The perfect lager

[McTavish]

Hi everyone,

I have made several kits now- 3 lager kits and multiple wheat beer kits.

All of my wheat beers have turned out really really nice, the lagers however have all been awful, they have all tasted very strange and not what I would consider to be a 'lager' taste!

I assume the yeast supplied with the kits (mainly coopers) is not a 'lager' yeast...and also perhaps my fermenting temps were too high (around 20c...which could be the issue.

I now have a temp controlled fridge and want to brew a really nice mid strength lager, say 4.5 - 5%

Can anyone recommend a decent kit to try and any recipes? I'm happy to experiment and try different yeasts and temperatures.. But I really want a NICE lager!

 

[iijakii]

Lots of tasty ones in the recipe section depending on your tastes, but yes fermenting at 20C was the main issue to your troubles.

 

[Gavin C]

I'm admittedly biased.

But this is a tasty lager.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=542886

 

[jeffcosgrove]

I clicked on Gavin's link and I found that his grain bill is very similar to my favorite lager that I modeled after North Coast Brewing's Scrimshaw. After several iterations here is what I ended up with.

85.1% German Pils
12.8% Munich
2.1% Melanoiden

OG 1.050

Hallertauer at 75 mins for 21.8 IBU
Tettnang at 15 mins .6 oz for 5 gal
Tettnang at 0 mins .4 oz for 5 gal

I single infusion mash at 150 and use Wyeast 2007 for a drier finish.

I pitch at 45 and slowly rise to 49 over 48 hours.

 

[gbx]

Its all about the yeast. The best option is to get a pitch from your local brew pub if you can. If that isn't an option I'd recommend the dry fermentis 34/70 as the perfect first lager yeast. It turns out well and is very forgiving of higher than ideal ferment temps. Ideally you would pitch 2 packs which can get a little pricey. The other very easy to use lager yeast is wy2124 bohemian lager and grow up a starter.

 

[m00ps]

I would warn you that if you ran into issues controlling fermentation temps for ales, you will not fare well with lagers. Youll need to keep things going like 12-14C

 

[Gavin C]

Even lower than that is more typical.

9-11C for many lager yeasts is no bad thing.