Boston Lager Clone (Decoction/Krausening AG recipe)

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impatient

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I jumped thru some hoops to get this information and after some debate... , since I have recieved some help around here,... I decided to share it.

Boston Lager Clone (Decoction/Krausening AG recipe)

Ingredients:
9.5 lbs American 2-Row
0.5 lbs Crystal 60
1oz Tettnanger 60 minute addition
1oz Hallertau 20 minute addition
1oz Hallertau 10 minute addition
1oz Hallertau in Secondary
Wyeast 2035

OG 1.048
TG 1.009
Color 7.85
IBU 26
ABV 5.0


Heat 12.5 quarts of strike water to target 105 degrees
Hold mash at 105 for 30 minutes

Remove 5 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of approx 122. After reaching 122 rest for 30 minutes.

Remove 11 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of 155. 155 is very important for the body of the beer. After reaching 155 rest for 30 minutes.

Heat 15 quarts of water to 168.

Remove 7 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of 168. Do not exceed 170.

Settle grain bed and clear runnings. Sparge with 15 quarts(above) at 1 quart minute.

Boil wort adding hops at intervals above and chill wort down to 50 degrees.

Remove 1/6 of final wort volume and refrigerate for krausening below.

Pitch the yeast and ferment for 10 days at 50 degrees. Save 1/6 of the yeast starter and refrigerate.

Move to secondary and dry hop. Check gravity and record for use below. Hold at 50 degrees.

Remove saved yeast and wort, mix and warm to 50 degrees. Take the secondary gravity above and add 0.015. Example 1.010 + 0.015 = 1.025. Record the gravity of this mixture each day until it reaches the calculated value. Once the value is reached add the mixture to the secondary and bottle immediately. Do not add priming sugar, this technique will create your carbonation.

Once bottled, store at 50 degrees for 2 weeks and then drop the temp by 1 degree each day until 30 degrees is met. Lager at 30 degrees for 3 weeks.

Enjoy.
 
Looks interesting but I wouldn't do an acid rest at all and I definitely wouldn't hold the protein rest that long w/ well modified malts. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong though.
 
This is cool. Is this really the SA process scaled for 5 gallons?

Acid rest is probably ok, but there won't much of a pH change in 30 min. Pretty much everything I've read advises against a protein rest at 122 for well modified malts in favor of something in the low to mid 130's.
 
This is cool. Is this really the SA process scaled for 5 gallons?
Yes

Acid rest is probably ok, but there won't much of a pH change in 30 min. Pretty much everything I've read advises against a protein rest at 122 for well modified malts in favor of something in the low to mid 130's.
I just posted the information that was generously shared with me. I know the reasoning behind multi-step mashing and it does not make sense however they state right on the website that they use a four step decoction mash.
 
Heat 12.5 quarts of strike water to target 105 degrees
Hold mash at 105 for 30 minutes

Remove 5 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of approx 122. After reaching 122 rest for 30 minutes.

Remove 11 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of 155. 155 is very important for the body of the beer. After reaching 155 rest for 30 minutes.

Heat 15 quarts of water to 168.

Remove 7 pints of mash, boil and return to mash tun. Stir and verify temp of 168. Do not exceed 170.
you dont say how thick or thin the decocted pull portions will be = liquid to grist ratio, or how long each boil is..

If you are going to try this, my suggestion to you is:

After dough-in (5 minutes) do your first pull and start moving up to boiling.

Your first five pint pull, you'll need to bring that up to saach rest temperature range for ten minutes before going to boil. This way you convert the starches before destroying the enzymes.

Same with the second eleven pint pull. Either rest these two, or take the pulls very slowly through 140-162* so you get the conversion (about ten minutes).

Larger breweries have so much volume that it takes them time to get from 105 or 122 to boiling, so the conversion happens on the way up.

As a homebrewer using such small porportions, you will move up to boiling very quickly and may not get the conversion.
 
you dont say how thick or thin the decocted pull portions will be = liquid to grist ratio, or how long each boil is..

If you are going to try this, my suggestion to you is:

After dough-in (5 minutes) do your first pull and start moving up to boiling.

Your first five pint pull, you'll need to bring that up to saach rest temperature range for ten minutes before going to boil. This way you convert the starches before destroying the enzymes.

Same with the second eleven pint pull. Either rest these two, or take the pulls very slowly through 140-162* so you get the conversion (about ten minutes).

Larger breweries have so much volume that it takes them time to get from 105 or 122 to boiling, so the conversion happens on the way up.

As a homebrewer using such small porportions, you will move up to boiling very quickly and may not get the conversion.

I would assume that the pulls need to be thick. The more grain that is boiled throught the process the better, right?

Thanks for the info.

Note: This recipe should not be performed without an understanding of what is going on here. For example, I am assuming that whoever brews this understands that the mash pulls are just approximate. I would recommend pulling more in case the mash does not reach the desire temp with the decoction is added back in. You can alway let the extra cool and throw back in after.

And, the only tempurature that should not be deviated from is the 155. The other rest temps are sufficient as long as you stay within an "understood" range.
 
SABL is a decent beer.

My only question is: What are the AA percentages for the hops (or the target IBUs) so we can do the calculation of IBU extraction ?
 
You can adjust accordingly to target 27 -30 BU's.

Well, that's the target total, but which additions are used to make up that total? Are they all in the boil, and so little in the aroma?

Maybe I'm trying to be too exact, that is after all a brewer's secret, but some targets for each addition would be good.
 
Well, that's the target total, but which additions are used to make up that total? Are they all in the boil, and so little in the aroma?

Maybe I'm trying to be too exact, that is after all a brewer's secret, but some targets for each addition would be good.

I made up a recipe that I thought would be close. When the adjusments were recommended the hop additions were not recommended to be adjusted. So, I have to assume they were close.
 
You still lagering this bad boy? We need some tasting notes and some pics of the final product.
 
I'm wondering if anyone made this and can report back? I made it and am 3 weeks into lagering. I added a bit of melanoidin malt as I did not go with the decoction. Finished out at 1.011 after 3 weeks. I dry hopped for another week, and I racked it to a keg for lagering. After 2 weeks I was very disappointed. Thin with nearly no hop character. I hope this improved with a few more weeks.

Any feedback would be appreciated.
 
Has anyone brewed this recipe? Love the beer and would like to try brewing something similar.
 
I came across this thread about 2 years ago and brewed it twice in fairly quick succession with WLP840 and WLP838 for kicks. I used the grist in the OP, plus 4oz Melanoidin, scaled up directly for 6 gallons. Targeted ~30 IBU's. Both times my OG and FG were ~ 1.054/1.012. Performed a direct-fire step mash with rests at:
122* x 15 mins
148* x 20 mins
156* x 40 mins
1.5 gal thick decoction boiled 20 mins
170* mashout/vorlauf

Both batches were darned close to SABL and delicious amber lagers in their own right. The WLP840 probably tasted closer to SABL, but I preferred the WLP838 batch. WYeast doesn't make 2032 anymore which is a major bummer, so WLP840 is probably the closest substitute. I'll bet this beer would be killer with the WL Mexican Lager yeast which I love for Vienna Lagers and Yuengling-ish amber lagers.

FWIW, if I was brewing this tomorrow, I'd use Great Western's NW High Color Pale instead of generic 2-Row for a little more oomph in the grist. And probably bump the 156* rest up to 158-160* if I stuck with a similar grist and mash schedule. The C60/Mela additions might have to be adjusted in my grist to account for the more ballsy base malt. After years of trying decoction schedules 8-ways from Sunday, I've pretty much adjusted all my recipes to one big decoction pre-mashout and I'm equally happy with the results (and the easier brew day).
 
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Thanks for the information. I’ll be putting together a recipe shortly and will post it here. How was the color compared to the real beer? What do you mean by “one big decoction pre-mash”?
 
Color was spot on. By pre-mashout I mean perform whatever temp rests you want in the 120-150 range, then instead of 1-2 smaller decoctions along the way in the 120-150 range, pull a single thick decoction after your last rest in the 150’s (1.5 gal or so thick grain for a typical 5gal batch) and decoct it. Then use the hot grains to raise your main mash to mashout temp.

You must have the ability to direct fire or otherwise heat your mash thru the desired steps for this method since decocted portions are not used to reach each step.

I’ll bet this beer would be really good (and easier) as well if you mashed in at 153-5 and then did the big thick decoction after an hour.
 
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I have an electric brew system so controlling mash temps is pretty straightforward. With today’s highly modified malts I’m not sure all the decoctions are necessary.

I just brewed a Vienna Lager from “Brewing Classic Styles”. Once its finished I’ll compare the recipe in this thread to what I brewed. I can already tell mine will be a lot darker then SABL. The grain bill is completely different but it should be interesting to compare the hop profile.
 
I’m reviving this thread as I’m getting ready to brew this myself. Let’s hear how the beers came out and any further recipe tweaks.
 
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I am finally getting around to brewing a Boston Lager clone. Anyone brew one lately?
 

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