Has anyone brewed historical British lagers?

[JKaranka]

I know Wrexham brewery was one of the earliest ones set up in the 1890s brewing pale lagers but I've not seen a recipe. Lots' of British breweries were brewing both a dark Munich style and a pale Pilsner-ish style by 1915 (way before lager taking of here in the 1950s). Recipes seem interesting with mainly UK lager malt but sometimes unorthodox ale malts.

Has anyone brewed one?

A whole list of basic traits (ha, dunkles with Saaz and EKG in the hop back!)
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/barclay-perkins-lagers-1925-1934-part_21.html

A recipe worked out:
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/lets-brew-wednesday-1934-barclay.html

 

[JKaranka]

I'll take the plunge in late spring. Current plan is 10lb British Pilsner malt, 1lb Crisp Maris Otter. EKG for bittering, EKG and Hallertau at 20m, Hallertau in hopback / whirlpool. I've done EKG / Saaz combos before so EKG / Hallertau Mittlefruh is an interesting departure.

 

[giraffe]

I wonder what yeast they used. All in all looks pretty czech inspired rather than german.

What is brittish lager malt like? Its not available locally, and i have a couple sacks of weyermann, can you compare it to a german pilsner malt? Should i cut the german pils with some generic 2-row?

 

[JKaranka]

I have no idea. I know there were quite a few Danish brewers in the great British breweries, so Carlsberg lager yeast is an option. The beers seem very interesting blending Bavarian malt profile with Czech and British hops. Another thing is that German lagers used to be hoppier and less attenuated, so the records might just show some characteristics accurate at the time.

I've not used the Muntons Pilsner Malt yet but it's described as richer than Continental Pilsner malts. It's made out of UK two row (I assume Flagon, I'll check if it's stated).

 

[JKaranka]

UK lager malt: It's closer to US 2-row than to Pilsner. It's even used a lot in ales (typical in British golden ale).

 

[friarsmith]

I'm not familiar w/ those traditional UK lagers, but my house lager is pretty British-y, apart from the yeast. I've brewed it too many times to count over the years, tried different hops & grain combos, but have been most satisfied w/ this simple recipe. Brew-to-Belly in 4 weeks & delicious!

95% Muntons Pale
5% Golden Naked Oats
Adjust grist to 1.050 or thereabouts for your setup

Quick protein rest at 130 for better (and quicker) clarity
Sacc rest at 150-152 for 75 mins

35-40 IBU's. Challenger or Brewers Gold for bittering & EKG in the whirlpool

Saflager 34/70 (pretty neutral lager yeast) pitched at ~100B cells/gal wort

Ferment 7-8 days at 50, two day d-rest, then keg, chill, add gelatin, and force CO2. It's also great (and a smoother) if primed with a little bottling sugar or dme solution in the keg instead of force carbing.

 

[giraffe]

Well ill try this soon, I got the carlsberg yeast on order from my lhbs, and i just got in a lb of ekg, hallertau and saaz. Theres no way its going to be bad.