American Lager, but not a light lager

[norrismj]

I would like to brew a Lager using American hops. My recipe would be using
Pilsner Malt around ~97%
Acidulated malt ~2%
Carafoam ~1%
I'd use a lager yeast like 34/70
My question is around American hops. Doing some research I am thinking of using
Liberty at 90 minutes (First Wort)
Ft. Hood at 10 minutes and
Sterling at Flame out
Has any one experience doing this hop regime or something similar to make a good lager. Not looking for a German Lager or Czech lager, but something more like Mountain Time by New Belgium who use Nugget, Willamette and Cascade. Any help or opinions is appreciated.

 

[day_trippr]

Might want to bump the Carafoam up a bit, Weyermann recommends it for 5 to 10% of the grain bill.
As for the hops, it's amazing how close in character those six strains are considering so little gene sharing.
If you're looking for herbal/spicey/floral you're definitely in the right place and you could nearly interchange any of them.
If the 90/10/FO works wrt your desired IBUs you should be good to go brew

Cheers!

 

[norrismj]

Thanks, That is where my thinking ended up. Appreciate the comments.

 

[fluketamer]

in general i have stuck with 1/2 lb of carafoam in 5-6 gallons of beer and it makes a difference. im sure theres some mash ph or temp that can result in more foam but that works well for me.

34/70 !!!!

magnum liberty hood sterling all good american lager hops but in my experience i have done better with 1 or 2 hops rather than three or more.

imo its easier to match and marry flavors when theres less ingredients in a recipe.

with one or two hops, if you hit a winner great. use that as a base beer to experiment with . ie increase one of the hops or add another. or if you dont get a good beer with those two hops you can start over. its harder to tell what helped or hurt when theres more variables.

when i try to "create" a recipe it doesnt always go well. when i try to brew a known recipe especially a highly reviewed one, i tend to have better luck with them or at least know that it was my process and not my recipe.

if you go to brewers friend or one of the other recipe libraries, you can search recipes and put in your hops in the keywords and you would be surprised how many recipes come up that match what you were thinking or whats in your cupboard with regards to yeast grains and hops.

ymmv

 

[norrismj]

All good advice. I appreciate your comments

 

[AlexKay]

Echoing what others said:

34/70 will give you good results, and you won't find an easier yeast to work with.

In my experience the dextrin malts do nothing. If it were me, I'd drop the Carafoam in favor of ~10% white wheat. That'll actually help the foam, and possibly add some crispness.

I think it makes sense to use only one aroma hop for a lager. I think Sterling at 10 and flameout is a great idea. Crystal is a favorite of mine, too.

 

[norrismj]

Here re the results as it’s been 8 months and I just tapped my Pilsner. I took the advice and used only one hop Sterling. All I can say is WOW! Excellent Pilsner. Lite and refreshing. Picture attached. I did not use 34/70 but decided to use 4 packs of M84 yeast sprinkled on top with no starter, it was a good price. I’d definitely use it again. It took off and never looked back. Fermented in low 50’s and ramped up to 60 at the end. Then lagered for 2 months at 34 degrees. It came out crystal clear. Great recipe and lovely beer.

FERMENTABLES:
21 lb - Premium Pilsner (94.4%)
8 oz - Acidulated (2.2%)
12 oz - Carafoam (3.4%)

HOPS:
0.68 oz - Sterling, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: First Wort, IBU: 18.34
1 oz - Sterling, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 13.88
1 oz - Sterling, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Aroma for 10 min, IBU: 8.31
0.68 oz - Sterling, Type: Pellet, AA: 12.7, Use: Whirlpool for 20 min at 200 °F, IBU: 2.84

Mangrove Jack - Bohemian Lager Yeast M84

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Profile Name: Pilsen (Light Lager)
Ca2: 7, Mg2: 3, Na: 2, Cl: 5, SO4: 5, HCO3: 25

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Strike, Start Temp: 159 F, Target Temp: 145 F, Time: 20 min, Amount: 7.34 gal
2) Temperature, Start Temp: 145 F, Target Temp: 156 F, Time: 10 min, ramp up
3) Temperature, Start Temp: 156 F, Target Temp: 156 F, Time: 30 min
4) Vorlauf, Start Temp: 154 F, Target Temp: 175 F, Time: 20 min, Amount: 9.16 gal, ramp
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb

Generated by Brewer's Friend - https://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2025-03-12 14:43 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2025-03-12 14:43 UTC

 

[Kickass]

Looks great! Beers like these never stay on tap very long at my house.

 

[AlexKay]

Glad this worked out so well. Sterling has quickly become one of my favorites. (Basically, if it has farnesene, I like it.)

 

[Bramling Cross]

That's a beautiful beer! Congrats on the great result!

I agree with you about Sterling, it's a great hop. I made a really amazing dip hopped N. American lager with it a few years ago...I should revisit that recipe. Shame its getting harder to find.

If I may make a suggestion, give frumpy, dumpy, boring ol' Clusters a try. I think it'll surprise you. It's a great tasting hop and there's no other hop that signifies that this is a N. American lager quite like a solid dose of Clusters at 60 and 20. Yeah, it has a reputation for being course and terrible, but it garnered that reputation because brewers were unfairly trying to use it as a 1:1 replacement for Hallertau, rather than appreciating it for its own merits.

 

[norrismj]

Good advice. Cluster is on my radar for the future. My next beer will be a Kolsch, I think, with Mt. Hood. I have that in stock and want to compare it to current beer.