First Lager Recommendations

[tgif]

I'm looking to make my first lager. Does anyone have any recipes that would be good for my first lager?

 

[SanPancho]

look up the recipe database on the "forums" page and you'll see a ton. look up a clone recipe for whatever your favorite lager is and go that way.

the easiest recipe is just pils malt and maybe a little bit of munich or vienna (5-10%) for some flavor. mash around 148-151 for light and clean, 154ish for bit more residual malt sugar.

you can add 5% of something like maris otter, golden promise, belgian aromatic, etc. if you want to be a bit more creative than the standard vienna/munich/etc.

or you can go american style and use very small amounts of crystal 40/80/100 and carared, caraamber, etc to do the same thing.

 

[jekeane]

I would just pick something that you enjoy a Vienna or an Oktoberfest. The brewing process is no difference unless you get into decoctions. I did a Vienna Lager for my first and it turned out very well. Some keys I have going to making a good clean lager are pitch a lot of yeast and pitch below your target temperature by a few degrees and let it rise to the temperature you are looking to ferment at.

 

[Gavin C]

Here is my recipe for a Munich Helles

I like it.

 

[casualbrewer]

Make a cream ale and substitute lager yeast. Will be like an American premium lager.

 

[Braufessor]

Lots of good recipes out there - but, I would hedge toward a lower gravity beer for your first lager. The reason for this is that one of the biggest issues with a lager is getting a good fermentation and a large enough pitch of yeast. Brewing a 1.045 type beer gives you a better likelihood of getting an active, clean ferment. Also is a good way to build up more yeast in case you would like to repitch some yeast into a bigger lager down the road.

Starting with something like a helles or lower gravity pilsner or vienna for instance...... and then using that yeast in second generation for a bock or maibock, etc. if you are interested in a second lager.

 

[giraffe]

I agree with the above. Choose a <1.050 OG for your first lager.

Also lager strains are closer to each other than ale strains, but some are more forgiving than others. For your first lager Id recommend wlp833 for munich styles. wlp940 for german pils, and american styles, and wlp802 for czech styles. All tend to be pretty forgiving, and dont usually throw diacetyl, excess sulfur, ferment reliably, and clear relatively easily.

 

[MaxStout]

I did a batch of Revvy's Vienna lager recently. It uses dry yeast (S-23). Though the recipe only calls for one, I pitched 2 packets. Fermented about a month in low 50s, then lagered at 36F for 3 months. Turned out quite nicely.

 

[bigdinosaur1337]

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.74 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
End of Boil Vol: 6.24 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 5.00 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage

7 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 1 75.0 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 25.0 %
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 15.4 IBUs
0.50 oz Spalter [4.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 4 5.9 IBUs
0.50 oz Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5 2.3 IBUs
2.0 pkg German Lager (White Labs #WLP830) [35.49 ml] Yeast 6 -

Mash at 152 for 60min

Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Bitterness: 23.6 IBUs
Est Color: 13.9 SRM

I ferment for 2-3 weeks at 50*F, raise the temp to 68*F for 4 days, then lager 6 weeks at 33*F.

Made this as a clone of Red Oak out of North Carolina - love that beer, and this is pretty dang close. I always keep a keg on hand.

Let me know if you brew this and what you think!

 

[tgif]

Thanks for the help. Would it be a good idea to make a darker beer my first time around or does that not matter?

 

[casualbrewer]

Darker beer may hide off flavors. May as well go light so you can notice flaws and correct.

 

[Braufessor]

To be honest, I have had far more problems with darker lagers than lighter ones. Oktoberfest, bocks that came off caramelly, sweet and unfinished. Schwarzbiers that were more like porters, etc.

A darker ale (brown, porter, stout) can sort of "hide" flaws in your brewing. However, if you have flaws in your brewing, there is no hiding it in a lager - it is going to show up one way or another. The hallmark of almost every lager is "clean fermentation" - light or dark doesn't matter, and I have had more problems with amber and dark lagers than I have with light ones.

I really have to say that a helles is probably my most consistent lager and I have just never had much of a problem with them.

Personally, that is where I would start, and then repitch the yeast into something like a bock or oktoberfest if you are interested in going in that direction.

 

[Curtis2010]

Recommendation: be absolutely meticulous about everything, especially mash and ferm temps, and follow a well established recipe. I did my first lager that way and it was one of the best beers I have ever brewed. To me, that is what makes brewing a really good lager such a rewarding challenge, esp in a homebrewing environment, you have to nail it for it to be really good.

Brewed a Schwarzbier a few years ago that was quite good.

Looking forward to getting a little less semi-nomadic so I can get back into brewing (hopefully in 2016).

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