Vienna Lager Boston Lager Clone (Decoction/Krausening AG recipe)

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impatient

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2008
Messages
827
Reaction score
4
Location
Des Moines, IA
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Wyeast 2035
Yeast Starter
yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
6
Original Gravity
1.048
Final Gravity
1.009
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
26
Color
7.86
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
10/50
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
5/50
Additional Fermentation
42/30
Tasting Notes
Enjoy
Boston Lager Clone (Decoction/Krausening AG recipe)

Ingredients:
9.5 lbs American 2-Row
0.5 lbs Crystal 60
1oz Tettnanger 60 minute addition
1oz Hallertau 20 minute addition
1oz Hallertau 10 minute addition
1oz Hallertau in Secondary
Wyeast 2035

OG 1.048
TG 1.009
C 7.85
IBU 26
ABV 5.0


Heat 12.5 quarts of strike water to target 105 degrees
Hold mash at 105 for 30 minutes

Remove 5 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of approx 122. After reaching 122 rest for 30 minutes.

Remove 11 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of 155. Here 155 is very important for the body of the beer. After reaching 155 rest for 30 minutes.

Heat 15 quarts of water to 168.

Remove 7 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of 168. Do not exceed 170 here.

Settle grain bed and clear runnings. Sparge with 15 quarts(above) at 1 quart minute.

Boil wort adding hops at intervals above and chill wort down to 50 degrees.

Remove 1/6 of final wort volume and refrigerate for krausening below.

Pitch the yeast and ferment for 10 days at 50 degrees. Save 1/6 of the yeast starter and refrigerate.

Move to secondary and dry hop. Check gravity and record for use below. Hold at 50 degrees.

Remove saved yeast and wort, mix and warm to 50 degrees. Take the secondary gravity above and add 0.015. Example 1.010 + 0.015 = 1.025. Record the gravity of this mixture each day until it reaches the calculated value. Once the value is reached add the mixture to the secondary and bottle immediately. Do not add priming sugar, this technique will create your carbonation.

Once bottled, store at 50 degrees for 2 weeks and then drop the temp by 1 degree each day until 30 degrees is met. Lager at 30 degrees for 3 weeks.

Enjoy.
 
for example, I would dough in then immediately pull and start boiling the decoction for 30 mins while the grains sit at 105 for 30 mins? after adding back the decoction, i would immediately pull and boil the next decoction for 30 mins while the grains in the tun rest at 122, etc?

Thanks a million for the help, and the quick response!
 
for example, I would dough in then immediately pull and start boiling the decoction for 30 mins while the grains sit at 105 for 30 mins? after adding back the decoction, i would immediately pull and boil the next decoction for 30 mins while the grains in the tun rest at 122, etc?

Thanks a million for the help, and the quick response!

I let it sit for part of the time before pulling the next decoction. Make sure and boil extra in case you do not have enough to hit you temp.

So, add half of the boiling decoction why keeping the rest boiling and check your temp. Continue this until you temp is met. Then, let the remaining decoction cool to target before adding it back in.
 
Just wanted to let you know it went off without a hitch, hit every step temp perfect. Thanks a million, first decoction mash for me and I really have become a fan... definately darked up the runnings. Thanks again Impatient, I'll update you when I pour it in a month and a half or so.
 
Just wanted to let you know it went off without a hitch, hit every step temp perfect. Thanks a million, first decoction mash for me and I really have become a fan... definately darked up the runnings. Thanks again Impatient, I'll update you when I pour it in a month and a half or so.

How did it come out?
 
To be honest... It was good, but nothing like Boston Lager. Could be my water chemistry though, been having trouble getting good hop profiles.
 
Protein rest would make the brew less cloudy. Krausening makes the brew very smooth and rounded in taste.

Yeah, but I can get a crystal clear beer out of US 2-row without a protein rest... As for the smoothness/roundedness, is that just compared to normal priming? Would there be a benefit to krausening in the keg instead of force carbing?
 
No that is compared to force carb. You don't have to carb with the krausening. Just add the saved wort let it sit for a couple days and then lager. It will work the same.

After lagering, for a min of 4 weeks force carb it.
 
Thanks for the recipe impatient. I may try this as my first shot at lagering. How do your attempts at this beer compare to a commercially produced Sam Adams? Do you have any part of the flavor that is different in any way?

Saratoga beer fest today at 3pm!!!!!! Can't wait!!!!
 
Did a 12.5 gallon batch of this last night for the first time - and first lager. Man the Decoction steps add a lot of time to the brew process! Hope it turns out! I added 3oz of chocolate malt to darken it up a little more. I also used the White Labs WLP830 German Lager Yeast. I will report back in a few months with the results.
 
Brewed this two weeks ago with wlp 830. This recipe turned me on to decoction; I love the constant involvement on brewday! The hop profile is identical to the original and maybe better based on some recent examples. It is still chugging away at @1.014 but when it gets to FG it will be really close/spot on to Boston Lager. A great way to introduce brewers to lagering and decoction. No regrets here.
 
So I am planning on doing this brew with the Decoction mash as my first Lager in a long time and my first Decoction all together. I am planning on kegging the batch and force carbing instead of the Krausening. I was wondering however, once I have fermented the beer out for about 4 weeks at 50 degrees and am ready for the Lagering process, would it be ok for me to just transfer the batch from 50 degrees into my keg and put it directly into my kegerator and allow it to cold-age (Lager) for however long necessary? Or is it absolutely necessary to drop the temperature by a degree or 2 everyday until I reach ~30 degrees? I am trying to minimize the amount of time this lager takes up in my fermentation chamber allowing for me to continue cranking out Ales instead of waiting 2+ months in order to brew again. Also, would it be advisable to do a diacytel (sp?) rest for a day or 2 before transferring to keg?
 
Also, your water numbers seem a bit off to me. 12.5 quarts of water plus the other 15 quarts of sparge water add up to 27.5 qts = ~6.9 gallons of water. The grains ate up well over a gallon for me which would have left me with 6 gallons or less before the boil, which is stated to be the batch size (post-boil volume). After the boil I would have been left with under 5 gallons for a "6 gallon batch". If I am wrong in anyway could someone point it out to me, becayse I brewed this 2 days ago and luckily I was able to RDWHAHB and think on my feet and just add an extra gallon or so to the 15 qt's in order to reach my proper pre-boil volume. By the way, I hit the OG of 1.048 on the dot.
 
I Take the easy way. I use Hopped Malt Extract and modify it. Here is a Boston Lager clone I made that tasted very close drinking through a glass of this and a bottle of the original article.
This is based on Mr Beer Czech Pilsner Hopped Extract. The additions are targeted to raise the HME to the levels of IBU and ABV of the BL. ALso Malt steep and Hops are added for taste/aroma.

This makes 2 gal. I use the Mr Beer fermenter which is very convenient.
Steep 2 oz Cara 60 + 4 oz Vienna malt grain in a bag for 35 min at 165 deg. in a pot with enough water to just cover. Drain liquor back into pot and rinse grains back into the pot with a cup of hot boiled water. Make volume up to 6 cups with more water.
Add 0.5 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrau in a bag and boil for 10 min and remove bag. Make liquid up to at least 4 cups if lower.
Dissolve 12 oz light Pilsner DME, 4 heaped dessertspoons of Malto Dextrin and the Can of Pilsner HME into the liquid.
Put 1 gal cold water in the fermenter, add the wort liquid, add more cold water to make it 2.1 gal. Check the temp and cool it if > 70 deg.
Cool ferment in mid 50's using 34/70 yeast. I pitch at 70 then cool the fermenter in a Coleman cooler with freezer ice packs. I cool it to mid 50's and keep it there by swapping ice packs.
After 1 week, add 1 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrau in a bag and keep it there for another 3 weeks (got this 3 week on hops from the SA web site a while back). The last week, allow the temp to rise up to 70.
Bottle and prime - I use one sugar dot (2.5g per 12 oz bottle.)
Keep for about 2 months then it will be really close, but better after 3 months.
This is less work than AG, maybe a tad more $ but the beer is close to clone. With eyes shut I could not tell. I am sure all you AG brewers get good clones too. I liked it so much I made a special label.

Bos Lager label 20160729_140713.jpg
 
I Take the easy way. I use Hopped Malt Extract and modify it. Here is a Boston Lager clone I made that tasted very close drinking through a glass of this and a bottle of the original article.
This is based on Mr Beer Czech Pilsner Hopped Extract. The additions are targeted to raise the HME to the levels of IBU and ABV of the BL. ALso Malt steep and Hops are added for taste/aroma.

This makes 2 gal. I use the Mr Beer fermenter which is very convenient.
Steep 2 oz Cara 60 + 4 oz Vienna malt grain in a bag for 35 min at 165 deg. in a pot with enough water to just cover. Drain liquor back into pot and rinse grains back into the pot with a cup of hot boiled water. Make volume up to 6 cups with more water.
Add 0.5 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrau in a bag and boil for 10 min and remove bag. Make liquid up to at least 4 cups if lower.
Dissolve 12 oz light Pilsner DME, 4 heaped dessertspoons of Malto Dextrin and the Can of Pilsner HME into the liquid.
Put 1 gal cold water in the fermenter, add the wort liquid, add more cold water to make it 2.1 gal. Check the temp and cool it if > 70 deg.
Cool ferment in mid 50's using 34/70 yeast. I pitch at 70 then cool the fermenter in a Coleman cooler with freezer ice packs. I cool it to mid 50's and keep it there by swapping ice packs.
After 1 week, add 1 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrau in a bag and keep it there for another 3 weeks (got this 3 week on hops from the SA web site a while back). The last week, allow the temp to rise up to 70.
Bottle and prime - I use one sugar dot (2.5g per 12 oz bottle.)
Keep for about 2 months then it will be really close, but better after 3 months.
This is less work than AG, maybe a tad more $ but the beer is close to clone. With eyes shut I could not tell. I am sure all you AG brewers get good clones too. I liked it so much I made a special label.

You have success pitching at 70 then lowering your temps? I heard alot of people doing this but i never had success..whenever i make my house vienna i always chill to 45, pitch and let it warm to 48-50 and hold it ..well its awesome you get a beer you like enough to make a label cheers
 
I know this is an old thread, but does anyone have any recommendations on a water profile for a Sam Adams clone?
 
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