Lawnmower ( Lager, Kolsch, or Cream Ale )

This is a great beer, and its a good base recipe to start with for experimenting with different kinds of lighter beer. My favorite way to make it is as a Lager, but if you don't have the capability to really lager a beer you can easily make it as a Cream Ale or Kolsch. For a Cream Ale, substitute some US-05 or Nottingham for the Saflager S-23 and adjust the fermentation temperatures accordingly.

Its actually a very simple recipe, its so simple I would hesitate to even bother to post it, except that I think it would be good place for people looking to brew a lighter beer to start.

For All Grain:
8.5 Pounds of American 2-Row Lager Malt ( 1L ) 1.035 ( 89.5% )
1 Pound Flaked Rice ( 0 L ) 1.040 ( 10.5 % )

Mash Schedule:
Mash 75-90 Minutes at 149-150F, need to mash at a lower temperature for this beer because it should be dry and crisp. May need to mash longer than usual as well since you're adding some rice.

For Extract: ( Note for extract the recipe is for 6 gallons )
6.6 Pounds ( 2 Cans ) Cooper's Unhopped Light Malt ( 3L ) 1.038 ( 86.8 % )
1 Pound Rice Syrup Solids ( 0 L ) 1.040 ( 13.2 % )

Optional:
1/2 # of Light Crystal Malt ( 10-20 L ) - Very good if you decide to make this as a Cream Ale, instead of as a Lager. If you're making the extract version, you can steep the grains as you're heating your water and strain them out before it reaches a boil. If you're making the All Grain version, just mash them with the rest of the grain. Only recommend the light Crystal if you try and make the Cream Ale version, if you're going to go for the lager I think the Crystal just takes away from the crisp/smooth/dry finish that you'd be looking for.

Hops:
I've tried several different varieties of hops, and the beer turns out really well with just about all of the Lager family of hops that I've tried. Sazz, Hallertau, Mt Hood, Crystal... Just shoot for about 20 IBU and you'll be golden. If you're looking for something more along the lines of Budweiser, just tone the hops down slightly to like 12-15.

The hops schedule listed below is my favorite combination so far:

1/2 oz Sterling ( 7.9 % AA ) @ 60 Minutes
1/2 oz Liberty ( 3.9 % AA ) @ 5 minutes

Last year I scored a big batch of Willamette, so I've also made this recipe as a Cream Ale a few times and just changed the hops like this:

1 oz Willamette ( 5.5% ) @ 60 Minutes
1/2 oz Liberty ( 5.5 % ) @ 5 Minutes

The key to making it really good is not going nuts with the hops, no more than 1 variety for bittering and one variety for Aroma.

mutilated - i'm going to make this, as a partial mash cream ale, next time i brew.

thanks for the recipe(s).

Your beer will be great I'm sure. Its a very basic recipe, and its pretty hard to screw it up. All you have to do is avoid the temptation to add a bunch of other hops or malts - this beer is supposed to be pretty light and not really strongly flavored. Keeping it simple is the key.

If you make the Cream Ale, the Willamette/Liberty combination or even just Willamette turns out very nice.

Does this recipe work fermenting at ale temps?