Warsteiner

[Uncle Joshua]

Bittering hops: Magnum (60 min)
Late hops: Tettnang, Hallertau (15 min)
Dry hops: Hallertau, Saaz
.

What hop bill would you go with Seymour?

[seymour]

See the true-to-style hop schedule below. Although, as I've said, I doubt I'd ever have three virtually interchangeable noble hops on hand (I'm saying "in the grand scheme of things", I know there are subtle differences.) Personally, I'd probably use Magnum or Perle for bittering, and Hallertau for all the other additions. Happy brewing!

For batch-size:
6 US gallons = 5 Imperial Gallons = 22.7 Litres

HOPS:
.5 oz = 14.2 g, Magnum, 60 minutes
.6 oz = 17 g, Tettnanger, 15 minutes
.6 oz = 17 g, Hallertau, 15 minutes
.3 oz = 8.5 g, Hallertau, dry hops added to secondary fermentor
.3 oz = 8.5 g, Saaz, dry hops added to secondary fermentor

[Uncle Joshua]

Cheers Seymour.

I have every hops so will brew it tomorrow. Sadly, My Bohemian malt is Czech.

[seymour]

Nothing sad about that. Historic "Bohemia" is in the modern-day Czech Republic. You got the right stuff. As long as you've got good temperature-controlled fermentation, it doesn't get more authentic than that!

Happy brewing, mate!

[Uncle Joshua]

Nothing sad about that. Historic "Bohemia" is in the modern-day Czech Republic. You got the right stuff. As long as you've got good temperature-controlled fermentation, it doesn't get more authentic than that!

Happy brewing, mate!

I was going to ferment at room temp, 20c? I can use a fishtank heater?

[seymour]

Nothing sad about that. Historic "Bohemia" is in the modern-day Czech Republic. You got the right stuff. As long as you've got good temperature-controlled fermentation, it doesn't get more authentic than that!

Happy brewing, mate!

I was going to ferment at room temp, 20c? I can use a fishtank heater?

Wait, what? Are you messing with me?

For lager brewing, you need a dedicated fridge with a thermostat (or wintry Bohemian cave, whichever is more convenient) and a process along these lines:

Primary fermentation at 7-12°C for 1-3 weeks,
then rise to 13-15.5°C for 1-2 days diacetyl rest,
then cool back down for lengthy lagering period:
3-4 weeks at 7°C, or
5-6 weeks at 4°C, or
7-8 weeks at 2°C.

If you don't have this capability, then you won't be cloning Warsteiner Pilsener, you'll be brewing a MUCH fruitier golden ale. Needless to say, that's why most of us don't produce lagers.

[Uncle Joshua]

You know, I honestly didn't think of lagering..having never done it. Hmm...I may brew something else and come back to this.

[Barley Water]

Well I ended up splitting the difference between a Munich Helles and a German Pilsner and made a Dortmunder Export. That was another style I have just never gotten around to trying before. One reason it is attractive to me is because the water profile for that beer is closer to what I can get out of the tap here (after running it through a charcoal filter of course). One more lager for me (a Vienna lager) then I'm gonna do one of my all time favs, a brown porter ala Fuller London Porter (pretty sure that they serve that beer in heaven).

[seymour]

Barley Water, for the group, I was wondering if you could explain how you ferment lagers in Texas? I assume a dedicated fridge with external temperature controller of some kind? Do you have the ability to post pictures? If you don't mind, approximately how much did it cost to setup? Cheers!

[Barley Water]

Oh absolutely. If you brew in Texas you must have a dedicated frig with a controller, even for ales. I don't do photos but my wife does, next time I am brewing I'll try to remember and have her take a few pictures. In a nut shell though after the wort has boiled and I shut it down I then try to cool as quickly as possible. For lagers, I use a counter flow chiller and start recirulating back into my copper using ground water first. Once I get it cooled off I then start pumping ice water through the chiller with a pond pump and I try to get the wort as cold as I can. The goal is to try and get the entire volume of wort cool, not just the bit running through the chiller. You end up with a better cold break that way and if you are doing hoppy beers you will also trap more hop aroma which is a good thing. Also, this will reduce the formation of DMS in beers with alot of pils malt as hot wort sitting around waiting to cool will still continue to produce DMS. The Dort I made is currently fermenting at 48F and I'm using Wyeast 2206. One other thing; I let the cooled wort sit for about 1/2 an hour indoors then rack it off the trub before pitching the yeast, you end up with less off flavors that way, especially good for you lighter beers.

By the way, the high in Dallas is now hitting 100F, aren't you guys glad you don't have to deal with that?

[Barley Water]

Opps, forgot to answer one question. You can usually get a used frig around here for about $100 and I want to say a temperature controller runs about $50 to $60. I always tell new brewers that before they even invest in all grain equipment that they should get a dedicated fermentation frig, especially in Texas. I could easily make better extract beer using temperature control than an all grain guy/gal could do using only room temperature fermentations. Also, a high end wort chiller makes quite a bit of difference and makes life a hell of a lot easier on brew day. Much of the fancy gear alot of guys have does nothing to make the beer taste better but an dedicated fring and a really good wort chiller absolutely affects beer quality for the better.

[jonnyt]

You could always do a Kolsch and ferment at 18 to 20C

[seymour]

You could always do a Kolsch and ferment at 18 to 20C

That's true with regards to primary fermentation, but Kolsch still greatly benefits from lengthy cold-conditioning. But in the grand scheme of things, I don't think lack of temperature control should stop him from brewing. I'm all for him brewing this as some kinda golden ale, calling it whatever he wants.

[Barley Water]

The best style to brew if you can't control the fermenation temperature (and it's hot) is Saison. For some reason, the yeast they use to make that stuff does not spit out nasty stuff when heated up. I know a guy who stuck his carboy of fermenting beer in his un-air conditoned garage here in August (where the temperatures are over 100F) and the beer won a metal in a very large contest. I personally wouldn't let a Kosch get too warm because you will get way too much in the way of fruity esters and possibly some fusels which would really be bad.

[DC]

Hi guys I thought I would chip in about dedicated brewing fridges when it comes to brewing lager’s. If you can get a brewing fridge set up with heating and cooling then you can make some great lagers, better still if you can get 2 temperature controlled brewing fridges you can ferment in one and then lager in the second one which is what I am currently doing with my latest 10 gallon batch of lager

First brewing fridge with temperature control for the initial fermentation



Second brewing fridge to lager in



Cheers DC