International Pale Lager Australian Lager - Scorpion Lager

[DaveCS]

@Gnomebrewer , Checking out your recipe suggestions here as I have been looking at creating a Boags Premium Lager. Long story but it was a good friend's favourite beer and I'd like to make a batch and provide some to his wife. Can't get my hands on Cluster or Pride of Ringwood so I'm going with something clean in the bittering department (Magnum likely).

Any suggestions outside of your standard "pilsner" malt? Boags claims their beer is "99.9% sugar free" so I assume there must be some other malts in there beyond pilsner.

Any insight you could provide would be helpful.

Cheers!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Ignore the "99.9% sugar free" part - that's just marketing hype trying to compete with low carb lagers (it doesn't necessarily mean they don't use sugar in the recipe). It changed a few years ago (5% down to 4.6%) - I haven't had the new version, but remember the old one being more like a low-hopped euro lager than a typical Aussie lager. I'd be fairly confident in saying it's all base malt, with no caramel/crystal and no (or very little) adjunct/sugar. Magnum or perle for bittering to about 22IBU would be about right, maybe a touch of hallertauer, tettnang or saaz at 15 mins. Half pale malt, half pils malt (maybe even a little bit of munich) to about 1.046. A long, low temp mash to dry it out as much as possible - aim for an FG somewhere around 1.008. Water's important - make sure it's soft (<30ppm Ca). Go with a big pitch of any clean lager yeast - S189 would be my pick of the dry yeasts.

 

[DaveCS]

Ignore the "99.9% sugar free" part - that's just marketing hype trying to compete with low carb lagers (it doesn't necessarily mean they don't use sugar in the recipe). It changed a few years ago (5% down to 4.6%) - I haven't had the new version, but remember the old one being more like a low-hopped euro lager than a typical Aussie lager. I'd be fairly confident in saying it's all base malt, with no caramel/crystal and no (or very little) adjunct/sugar. Magnum or perle for bittering to about 22IBU would be about right, maybe a touch of hallertauer, tettnang or saaz at 15 mins. Half pale malt, half pils malt (maybe even a little bit of munich) to about 1.046. A long, low temp mash to dry it out as much as possible - aim for an FG somewhere around 1.008. Water's important - make sure it's soft (<30ppm Ca). Go with a big pitch of any clean lager yeast - S189 would be my pick of the dry yeasts.

This is awesome!! Thanks kindly @Gnomebrewer - I'm hoping this will work out. It would mean a lot, I think, to my friend's wife <3

Cheers,
Dave

 

[DaveCS]

So much for "aiming" LOL
I knew this would happen. In my home brewery and the way I brew (BIAB) it seems that 34/70 always ends up cranking up the attenuation. And it doesn't matter if it's a liquid or dry strain. I took a gravity measurement today (because I also ferment under pressure), and I brewed last Thursday (May 27) and the beer is "done".

According to the recipe it should have ended up, around, 1.007.

Today's reading after temperature correction: 1.005

Dry as the Nothern territories I bet

Cheers,
Dave