculate the recommended amount to add from Mr Malty's Pitching Rate Calculator

If you're using fresh yeast cake for a 1045 OG 6US gal (5 UK gal) brew I make it 93cc of yeast cake, collected with & into sanitised kit

[Belter]

Saaz is a perfectly acceptable hop for a lager.

[louiscowdroy]

Saaz is a perfectly acceptable hop for a lager.

Even against a German yeast strain??......I suppose it wouldn't taste bad, but isn't it meant to be sort of German Hops, Yeast......Czech Hops, Pilsner yeast.....

I have no clue, I suppose its all a bit of fun )

[killer]

Saaz is great hop, my favourite lager hop. I certainly wouldn't worry about geographical borders !

[AnthonyD]

I made a Vienna Lager last week - the recipe is on here a bit further down. It's turned out quite dark too, but I should think it'll turn out really nice. The yeast itself is a huge proportion of the flavour.

I used WLP830 too... took off like a rocket with a 3 day old 3L starter!

Don't worry too much. Sure it'll be very nice.

[Matt12398]

Pull yourself together Louis. This sounds like my kind of beer.

[Belter]

Saaz is a perfectly acceptable hop for a lager.

Even against a German yeast strain??......I suppose it wouldn't taste bad, but isn't it meant to be sort of German Hops, Yeast......Czech Hops, Pilsner yeast.....

I have no clue, I suppose its all a bit of fun )

All this talk of boundaries and guidelines. If everyone didn't experiment then we may as well just drink carlsberg. The best beer we ever produced we used the 'wrong' yeast in.