Brewing Recipe: American Lager

Sometimes I’m in the mood for something more macro.  Super cold and thirst quenching.  This is football and Buffalo wings on a Sunday afternoon beer!

It was a big hit at the Superbowl party last weekend.  So maybe that makes it baseball and hot dogs beer – afternoon at the ballpark beer now. Either way – If you think all American Lagers are bland and flavorless, try brewing your own.

In this recipe I was messing about with some different ingredients.  For the hops any noble hop will do.  The amount listed in the recipe was small because I was using a high alpha-acid hop (14%).  If you’re using something in the 4-5% range then use about 3x more – around .75 oz. (21gms) for 5 gallons.

If you want to go a bit bigger – up to a Premium Lager – use the same percentages, but increase the amounts. The starting gravity for a Premium American Lager is 1.046-1.056 OG.  Same with the hops – 15-25 IBUs.

For you all grain/Partial mash brewers – get the specialty flaked rice from the homebrew shop.  It’s pre-gelatinized so you can just chuck it in the mash with your 2-row.  It’s a dollar more per pound than plain white rice, but infintely easier to deal with.

I’ll write up my notes on doing a cereal mash – which you would need to do if starting with plain uncooked rice – but it’s seriously not worth the effort for the little amout of money saved.

A clean fermentation with lots of yeast and good temperature control is a must.  Shoot for a low FG – under 1.010.

Recipe: American Lager
Brewer: Jimmy
Style: Standard American Lager
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
————————–
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 8.53 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 3.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 14.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
————

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
9.50 lb	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	82.61 %
2.00 lb	Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM)	Grain	17.39 %
0.28 oz(8.11 gm)	Sorachi Ace [14.00 %]  (60 min)	Hops	14.9 IBU
1 Pkgs	Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124)		[Starter 3000ml]

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 11.50 lb
—————————-
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp
75 min        Mash In            Add 14.38 qt of water at 165.3 F    150.0 F

Ferment at 50ºF(10ºC).

Recipe: American Lager
Brewer: Jimmy
Style: Standard American Lager
TYPE: Extract

Recipe Specifications
————————–
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 8.06 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 4.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 14.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: – %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
————

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
6.00 lb	Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM)	Extract	85.71 %
1.00 lb	Rice Extract Syrup (7.0 SRM)	Extract	14.29 %
0.28oz(8.11 gm)	Sorachi Ace [14.00 %] (60 min)	Hops	14.9 IBU
1 Pkgs	Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124)		[Starter 3000ml]

Ferment at 50ºF(10ºC).

Thanks to my friends at the LoneRider Brewing Company for the glass – sweet logo they have! Great beer too!

Tagged as: american, home brewing, lager, recipe