First shot at a hoppy lager... will it work?

[wallawallabrewer]

First try at a lager.... will this be any good? It's a pretty simple recipe.

3 gal boil - 7 gal batch

9 lbs Light Pilsen DME (breiss)

1 oz Magnum @ 60
2 oz Czech Saaz @ 10
2 oz Czech Saaz @ 5
1 whirlfloc @ 10

Saflager W-34/70 Lager Dry Yeast (gonna ferment for 2 months in my basement at 53 F)

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Recipe looks good (what's your OG and IBU's?)
Whether or not it'll be good depends on how good your brewing process is - lagers are as much about process as recipe.

I.E. Pitching rate, oxygenation, pitching temperature, ferment temp, ferment time.

 

[snowtiger1987]

To make it a lager you have to LAGER it. Ferment 2 weeks at 50 F then condition (lager) as close to 32 F as you can get for the other 1.5 months.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Lagering is simply a period of storage. Lagering can be at 53F, but will take longer to achieve the same results as it would at a lower temperature. Kolsch is typically lagered at about 50F. W34/70 works quite well at higher temperatures and (all else going well) will give a good beer at 53F if wallawallabrewer doesn't have the ability to lager in a fridge.

 

[snowtiger1987]

The definition of lager is to store COLD (specifically, just below freezing). That ain't 50F. Call it whatever you want and it may have some lager-like qualities but it won't be a lager unless it is stored cold.

 

[STMF]

No, thats not *the* definition of a lager. It might be *your* definition, and that's fine but others might define it diffrently.

 

[snowtiger1987]

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/lager

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Lager can either refer to a beer made with a lagering process, or a beer made with lager yeast (so called 'bottom fermenting' yeast).

Lagering (from German, Lagerung) simply means 'storage'. Yes, it normally involves an extended period of cool or cold storage, most often at about freezing temperatures (beer was stored in ice caves in the mountains). However, lagering can occur at warmer temperatures but are still generally at temperatures that are cooler than the ferment. A cool (about 50F) conditioning period for German ales (eg. Kolsch and Altbier) is often used and can be called a lagering period, blurring the lines between lagers and ales. W34/70 has been used many times at warmer temperatures than other lager lager yeasts with little taste difference to when it's used cold. I have little doubt that it will produce a fine lager - it will look like a lager, smell like a lager, taste like a lager, be made with an extended cool storage period and with a lager yeast! The fact that one stage, the storage, was at a temperature that's warmer than the norm won't stop this being a lager.