So my brew partner/son and I brewed a new-to-us beer, what the BJCP guidelines call an International Amber Lager. In the guidelines, the Overall Impression is:
In my mind, I was aiming for a Brooklyn Lager or a Sam Adams Boston Lager kind of beer. It turned out pretty well, we've been drinking it for a few days now. It may be a touch more bitter than we anticipated, but overall I enjoy it. Easy to drink, light, clean, smooth, with enough caramel and toastiness, and no off-flavors that I'm picking up yet. Perhaps you can't tell from this photo, but it is brilliantly clear.
I'm looking forward to getting this in front of some judges anonymously and read their feedback, see if they're perceiving any off flavors.
We used a recipe from Zymurgy as the basis for our recipe, it was in the HomebrewCon issue, the brewer had won a gold medal at the National Homebrew Competition with it, so we thought it was a good place to start. Of course, we adjusted it to our equipment, ingredients on hand, and process. Here's what we did:
OG 1.053
FG 1.010
ABV 5.7%
Estimated Bitterness: 22 IBU
Estimated Color: 10.2 SRM
Grain Bill
7.5 lbs (65%) Munich 10L
2.0 lbs (17%) Pilsner 2L
1.0 lb (9%) Wheat 2L
0.5 lb (4%) Aromatic 26 L
0.5 lb (4%) British Crystal I 25L
Mash
Single Infusion, Batch Sparge
152F for one hour
pH adjustment - 5 ml of lactic acid
Hop Schedule
0.5 oz Sterling (8% aa) @ 60 minutes
1 oz Liberty (3% aa) @ 20 minutes
1 oz Liberty @ 10 minutes
Yeast
We repitched yeast we had saved from a Festbier we had brewed. The yeast was originally from Hailstorm Brewing (in Tinley Park, Illinois) - the brewer there had given me a growler full of their lager yeast when I brewed the Festbier. When we racked the Festbier off the yeast, we left a little beer in the fermenter and swirled it around, then poured it into a large, sanitized Ball jar, which we kept in the fridge for two weeks before we repitched it.
Fermentation/Lagering
We pitched at 50F and left it at that temperature for two weeks. Moved it to 65F for a couple of days, then lagered it at 32F for two weeks. Kegged and carbed at 32F for two weeks.
I'm serving about three gallons of it at home, on tap, and bottled the remainder, which we will be giving away.
A well-attenuated malty amber lager with an interesting caramel or toast quality and restrained bitterness. Usually fairly well-attenuated, often with an adjunct quality. Smooth, easily-drinkable lager character.
In my mind, I was aiming for a Brooklyn Lager or a Sam Adams Boston Lager kind of beer. It turned out pretty well, we've been drinking it for a few days now. It may be a touch more bitter than we anticipated, but overall I enjoy it. Easy to drink, light, clean, smooth, with enough caramel and toastiness, and no off-flavors that I'm picking up yet. Perhaps you can't tell from this photo, but it is brilliantly clear.
I'm looking forward to getting this in front of some judges anonymously and read their feedback, see if they're perceiving any off flavors.
We used a recipe from Zymurgy as the basis for our recipe, it was in the HomebrewCon issue, the brewer had won a gold medal at the National Homebrew Competition with it, so we thought it was a good place to start. Of course, we adjusted it to our equipment, ingredients on hand, and process. Here's what we did:
OG 1.053
FG 1.010
ABV 5.7%
Estimated Bitterness: 22 IBU
Estimated Color: 10.2 SRM
Grain Bill
7.5 lbs (65%) Munich 10L
2.0 lbs (17%) Pilsner 2L
1.0 lb (9%) Wheat 2L
0.5 lb (4%) Aromatic 26 L
0.5 lb (4%) British Crystal I 25L
Mash
Single Infusion, Batch Sparge
152F for one hour
pH adjustment - 5 ml of lactic acid
Hop Schedule
0.5 oz Sterling (8% aa) @ 60 minutes
1 oz Liberty (3% aa) @ 20 minutes
1 oz Liberty @ 10 minutes
Yeast
We repitched yeast we had saved from a Festbier we had brewed. The yeast was originally from Hailstorm Brewing (in Tinley Park, Illinois) - the brewer there had given me a growler full of their lager yeast when I brewed the Festbier. When we racked the Festbier off the yeast, we left a little beer in the fermenter and swirled it around, then poured it into a large, sanitized Ball jar, which we kept in the fridge for two weeks before we repitched it.
Fermentation/Lagering
We pitched at 50F and left it at that temperature for two weeks. Moved it to 65F for a couple of days, then lagered it at 32F for two weeks. Kegged and carbed at 32F for two weeks.
I'm serving about three gallons of it at home, on tap, and bottled the remainder, which we will be giving away.
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