Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Next weekend, I would like to brew up an extract version of SA Winter Lager. So far, I have found this ingredients list and it looks promising.

5 Gallons
OG - 1.069
FG - 1.016
IBU - 29
SRM - 19
ABV - 6.9%

2.75 lbs. light dried malt extract
4.0 lbs. Light liquid malt extract (late addition)
1.0 lb. wheat malt
1.5 lbs. munich malt
1.5 lbs. crystal malt 60L
1.0 oz. Curacao Orange Peel (bitter orange peel)
0.5 oz. ginger root (freshly grated)
0.5 tsp. Cinnamon (powdered)
9.5 AAU East Kent Golding hops (60 mni)
4AAU Tettnanger hops (2 min)
4AAU Hallertau Hersbrucker hops
White Labs WLP830 (German Lager)

I'll calculate out the hops at my LHBS when I see what they have on hand.

My question is what instructions should I follow? When do you add spices...secondary, boil? Etc...

This will be my first lager, but I have made some pretty good ales so far (about 20-25 batches). Any lagering advice would be awesome. I do have a spare fridge and a chilly basement. :rockin:

Am I the only one who thinks 4 lbs. of grains is a bit much?

HOOTER said:

Am I the only one who thinks 4 lbs. of grains is a bit much?

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Apparently. No one has a comment.

I don't think that is too much grain, but it does have to be mashed. You can't steep Munich, but a mini/partial mash isn't that much different from steeping, you just have to watch the temp closer.

BarleyWater said:

I don't think that is too much grain, but it does have to be mashed. You can't steep Munich, but a mini/partial mash isn't that much different from steeping, you just have to watch the temp closer.

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True. I assumed that because it's stated as an extract recipe that the grains were being steeped. Hey Golgi, are you planning on doing a partial mash?

I wasn't planning on it...in fact, I don't even know how. Only steeped before. Any suggestions?

Partial Mashing is just steeping at a constant temperature for a specific amount of time. Unless you want to trade out the Munich malt for Munich extract, you need to mash. When mashing, you want to keep the grain at a constant temp, around 155 would be ideal for you. Here's an article from Brew Your Own magazine, explaining partial mashing, and it is using four pounds of grain like you... BYO - Countertop Partial Mashing

Deathbrewer's Easy Partial Mash tutorial and BYO's Counter Top Partial Mash article will get you started. It really isn't all that different from steeping. You just have to pay a little more attention to the crush of the grain and the steeping temperature.

For the crush, just make sure the grains are indeed crushed. You can extract sugars from crystal malts in a steep even if the grains aren't crushed. You can't do that with base malts. Just make sure that the homebrew shop crushes them for you.

The next hurdle is temperature (and time). Unlike steeping where temperature can be a little hit or miss without ill effect, you'll want to keep your mash somewhere between 150° and 158° over the course of 30 minutes to an hour. You can do that by adjusting the heat on the stove up and down or you can bring your mash to temperature and put the covered pot into a preheated oven on the "warm" setting. Check the temp every 15 to 20 minutes to make sure you are within range. If you have a spare small cooler, you can use that instead of the stovetop or oven. Put the grains in a grain bag or paint strainer bag from the hardware store, bring your water (about 1.25 to 1.5 quarts per pound of grain) to 10° above your mash temp (so 165° or so), preheat the cooler with some of the water, dunk your grain bag in there, stir up the grains, add the rest of the water, stir a little more, check your temperature and close up the top. Nothing to it. If you've done steeped grains before you'll be amazed at how easy a partial mash is.

Chad

Thanks for the advice!! Is this the road to AG? lol

As far as lager advice, make a BIG yeast starter. At least four pints of 1.040 wort.

Chad said:

You can do that by adjusting the heat on the stove up and down or you can bring your mash to temperature and put the covered pot into a preheated oven on the "warm" setting. Check the temp every 15 to 20 minutes to make sure you are within range.

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It is 1,000x easier to hit your mash temp and throw the pot in a warm oven. Don't bother checking the temp, unless your stove is so poorly built that it can't hold a temp to bake, don't waste your time opening every 15 mins. I did the first few mashes, and I never needed to.

Set the oven to the lowest temp, usually ~175 or so, when it hits that shut if off. You can open the oven and place the mash in, opening the door will drop ~15-20 degrees. That coupled with the thermal mass of a gallon+ of water and all that grain is sufficient to maintain the temp.

I don't know much about cloning this brew. However, I did buy a Sankey keg of this for $60 about 8 months ago!

eschatz said:

I don't know much about cloning this brew. However, I did buy a Sankey keg of this for $60 about 8 months ago!

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Wow! Priced out the ingredients today at Midwest and I'm gonna be in for ~$58 (w/ shipping). Another $5 for water...maybe I should just buy it....nah. No fun in that. :cross:

Where did you get the recipe, you might double check what you are looking at. That's almost 7 lbs of extract plus enough grain for a PM recipe. I would guess you could cut the extract in half and do a PM with the grains. Anyone else?

LME is usually in 3.3 lb cans, how do you get 4 lbs? I think I have seen 1 lb cans at the store, but its more expensive so it would be silly to buy 4 1lb cans. Not bagging on you, just trying to help, I would be interested in the recipe as well for when it gets cold out.

This is on my radar for my next batch...wanted to search before posting and found this thread.

Have you made this? How did it turn out? I am drinking some of this I just bought at the store, I had this last night as well. I am liking it so much I want to make it.

Anyone?

Also SA puts on its bottle "Winter Brew"...but this is what we are talking about here right?

I just priced this out from my LHBS online minus the Yeast and Ginger Root for $49

I plugged this into Beersmith as a partial mash. I get

OG 1.075
IBU 25.9
SRM 16.1

Also, does 1.5 lb of crystal malt sound like a lot? Might come out too sweet.