Brown Lager - malt bomb?

Despite brewing a series of malty beers - Helles, Vienna lager - last fall, I was craving more malt, specifically a brown ale. I had been using lager yeast, though, and wasn't ready to toss it yet. So I decided to see what would happen if I took a bunch of ingredients that could fit in a brown ale but use a lager yeast.

I had a bunch of old malt on hand. I had purchased Biscuit, brown malt, and special roast in January or February 2018. The base malt -- Munich -- was about 2.5 years old--and it was crushed. In addition, the hops I used -- Fuggles -- were from the 2013 crop, and purchased and opened in 2014. A bunch of old ingredients combined with a lager yeast. Should be a winner right?

It's actually not too bad. With the hops used for bittering only, this is strictly a malty beer. The flavor is cocoa, toast, crackerjack popcorn, caramel, coffee. Maybe just a touch sweet. Could stand to be drier or maybe it just needs some more bitterness. It doesn't really have what I consider traditional lager elements: crisp, dry, sulfury. Either way, it's a tasty beer and kind of scratches that brown ale lager itch.

5 gallon recipe:

7 lbs Munich
1 lb Biscuit
1 lb Brown Malt
.5 lb Special Roast

1 oz Fuggles at 60 minutes

Wyeast 2308

OG: 1.052-54
FG: 1.014-16

2019 homebrewing:

I don't have specific beer plans for the year yet. It would be nice to brew some English styles again, maybe some American IPAs, and perhaps a straightforward dry American Pale Ale along the lines of Sierra Nevada's classic. All four of my kegs have beer in them right now, though, so it could be awhile before I fire up the kettle again. Cheers!

November 2018 vienna lager

In 2016, I really got into brewing and drinking lagers. Along the way, I rediscovered Boston Lager. And learned that it is one of my favorite beers. I feel like it's been sort of cast aside by the craft beer community. It doesn't feature the sexy hops, it's not a stout, it's not a sour, it's not an IPA. And it's an old beer brewed by a company that really stretches the definition of the term craft. Still, it's a favorite. My first memory of it is from 2003. I was in DC for the summer and a fellow dorm resident found a six pack stashed underneath a staircase. He didn't have a fridge so we drank it on ice. I recall not thinking much of it at the time. It was so hoppy and bitter--completely different than Michelob Light, probably my favorite beer at the time. 

As the years went by and my interest in beer increased, I looked beyond Boston Lager. At the time, I was into pale ales, then IPAs, farmhouse ales, and sours--the usual craft stuff. But as I wrote above, I got into lagers in 2016 and started drinking Boston Lager. It's a really good beer and to Boston Beer's credit, it tastes the same every time. It has a perfect balance of crackery malt and Noble hops. And when I drink it, I'm transported back to Catholic University in 2003.

So, as a homebrewer, why not try to emulate it? That was the intent of this beer. Sadly I haven't had Boston Lager in quite some time so the comparison is only by memory. However, this beer is perhaps within the ball park. It has a nice golden, amber color sort of like Boston Lager. It's hop forward, owing to the four ounces of Hallertau Hersbrucker hops. Boston Lager doesn't use those hops, or at least not exclusively, but being a German varietal it should get me close.

Mine has cleared up nicely thanks to gelatin. It's crisp like a lager should be. It's aromatic--again, of the Noble hops. Sometimes the vienna lager is quite apparent. Maybe as the beer warms? Today as I drink it, it's all hops. However, there is a sort of biscuity, bready malt foundation. Next time I might leave out the Carafa (thrown into the sparge only, for just a few minutes). And maybe reduce the vienna a tad. This beer is very clean and crisp. No apparent off flavors. Oddly I occasionally get a really malty, bready flavor that, for some reason, I think of as "muddy" in mind--maybe it has a slight metallic finish? Maybe it's just a little earthy. Not detecting it as I drink this sample though.

Recipe:

5 lbs Vienna
4 lbs Weyermann Pilsner
3 ounces Carafa III

Hersbrucker hops, 1 ounce each at 60, 30, 15, and 5 minutes.

OG: 1.052-54
FG: ? (around 1.10-12 I think).

Cascade Pilsner

In 2017 I read about a hop giveaway sponsored by Anheuser Busch in St. Louis. Unfortunately I didn't make it, but when I saw the event advertised for 2018, I decided I would make a point to attend. AB held the event on December 1 and I made a day of the trip, following some personal things I had to attend to elsewhere in the state. First I went to Narrow Gauge, an up-and-coming if not-already-there brewery specializing in hoppy, hazy IPAs. I purchased a four-pack of Hoppy Meal. From there I ventured on to the AB brewery, my first time there actually.

Upon stepping out of my car I could smell the hops wafting through the air, indicating they were brewing at that particular moment. I'm not familiar with their brewing operation, but I imagine they brew 24/7. Their buildings are all-brick and have a German, 19th/early 20th century look. There were people milling about everywhere. AB's reputation has really taken a hit among the craft beer segment, but you wouldn't really know it by all the activity around the brewery.

Inside, in their beer garden, homebrew clubs had set up stations to serve and discuss their beers. And AB employees were handing out various types of hops. By the time I arrived, the only hops remaining were 2017 leaf cascade hops. I brought a few freezer bags and they filled two of them. I probably got between eight and 12 ounces in total. While there I tried a few homebrews, including a tasty ESB with brown malt, as well as a commercial beer. That was Devil's Backbone Hoppy Lager. I could find few details about this beer. I was really hoping it was their Vienna Lager as I've always wanted to try it, but alas. Still, this beer was good.

My AB visit concluded in one of the labs upstairs, where the AB northern hemisphere hop manager led a hop sensory demonstration. He had the same cascade hops arrayed on tables and had us take the hops in our hands and rub them until the oils were released. The aroma was amazing: so pungent, bright, citrusy.

Following AB, I went to Civil Life, probably my all-time favorite brewery. I had a few beers and bought a case -- a mix of ESB, Northern English Brown, and American Brown - to bring back. From there I checked out Urban Chestnut Research Brewery as well as their attached pizzeria, where I ordered a margherita pizza. While they prepared it I walked thorught he Grove neighborhood. On the way back I walked past an Afghan restaurant and was drawn inside by the delicious smells emanating onto the street. Despite having just ordered a pizza, I got Afghan food as well. The pizza and Afghan food -- from Sameems, and looking at their menu I think I got the goat special -- were both delicious. I topped the trip off with visits to Trader Joe's and Total Wine and then made my way home.

The next day I decided to brew. I had been mulling over what to make. I considered a Dunkel. But pilsner sounded good too. I had attempted the style in the past, but failed due to fermentation issues. Ultimately I decided on pilsner. And somewhat inspired by Sierra Nevada's hoppy pilsners in their recent variety packs, I decided I would forgo using the traditional Saaz hops I have on hand and use the AB Cascade hops instead.

So the next day I drove around town looking for distilled water. Both Walmarts I went to were inexplicably out of stock. I eventually found some elsewhere and bought four gallons, aiming for a 2:1 ratio of distilled to tap water. I've never analyzed Springfield water and have never treated my brewing water. So this was pretty much guesswork, though I did read a post somewhere about this particular water ratio.

The recipe was straightforward from there. 100% Weyermann pilsner malt and about five ounces of cascade hops. The brew went smoothly. I ended up with slightly more than five gallons. I was concerned about wort loss in the hops, but I gave the hop bag a squeeze and got most of the wort out.  I racked the wort onto the 2308 yeast cake from my brown lager, another experimental beer. Fermentation took off pretty much immediately and was complete within just a few days. I kegged it two weeks later. Going into the keg, the beer was pretty cloudy, but it has cleared up nicely since then, without the aid of gelatin.

How did it turn out? I like it. It's crisp, pretty clear, though not crystal clear. It's very dry and has the sort of thin mouth-feel of a pilsner. Every once in awhile I can taste the crackery pilsner malt in the background, but in general the dominant flavor is citrusy, lemony hops. It reminds me of a maris otter/cascade SMASH I made early in my homebrewing career. Overall I think this is a successful beer. It doesn't really adhere to any style guideline, but it was fun to experiment and I think it is within the ballpark of a European pilsner. Now I just need to get my kegging equipment figured out. I've been using short draft lines for a long time and I'm getting sick of flat beer. I even purchased new five-foot lines on the advice of the homebrew shop owner, thinking they would be sufficient, but no. The beer is still tasty though. Cheers!

OG: ~ 1.050
FG: ~ 1.010
(approximately 5.25% ABV)