California Common Lager

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delcosansgluten

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For my next brew, I'm taking advantage of my cooler basement to make a California Common Lager. I learned this summer that 34/70 yeast makes fantastic ales so I'm really excited to see how this CCL turns out. Below is my proposed grain bill, looking for suggestions! #'s are from brewers friend

3lbs Biscuit Rice
3lbs Pale Millet
3lbs Munich Millet
1lbs corn
1lbs buckwheat
12 oz caramel millet
8 oz caramel 120L millet
4 oz dark roasted millet
2 oz northern brewer hops
2 sachets 34/70 yeast

OG: 1.045
FG: 1.008
Alc%: 4.87
SRM: 17.68
 
Anchor Steam is one of my favorite beers and has been for quite a while now. I use a simple grain mix of 90% Pale Ale and 10% Crystal 60 malts, with 35 IBUs of Northern Brewer hops split equally between 60 minutes and flameout. I always use White Labs WLP 810 - San Francisco Lager yeast fermented at 60F.

It never hurts to experiment with different ingredients; after all, being creative makes homebrewing fun.
 
The grain bill looks solid!
If you are using Ondea Pro and Ceremix Flex, I don't think you will have to worry about attenuating down to 1.008. From your previous posts of your system an brews, I would expect you will end up more like 1.013. Is that your experience?
 
For my next brew, I'm taking advantage of my cooler basement to make a California Common Lager. I learned this summer that 34/70 yeast makes fantastic ales so I'm really excited to see how this CCL turns out. Below is my proposed grain bill, looking for suggestions! #'s are from brewers friend

3lbs Biscuit Rice
3lbs Pale Millet
3lbs Munich Millet
1lbs corn
1lbs buckwheat
12 oz caramel millet
8 oz caramel 120L millet
4 oz dark roasted millet
2 oz northern brewer hops
2 sachets 34/70 yeast

OG: 1.045
FG: 1.008
Alc%: 4.87
SRM: 17.68
Just finished an Anchor clone. I really like 34/70. I treated it more like a lager. I originally had my ferm cab set to 60 deg F but when the yeast
started working it ran up to 73 DF. Dropped the cabinet temp to 50 and life is good. It is still cask conditioning but the sample tasted “promising”.
 
The grain bill looks solid!
If you are using Ondea Pro and Ceremix Flex, I don't think you will have to worry about attenuating down to 1.008. From your previous posts of your system an brews, I would expect you will end up more like 1.013. Is that your experience?
I usually end up at 1.015/7 regardless of the style I brew.
 
I usually end up at 1.015/7 regardless of the style I brew.
I often finish high. I brew in an electric system these days and using BIAB settings. I don't mind finishing in the range of 1.015/7 as I have learned to appreciate a little residual sweetness and mouthfeel. I also do not need the high alcohol these days as over the years my blood pressure has started to creep up a little. So, I run my conversions a little high and I end up with more sugars that are a little more difficult for the yeasts that I use. Not a bad thing. I'm not drinking beer just for the buzz these days and a "session" ABV is way better than no beer at all.
 
Why not use California Common yeast for a Common? Wyeast 2112, White Labs 810. These yeasts are made to create lager like Call Commons at ale temps in low 60's.
 
Why not use California Common yeast for a Common? Wyeast 2112, White Labs 810. These yeasts are made to create lager like Call Commons at ale temps in low 60's.

This is a gluten free brewing thread. Those yeasts are all cultivated on barley, so no dice
 
25 mins @ 125
45 - 75 mins @ 145
25 mins @ 175
shut mash and boil off for 15 mins to cool before boil

I do the same thing but at least 1 hour on 175F. I track the wart gravity on the final rest until it slows way down and then drain and sparge. It does rise through the last half of the 60 minute rest. I have been getting 26 to 29 ppg (using 25% to 30% rice), so using 11lb of grain gives me OG 1.045 to 1.050 putting 5.5 to 6 gallons into the fermenter.

Are you keeping the 175F rest short for fear of off flavors coming from the rice husk? If not, you could get a little more out of the grain by lengthening the 175F rest.
 
I do the same thing but at least 1 hour on 175F. I track the wart gravity on the final rest until it slows way down and then drain and sparge. It does rise through the last half of the 60 minute rest. I have been getting 26 to 29 ppg (using 25% to 30% rice), so using 11lb of grain gives me OG 1.045 to 1.050 putting 5.5 to 6 gallons into the fermenter.

Are you keeping the 175F rest short for fear of off flavors coming from the rice husk? If not, you could get a little more out of the grain by lengthening the 175F rest.
Thanks as always Chris. I do 25 minutes at 175 because i try to keep the mash at 2 hrs max and the time it takes the mash and boil to go from 145 to 175 is like 25 minutes itself, so nothing scientific to it at all. ill make sure i do an hour at 175. What do you think about the time needed at 145?
 
Thanks as always Chris. I do 25 minutes at 175 because i try to keep the mash at 2 hrs max and the time it takes the mash and boil to go from 145 to 175 is like 25 minutes itself, so nothing scientific to it at all. ill make sure i do an hour at 175. What do you think about the time needed at 145?

I do:
125° for 15
145° for 60
176° for 60

Jason from Mutantis does the 125° and 176°, but does a slow 45 min rise to the 176°. I've never tried it, but I think of you're gonna shorten anything, make it the 145°. Rice especially needs more time at the higher temp. I'd be interested to see how it effects your FG.
 
I do exactly what skleice posted above. On the 175F rest I monitor gravity after 30 minutes into the rest. I end the rest when I get two 10 or 15 minute gravity readings that are close. I have been ending close to 60 minutes every time. Basically, I feel like I just am validating the times specified by others especially Aaron Gervais Head Brewer at Otherwise Brewing. I think he was the one that presented at 39 minutes into the following:
I feel like I am a broken record because I keep posting that, but it was a game changer for me.
 
I do exactly what skleice posted above. On the 175F rest I monitor gravity after 30 minutes into the rest. I end the rest when I get two 10 or 15 minute gravity readings that are close. I have been ending close to 60 minutes every time. Basically, I feel like I just am validating the times specified by others especially Aaron Gervais Head Brewer at Otherwise Brewing. I think he was the one that presented at 39 minutes into the following:
I feel like I am a broken record because I keep posting that, but it was a game changer for me.

After re-watching the video it makes sense how Ondea Pro and Ceremix affect the beer, took a few times for me but its clear what i need to do now. For your mash schedule, how to do you factor in the time it takes to go from 125 - 145, 145 - 176?
 
My Grainfather does the change in 10 or 15 minutes, so I do the timing of the rest at temp. Actually I start 1 degree before it reaches the target temp, because the controller goes really slow at the end to avoid overshoot. I doubt it really matters if you include part of the rise with the rests. I expect the critical part is to make sure conversion happens on the final rest to the extent you want.
 
Ok everyone, I was able to brew the California Common, I'm going to try and harvest yeast from this batch. Grain bill is below. I plan on leaving it in the Fermonster for 1 month unless thats a bad move? I used this recipe as my starting point and its suggesting 6 weeks combined between primary and secondary. Since I never use a second fermenter i figure a 2 week bottle condition after a month in the fermenter.

https://glutenfreehomebrewing.com/recipes/showrecipe.php?recipeid=195
3 lbs Biscuit Rice
2.5 lbs Pale Millet
3.5 lbs Munich Millet
1lbs corn
1lbs buckwheat
1lbs caramel millet
8 oz caramel 120L millet
75 grams dark roasted rice
2 oz northern brewer hops
2 sachets 34/70 yeast
20ml Ondea Pro and Ceremix

Happy Holidays to everyone here, you make brewing GF beer fun!!
 

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Looks great. What was you volume and gravity yield? Did you notice a bit more ppg for this batch?
4 weeks in the fermentor should be fine, especially because you get low and consistent fermentation temps in your basement.
 
Looks great. What was you volume and gravity yield? Did you notice a bit more ppg for this batch?
4 weeks in the fermentor should be fine, especially because you get low and consistent fermentation temps in your basement.
5.5 gallons
1.053 OG
And yes, the 1 hr mash step @ 175 makes a huge difference, appreciate all the tips.
 
These are really good, the 34/70 yeast has a great clean crisp characteristic to it that I really enjoy. Compared to the Kentucky Common I made, the lack of oats in this beer is stark, its almost like this is watery compared to the Kentucky Common.

I need to play with the grain bill, I added 75 grams of dark roasted rice for color purposes but the somehow this beer has a slightly roasty finish.
 

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These are really good, the 34/70 yeast has a great clean crisp characteristic to it that I really enjoy. Compared to the Kentucky Common I made, the lack of oats in this beer is stark, its almost like this is watery compared to the Kentucky Common.

I need to play with the grain bill, I added 75 grams of dark roasted rice for color purposes but the somehow this beer has a slightly roasty finish.

Yeah, in my experience nothing adds body like oat malt (including buckwheat, quinoa, teff, etc). I've started adding it to most of my brews. I bought a 25lb sack 👍
 
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