All Grain Lager Recipe

Hey guys. I'd like to formulate a lager recipe for this coming summer, but I haven't had much success to date in a making a tasty barley free brew. I've been brewing pale ales with millet exclusively (CMC & Grouse, a variety of roasts), and been using the Lavery method. The beers I've made are okay, but not something I'm excited to drink. I'd like to change that.

I'm ready to follow Igliashon's advice on single infusion mashing and get away from the BIAB style I've been doing with a fine grind. It's too time intensive for learning and making okay beers.

Has anyone played around with a combination of grains, like rice, millet, & buckwheat for a single infusion mash? What would be your opinion on the type of grains that would be best for a lager? Give me an idea of the ratios that you think would work best. In return, I'll document this brew and share my results. Thanks!

I guess the question would be, what kind of lager? American or Mexican light lager would be easy. Light or dark?

It could be as simple as pale and vienna millet with some flaked maize. Buckwheat won't fully gel in a single infusion mash but, to me, it isn't worth it to go after the extra points. Same thing with rice malt. You will get some fermentables from them however.

I have been doing gluten free single infusion mashes for a long time and I can tell you buckwheat is good to add even if it doesn't fully convert. Amaranth is even better if you can get your hands on some. They act as a dextrin malt and help with head formation. I would say around 5% is fine because they can gum up a mash.

An American light lager to me would be:
65% pale millet
20% vienna millet
10% flaked maize or rice
5% buckwheat

Throw in some biscuit for a little more maltiness or some crystal for a little more sweetness. Keep it simple. No need to get fancy until you have a base recipe down.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Hey Osedax. Thanks for the response. I am shooting for an American lager, so definitely not a dark lager. I'm not trying to replicate Bud Light either (when I see Light American Lager, I'm not sure if light refers to color or alchohol/body).

I have a bunch of different millet on hand and some buckwheat on order, so I used what I had. I came up with the recipe below yesterday morning and started the brewing process. Unfortunately, my first single infusion mash didn't go well, so I need some feedback.

American Lager
7.5 lbs CMC pale millet
2.25 lbs CMC vienna millet
1 lb flaked corn
.20 oz nugget hops - 60 min
.25 oz US hallertau hops - 15 min
.25 oz US hallertau hops - 5 min
whirlfloc
Saflager-S23 yeast

I have a Corona style mill and cracked the grain twice, because I could still see a lot of whole millet after the first pass. I ended up getting a lot of flour.

The grain bill was 10.75 lbs, so I went with 4 gallons of mash water, right at 1.5 quarts per pound. I heated to my strike water to 158 and measured the mash temperature at 152. I added 1 tsp Diatase enzyme, stirred it in, and covered for 90 minutes.

As you can see from the pictures below, when I checked on the mash after 90 minutes (temp was down to 148), I had very little conversion. My mash was primarily milky white when stirred (very little clear liquid on top when settled). I measured the gravity at 1.022 at 135 degrees, so about 1.036 adjusted for temp. From my experience doing 4 batches of this size via the Lavery method, that's too low. It clearly failed the starch test too, but I think that's obvious.

What could have gone wrong? Some ideas I've been tossing around -

1) I used too little Diatase
2) I didn't mash long enough
3) My grains weren't crushed properly
4) My grains were too old (least likely)

The EC Kraus diatase instructions aren't too clear on how much to use for this application, so it could very well be that I didn't use enough. They talk about using up to 2 tsp per gallon of liquid. That would have been 8 tsp instead of 1 that I used.

Any help would be appreciated as I don't want to waste $30 on grains each time I "practice" this method. Thanks!

Here's my Flickr album - https://www.flickr.com/photos/132264736@N05/sets/72157651361520438/

Hey Neumema: sorry this didn't turn out. I'm really hoping you can figure out what went wrong. I'm about to embark on a SIMB (single infusion Millet beer

I too saw that EC Kraus recommends 2TSP/ gallon. I thought that was a lot, given that millet has some diastatic power. But with your experience here I am going to presume it has none and add the recommended amount for grains with no diastatic ability.

Please keep us posted as to how this turns out. Thanks!

I know this thread is a little old now but I came across it researching.

The instructions that came with my EC Kraus Diatase said "For each pound of starchy adjunct added to a mash, add 1/2 teasponn of diatase at the beginning of the mashing process". Right or wrong, I just assume that all GF grain is starchy adjunct. For 10 lb of grain I would use 5 teaspoons.

For pale ales with millet base, I always get a milky looking mash, so I accept that as normal. I have never passed a starch test no matter what I do, but that could be because I always use some Buckwheat and I suspect the Buckwheat starch is too tough to fully convert. Since the milky white changes quickly in the boil with the hot break and the finished been is clear, I just figure its a quirk of millet.

If you figure something out that you think brings your beer up a notch, I hope you will post it!

my experience (N=1) aligns with Chris's.

My wort was very very milky but it cleared up and the final product (in the keg) is no more cloudy than a barley-based beer. I stopped doing starch tests years ago, so I can't say whether I'm fully converting. I know that I've got beer in the keg and it tastes just like a barley-based beer.

I'm thinking about brewing a millet lager in late June / early July.

I'll start a thread for it if i brew it.

I wanted to give an update for anyone that might be following this brew. After my failed single infusion experiment back in April, I went back at it in May.

My recipe was (3 gallon batch) -

7 lbs pale millet (Grouse)
2 lbs vienna millet (CMC)
2 lbs buckwheat (Grouse)
1 lb flaked corn
.20 oz nugget - 60 min
.25 oz US hallertau - 15 min
.25 oz US hallertau - 5 min
Whirlfloc
Saflager S23 yeast

I ground my grains at a slower pace (using a drill) to address the potential problem of not having a fine enough grind. I heated my strike water to 162 before mashing in. I added 2 tsp of diatase and mashed for 120 minutes.

I'm a weirdo and don't taste my mash or my beer until it's carbed, as I don't want to be disappointed before I've got a finished product. Who wants to do all the extra work when you aren't happy with your beer? With that being said, the results were good from a numbers perspective. I was right at my target of 1.054 SG. The mash looked a LOT less milky and was much clearer.

I fermented the beer at 55 degrees for 11 days. It's amazing how fast the ferment took off at that temp. I then did a diacetyl rest at 63 for 3 days. I've been lagering the beer for 4.5 weeks at 35ish. I plan on bottling it in another 1.5 weeks, so we'll see how tastes in another 3.5 weeks!

While all of that was going down, I started a brown ale that has been in bottle for 1.5 weeks. Nottingham yeast took this from 1.062 to 1.005, for a 7.61% beer. Yikes! My strike on this mash was 173, so I mashed closer to 162 for 120 minutes. The amount of diatase was 1 TB. I didn't intend the FG of this beer to be so low. I'll be curious to see where the lager ends up.

I've also got a pale ale that has been in primary for 11 days. Next up is a "wheat" using rice, millet, & buckwheat. Any suggestions on grain bill?

Good hear this worked out better for you this time. Did you taste the brown yet? Also, what gap did you grind? 2nd pass?

Can't really help you on the wheat as I have only ever done 2. I do know that the yeast is more important than grain bill in a wheat. I would go for a "softer" grain bill. Don't use much of any crystal or roasted malt. Maybe just a dab of crystal. Some people have good results combining dry yeasts in a wheat. T-58 is fine, but if you can use liquid yeast it would be better.

Happy brewing!

Yes, I've tasted the brown, but it hadn't carbed yet. Pretty good, but light in the body, as you would expect from a beer that finished at 1.005. I'll have another one soon to see if it has carbed up and changed at all.

I'm using a corona style mill and have it tightened as far as it'll go. I didn't modify it in any way, other than mounting it in a bucket. I do one pass at a pretty slow speed. I've got my eyes on a monster mill, but have been waiting to confirm that I can make good to great GF beer first.

Are there any liquid yeasts that are GF? At the moment, I prefer to stay away from anything grown on a barley medium.

The lager and pale were bottled on Sunday. The lager checked in at a FG of 1.013 (SG of 1.054), so it'll be a 5.38% beer. My pale ale finished at 1.006 (SG of 1.052), so it looks like I need to find a way to leave some sugar behind in these ales. I'd prefer a FG of 1.010-1.015. I'll be adding rice malt to the mix, so maybe that'll help?

The only liquid yeasts that are GF are special order ones. RVA labs hooked me up last time. As stated White Labs is below 10ppm when diluted in 5 gallons. You can further reduce that by creating a starter and decanting.

I have a black lager going currently. I split the batch between W34/70 and Belle Saison. Saison is almost done. I love that yeast! Just need to dry hop. Lager is about to start lagering. Currently on my diacetyl rest.

I would just use straight table sugar to lower the FG. Rice doesn't necessarily lower FG - it does a bit - it decreases mouthfeel and malt flavors.

Are you saying to add table sugar to the beer after fermentation is complete? Or you are adding it on the front end with the expectation that it will be needed?

Given what you've said about rice malt, I assume you are sticking with a millet/buckwheat mix instead? I haven't used it yet, but I'm definitely not looking to reduce mouthfeel & malt flavors.

You could add it after fermentation. However, if the beer tastes good now, I wouldn't mess with it. I'm saying to substitute some of the malt for table sugar. For instance replace 10% of the malt for 6-7% table sugar. That will increase attenuation and increase alcohol.

Sorry, I thought you meant flaked rice. Rice malt is awesome. Definitely use the specialty malts. You will not be disappointed. If anything, rice specialty malts increase malt flavor.

I think you misunderstood me on the attenuation part. I'm looking for less attenuation, which is probably a bit unusual with GF grains.

I need to figure out if there is something I can add to the grain bill that will reduce the attenuation. Or maybe experiment with changing my mash temp or use of diatase to end at a higher FG (lower alc).

I know there are some sugars that don't ferment, but I'm looking to use grains, hops, & yeast only.

I did. Use maltodextrin. It is an unfermentable dextrin. Also, yes, play around with mash temps. Using less enzymes will help reduce attenuation, but it may hurt efficiency. Guess you have to hit that sweet spot.