The unoficially official new beer style "Lawnmower beers" thread!

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Sam_92

A whimsical brewer.
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Welcome to the thread for summer "lawnmower beers"! We're here to talk about our favorite light, crisp, refreshing, summer beers.

My must recent success here was a pseudo-lager brewed with 34/70 and squeezed in while my wife was out and I had all the kids. It's a recipe I doubt I cutoff recreate because it was so off the cuff but turned out crisp and delicious.

Please post your favorite crisp summer beer recipes and maybe help my build the couragen to do an adjunct lager
 
I brew this Cream Ale several times a year. I’ve always used a lager yeast and, fermented and conditioned cold, this is, essentially, a light lager. I brewed a batch last month to take to a wedding on my wife’s side of the family later this month. I kegged it a couple of days ago and just pulled a carb check sample. It’s everything a lite beer drinker could ask for with enough flavor to entertain most craft beer enthusiasts.
99C7FB66-9862-43A2-AF97-DC17205EB3C2.jpeg

699680E8-B85F-490A-B92F-01F0B98B040E.png
 
help my build the couragen to do an adjunct lager


well you're mixing up letters...or adding one that don't need to be there! that's a good sign you're going to be able to start adding different starches to your mash too! 🥲

hoo no's wear it will and? ;) :mug: (good luck with the audacity to break german brewing laws!)
 
My current favorite lawnmower beer is a simple blonde that I ferment on Omega Lutra. 8lbs two row, 4lbs pilsner, something clean bittering for the hops like Cascade; then 1oz Crystal at 10 & 5. Fermented warm, about 80, and the latest one was done in 6 days grain to glass. Brought it to our group brewday last weekend, two of my friends asked what fruit was in it; the Crystal lent a nice citrusy note without being too heavy. Just a nice light, flavorful drinkable beer. Current batch of Lutra yeast is on it's 4th generation and still going strong, no esters and a hard-working yeast that drops out clear.
 
Brewed a hazey APA (4kg pale ale malt + 1kg flaked oats) and a Cream ale (5kg pilsner malt + 0.3kg crushed corn) a couple of weekends ago. As my mash efficiency isn't that great I decided to remash/wash all the grains from both brews again. I managed to get a preboil gravity of 1020 and an OG of 1028, bittered to 47 IBUs, which dropped right down to 1003 FG. I feremented it with Laerdale kveik and dry hopped with 20 grams of Idaho 7 and 10 of Citra that I had spare in the fridge. I bottled it after 10 days and I'm tucking into them now.
For a virtually free beer its not bad at all, very light at 3.3% but not watery as might be expected.
Considering the results I think I'll be doing this more often.
 
Hell, yeah, Sam! You did it!!!! Wooot!

For those of you interested in origins of this thread, check out the "What I did for beer today" thread.

I've spent the last two years doing a deep, deep dive into N. American adjunct lagers and I came out of that with a few "locked" recipes in my Panther Piss series of beers. For this thread, I'm going to contribute an odd duck...a dark lawn mower beer. I enjoy dark beers and I'd like to drink them year round. However, I'm from the W. Coast, but I live in the sticky, hot, humid Mid-Atlantic region of the USA--a place that's so humid that your sweat stops working. I've been out here for nearly 25 years and I have yet to adapt to the stifling humidity. I chuckled a bit when Miraculix, an outstanding brewer, suggested that SNPA was a great lawnmower beer. Perhaps in Germany, my dear Miraculix. ;)

This is a dark beer that you can swill when it's so humid that the temperature at midnight isn't much different than the temperature at noon. It's neither a colored N. American dark adjunct lager, nor a Schwarzbier. It's somewhere in the middle and, as we a discussed in the "What I did..." thread, you can "pour it down your neck when it's hot outside."

Edit: I noticed that the Beersmith page shows a single infusion mash. This is an oddity of Beersmith because it always appends a mash out to the single infusion profile. I know my system and how it relates to Beersmith, so I keep the single infusion profile as my base mash for most of my beers. This beer is actually made with a Hochkurz mash, 145F for 90min, 158F for 45 with the recirculation on, then fly sparged. Use the Washington, DC water profile to figure out your water.

This is what it looks like:
3A50488F-25F6-42E1-AC55-1CAD414C321C.jpeg


This is how you make it:
image.jpg
 
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Hell, yeah, Sam! You did it!!!! Wooot!

For those of you interested in origins of this thread, check out the "What I did for beer today" thread.

I've spent the last two years doing a deep, deep dive into N. American adjunct lagers and I came out of that with a few "locked" recipes in my Panther Piss series of beers. For this thread, I'm going to contribute an odd duck...a dark lawn mower beer. I enjoy dark beers and I'd like to drink them year round. However, I'm from the W. Coast, but I live in the sticky, hot, humid Mid-Atlantic region of the USA--a place that's so humid that your sweat stops working. I've been out here for nearly 25 years and I have yet to adapt to the stifling humidity. I chuckled a bit when Miraculix, an outstanding brewer, suggested that SNPA was a great lawnmower beer. Perhaps in Germany, my dear Miraculix. ;)

This is a dark beer that you can swill when it's so humid that the temperature at midnight isn't much different than the temperature at noon. It's neither a colored N. American dark adjunct lager, nor a Schwarzbier. It's somewhere in the middle and, as we a discussed in the "What I did..." thread, you can "pour it down your neck when it's hot outside."

This is what it looks like:
View attachment 771249

This is how you make it:
View attachment 771251

Nice looking beer! I have a Vienna lager coming up, but I didn’t plan to have any adjuncts in that. Out of curiosity, why do you have 2g of salt in your boil? Salt is one of those water chemistry things I don’t really understand. My water analysis says sodium is 57ppm, I thought that was high by some styles?
 
Nice looking beer! I have a Vienna lager coming up, but I didn’t plan to have any adjuncts in that. Out of curiosity, why do you have 2g of salt in your boil? Salt is one of those water chemistry things I don’t really understand. My water analysis says sodium is 57ppm, I thought that was high by some styles?

Salt was the last thing that I started messing around with as I narrowed down my water profiles. In fact, I never intended to mess around with salt because....well, salt. Ultimately, what happened was this: I had my gypsum and CaCl levels pretty much dimed, but there was something missing that I couldn't put my finger on. I lost a couple of years playing around with my ratios, goofing around a bit with epsom salts, then decided, for want of anything else to try tossing in 1g of salt. Oh, that's what I was missing! Depending on the beer, I find 1-2g of salt to be beneficial with my DC tap water. I haven't tried 3g because things are great at 2g. That said, with the Panther Piss project wrapped up, I intend to re-new my two-front war against UK Mild and Brown Ales this Fall and I intend to cross the 2g Rubicon. Gotta put on my big boy pants!

Regarding water analysis, I've been brewing with DC tap for nearly 25 years. I know it and its seasonal peculiarities quite well. I also know that the profile in Beersmith is Picaso-esque, at best. I'd look at your 57ppm with a jaundiced eye. It's easy to get too focused on the numbers. Instead, I would suggest making 1-2g explorations and take careful notes. Your beer will tell you what it wants. Just make certain that you're brewing the exact same recipe, with the exact same process whenever you start messing around with your water.

Unfortunately, it takes time and discipline to dial in your water. It's worth it, though. It's a very rewarding journey.
 
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I must have made 20-25 gallons of lawn mower beers last summer. I played around with a couple use simple pilsner malt and magnum at 60 to give it 12-20ibu's. This recent batch I wanted to go for a quasi-coronaish summer beer. I used pilsner, instant rice and 1% of C60 just to get the color closer to 3.5-4SRM. From there, just 12 IBU's of hallertau at 30min. Pitched 34/70 and now I'm waiting for it to be finished so I can keg and sample.
 
Salt was the last thing that I started messing around with as I narrowed down my water profiles. In fact, I never intended to mess around with salt because....well, salt. Ultimately, what happened was this: I had my gypsum and CaCl levels pretty much dimed, but there was something missing that I couldn't put my finger on. I lost a couple of years playing around with my ratios, goofing around a bit with epsom salts, then decided, for want of anything else to try tossing in 1g of salt. Oh, that's what I was missing! Depending on the beer, I find 1-2g of salt to be beneficial with my DC tap water. I haven't tried 3g because things are great at 2g. That said, with the Panther Piss project wrapped up, I intend to re-new my two-front war against UK Mild and Brown Ales this Fall and I intend to cross the 2g Rubicon. Gotta put on my big boy pants!

Regarding water analysis, I've been brewing with DC tap for nearly 25 years. I know it and its seasonal peculiarities quite well. I also know that the profile in Beersmith is Picaso-esque, at best. I'd look at your 57ppm with a jaundiced eye. It's easy to get too focused on the numbers. Instead, I would suggest making 1-2g explorations and take careful notes. Your beer will tell you what it wants. Just make certain that you're brewing the exact same recipe, with the exact same process whenever you start messing around with your water.

Unfortunately, it takes time and discipline to dial in your water. It's worth it, though. It's a very rewarding journey.
I had my last water analysis done in March 2020. I just ordered another one, going to have it done again at a different time of year for comparison. I was already planning to do that,

I’m in SE PA, on the MD border. Not that far away.
 
I had my last water analysis done in March 2020. I just ordered another one, going to have it done again at a different time of year for comparison. I was already planning to do that,

I’m in SE PA, on the MD border. Not that far away.
Hey bud off topic, your avatar is awesome do you have a boston?
 
I've been meaning to brew this for a while now, seeing how it is one of the most successful recipes on here.

For some reason, some other beers that promise more flavour always come in between and there always seems to be some more interesting beer I want to make.
If only I could brew more often...
I’m thinking of doing this with just one hop addition of Centennial at 60 min for about 25 ibu.

There’s another one not a lawnmower beer I keep meaning to get to - the “Pirate Ale.”
 
Once I get my fermenter clear of my current SMaSH, I'll be doing Cream of Three Crops to kick of the first official summer beer. That Centennial Blonde sounds fantastic though. Most of my light, lager-like beers have been done with Kölsch yeast. Might consider giving Lutra a try...
I've used Lutra three times so far, all in Blondes. Finishes fast and clean, and produces a very drinkable, crisp, refreshing beer. I did try fermenting it once at ale temps, and did not care for the result; it does much better at kveik temps. Mine didn't taste like what you may call a pseudo-lager (none of the 'bite' that lager yeast can produce), just nice and clean. Yes I love that yeast.
 
Piss Yellow Beer - 5.5 gal batch. (Loosely based on @BierMuncher's Cream of Three Crops)

7.5 lbs German Pilsner
2 lbs Flaked Maize
1 lb. Flaked Rice
0.5 lb Rice Hulls
0.25 lb. Acid Malt

Water profile: "Yellow Balanced" from Bru'n Water.

Single infusion mash (mine was BIAB), 60 mins. at 148F.

60 min. boil
Artic (Citra clone) bittering addition to 15 IBU
Artic aroma addition just before flameout
Whirlfloc

Chill to 65F, pitch Nottingham
Ferment at mid-60s.

OG was 1.050, FG was 1.006

Carb to about 2.8 vols.
 
Here’s one I just carb checked. It’s another from my Panther Piss adjunct lager project, called Panther Piss Super Dry. At 84% attenuation it lives up to its name. Twenty-one days old, two in the keg. You smell the Saaz and bit of sulfur, then you taste the pils and some malt sweetness. At that point, the Saaz asserts itself and a bit of rice sweetness (didn’t know that was a thing until today) shows itself, then the Saaz closes it out with a crisp finish. This will be a nice July beer.

This is what it looks like
96518E13-6CA1-4C73-96A1-38B5F421D51C.jpeg


This is how you make it
91911CD0-3B63-4E68-B608-A2A12A7855AE.jpeg

I still haven’t updated my equipment profile, so the actual OG is 1.050. Mash at 145F for two hours, then 156F for a further hour.
 
This is where I am today... it's a bit heavy, but I don't want memories of being hot and sweaty to linger too long.

Lawn Mower Ale - American Pale Ale (10A)

Batch Size 5.500 gal
Boil Size 6.250 gal
Boil Time 1.000 hr
Efficiency 70%
OG 1.059 sg
FG 1.019 sg
ABV 5.5%
Bitterness 32.0 IBU (Tinseth)
Color 7.2 srm (Morey)

Fermentables
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Briess - 2 Row Brewers Malt Grain 11.000 lb Yes No 80% 1.8 srm
Briess - Wheat Malt, White Grain 16.000 oz Yes No 85% 2.5 srm
Briess - Caramel Munich Malt 60L Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 77% 60.0 srm
Briess - Vienna Malt Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 78% 3.5 srm
Total grain: 13.000 lb

Hops
Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Northern Brewer 9.0% 1.000 oz Boil 37.000 min Pellet 24.4
Hallertau 4.5% 1.000 oz Boil 5.000 min Pellet 2.9
Vic Secret 15.0% 0.500 oz Boil 5.000 min Pellet 4.8

Yeasts
Name Type Form Amount Stage
WLP036 - Dusseldorf Alt Yeast Ale Liquid 9.59 tbsp Primary

Mash
Name Type Amount Temp Target Time
Temperature --- --- 152.600 F 1 hr
 
Here’s one I just carb checked. It’s another from my Panther Piss adjunct lager project, called Panther Piss Super Dry. At 84% attenuation it lives up to its name. Twenty-one days old, two in the keg. You smell the Saaz and bit of sulfur, then you taste the pils and some malt sweetness. At that point, the Saaz asserts itself and a bit of rice sweetness (didn’t know that was a thing until today) shows itself, then the Saaz closes it out with a crisp finish. This will be a nice July beer.

This is what it looks like
View attachment 773269

This is how you make it
View attachment 773270
I still haven’t updated my equipment profile, so the actual OG is 1.050. Mash at 145F for two hours, then 156F for a further hour.
I am super intrigued by your Panther Piss Project. I love my blondes, and my WF lagers, but I'm thinking of trying something like this for my next 'light' beer. Never used flaked rice before; does it need a cereal mash, or can you just add it directly to the mash? I have everything else except the Diamond lager yeast, which I'm going to get next time I visit the LHBS. And can I sub in Lactic acid instead of Phosphoric?
 
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