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The average bottled beer sits around on a shelf under less than ideal conditions. When we taste a store-bought hefe, it's oftentimes not as good as a homebrewed version because it's just not as fresh and well cared for. The same, I'm sure, is true for BMC. So, instead of bashing it, let's make a quality version. As I see it, we have 3 advantages over BMC that will need to be leveraged in order for a modest homebrewer to make a better American Light Lager:
1. Cost and time is no object. If each beer costs us 40 cents to make, we can keep on brewing happily along. Budweiser, by contrast, would have to fire their entire board of directors. Maybe adding honey to the boil (to both minimize flavor retention and thin the beer out) will help us to make a lighter beer that is competitive with BMC in the color/gravity/flavor game. We can also use more hops. More of whatever we want. And we can age it for as long as is necessary.
2. We know how to use hops. Late flavor and aroma additions are not true to the style of the American Light Lager. Does anybody know why? Well, my theory is that the reason flavor and aroma additions are not found in the style is because BMC can't freakin do it!!! They can't make aromas and flavors last given their crappy storage facilities, and the time some cans and bottles sit on the shelves... in that regard they can't compete with craft brews at any reasonable price. We pwn BMC when it comes to subtle hops flavors and aromas.
3. We control the storage of our beers. We can keep them at good temperatures and out of the light.
I'm imagining a tasty American Light Lager using late hop additions. Maybe even a very small dry hop... I'm not talking about IPA proportions here. I'm thinking somewhere in the tens to low-teens for IBU's, but with (relatively) lots of hops. I'm imagining a craft brew version of the American Light Lager that may not be 100% true to style, but is definitely close. Here's my plan...
First off, I'd use the second or third runnings from my Maibock for this. I'll try to get the wort around 1.026 or so before adding 2 pounds of rice solids with some honey to make up about 30% of the fermentables. Then for the hops....
All Hallertauer:
.25oz at 60 (First Wort Hop);
.5oz at 10;
.75oz at 5;
1oz at flame out.
OG: 1.040
FG: 1.005
ABV: 4.2%
IBU: 14.1
The idea is this: I can't beat BMC at making flavorless beer, but I can sure as heck make fresher beer stored with more care! So I will take advantage of what I can do better than BMC. I'm thinking this could be an awesome gateway beer for BMC folks, discussing why freshness really does matter for hops aroma and flavor. And you can also use it to explain why freshness is NOT good... for mellowing stronger beers such as the much stronger maibock you made with the first runnings.
You can explain that they are basically the same beer, one with corn to keep it less malty and flavorful, but taking advantage of the freshness advantage for the hoppiness; while the other has more malt flavor and needs to age to blend the flavors.
Frankly, I'm thinking that an American Light Lager with late hop additions might be a damn tasty brew requiring a minimal number of ingredients... Any comments? Any ideas for the grain bill?
1. Cost and time is no object. If each beer costs us 40 cents to make, we can keep on brewing happily along. Budweiser, by contrast, would have to fire their entire board of directors. Maybe adding honey to the boil (to both minimize flavor retention and thin the beer out) will help us to make a lighter beer that is competitive with BMC in the color/gravity/flavor game. We can also use more hops. More of whatever we want. And we can age it for as long as is necessary.
2. We know how to use hops. Late flavor and aroma additions are not true to the style of the American Light Lager. Does anybody know why? Well, my theory is that the reason flavor and aroma additions are not found in the style is because BMC can't freakin do it!!! They can't make aromas and flavors last given their crappy storage facilities, and the time some cans and bottles sit on the shelves... in that regard they can't compete with craft brews at any reasonable price. We pwn BMC when it comes to subtle hops flavors and aromas.
3. We control the storage of our beers. We can keep them at good temperatures and out of the light.
I'm imagining a tasty American Light Lager using late hop additions. Maybe even a very small dry hop... I'm not talking about IPA proportions here. I'm thinking somewhere in the tens to low-teens for IBU's, but with (relatively) lots of hops. I'm imagining a craft brew version of the American Light Lager that may not be 100% true to style, but is definitely close. Here's my plan...
First off, I'd use the second or third runnings from my Maibock for this. I'll try to get the wort around 1.026 or so before adding 2 pounds of rice solids with some honey to make up about 30% of the fermentables. Then for the hops....
All Hallertauer:
.25oz at 60 (First Wort Hop);
.5oz at 10;
.75oz at 5;
1oz at flame out.
OG: 1.040
FG: 1.005
ABV: 4.2%
IBU: 14.1
The idea is this: I can't beat BMC at making flavorless beer, but I can sure as heck make fresher beer stored with more care! So I will take advantage of what I can do better than BMC. I'm thinking this could be an awesome gateway beer for BMC folks, discussing why freshness really does matter for hops aroma and flavor. And you can also use it to explain why freshness is NOT good... for mellowing stronger beers such as the much stronger maibock you made with the first runnings.
You can explain that they are basically the same beer, one with corn to keep it less malty and flavorful, but taking advantage of the freshness advantage for the hoppiness; while the other has more malt flavor and needs to age to blend the flavors.Frankly, I'm thinking that an American Light Lager with late hop additions might be a damn tasty brew requiring a minimal number of ingredients... Any comments? Any ideas for the grain bill?
There are also more than a few good more trad lager examples from the land of "gimme a lager" pseduo craft.
