Typical Gravities for Lawnmower Lagers?

[Clint Yeastwood]

In February, I made myself what I thought was a lawnmower beer. It's great, but I think I went too high with the OG, which was 1.050. I just got off the old John Deere, and this beer is slightly heavier than I really need it to be for times like this.

What are typical OG/FG's for lawnmower lagers for most people? I don't want this stuff to be too heavy, but I still want it to taste like beer. I guess I can reduce the grain and hops and keep the same amount of water.

8.5# Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner
1# flaked corn
0.75# Breiss 10LV crystal
0.45 oz Magnum [16.20 %] - First Wort 60.0 min 26.8 IBU's
1.50 oz Magnum [16.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool
Saflager Lager 34/70

 

[day_trippr]

To me the old "Cream of Three Crops" is the prototypical lawn mower beer, and that one comes in at 1.040 and should hit 1.005 for a ~4.5% ABV...

Cheers!

 

[DBhomebrew]

Yep. My lawnmower beers are bitters or milds at 1038-1042. The whole idea behind a lawnmower beer is they are light, low-ABV beverages that slake thirst in the hot sun.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I'm now drinking this one:

10 lbs Dingmans Belgian Pilsen
12.0 oz Breiss 10LV crystal
0.80 oz Nugget [15.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min 39.6 IBU's
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min 2.8 IBU's
Saflager Lager 34/70

This beer went from 1.054 to 1.009. It slides down very easily, but it has very little head, and it's short on character. It will work great as a lawnmower beer, but I would rather have more flavor. The first beer only went from 1.050 to 1.015.

My notes say "I'm using a 3-step Kochhurz-style mash this time (Feb 23). The numbers are 144/158/170 and 30/30/15." The last three figures are minutes. The other beer was mashed at 155 for 60 minutes and mashed out at 170.

I wonder why the second beer has so little character. The mash? The Belgian malt?

I want the beer to be on the light side, but I'm okay with 6% because I don't drink a lot of it. I would rather drink two beers at 6% than three at 4.6% for this purpose.

I don't know why the first beer didn't attenuate more. I seem to recall thinking I screwed up the mash, but it's not in my notes.

 

[MaxStout]

@Yooper's "fizzy yellow beer" is another good, quick turnaround summer beer.

Edit: the OG is in the 50s. You could scale it down a bit if you want a lower ABV.

 

[AlexKay]

Agree on ~1.042. A point or two higher if you have a lot of corn or rice or straight sugar, a point or two lower if it's all-malt.

I would be very surprised if the difference in depth of flavor is from the source of the Pilsner. My experience is that while maltster is critical for things like Munich or English Pale Ale, Pilsner malts are very similar across the board. I've done blind tests, both chewing the malts and brewing SMaSHes, and can't reliably tell the difference. There are probably folks out there with more refined palates, but that's my experience.

I'd guess the difference the beers is all from the difference in attenuation, since the recipes are pretty close otherwise.

If you're looking for more flavor, I've tried swapping in some English pale (e.g., Maris Otter) for the Pilsner, and adding a couple percent Munich to the grist. I've been happy with both approaches.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I guess my lawnmower philosophy is a little unusual, now that I think about it. Maybe if the ABV is normal, it's not a real lawnmower beer. Maybe I've invented a new category through ignorance. When I mow, I want to be out there for 90 minutes tops, take a shower, sit down in an air-conditioned room, and drink maybe three beers at most.

So if the attenuation is what made the beer so different, maybe the one-step mash is the reason? Far as I can tell, it's actual beer, not something that didn't finish. Maybe I'm wrong, though. I used crystal malt so it would have some sweetness when it was finished, so I guess that could interfere with my being able to tell if it's underattenuated.

I'm surprised I like the straight-Magnum hops so much. Ordinarily, I love the combination of Nugget and Crystal.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I don't understand anything any more. I just poured a second 9-oz. glass of the beer with no head. It suddenly has head.

How is that possible?

 

[DBhomebrew]

I guess my lawnmower philosophy is a little unusual, now that I think about it. Maybe if the ABV is normal, it's not a real lawnmower beer. Maybe I've invented a new category through ignorance. When I mow, I want to be out there for 90 minutes tops, take a shower, sit down in an air-conditioned room, and drink maybe three beers at most.

Bingo. Lawnmower beers, beach beers, tailgate beers, fishing beers, session beers. They're all low-ABV so you can have a few while engaged in activity. That doesn't mean they can't be full flavored, full bodied even.

If you've done your work, showered, sitting on the couch in the A/C, you don't need a lawnmower beer. That's when I reach past the ordinary/best bitter and grab the strong bitter.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Yeah, what I want after mowing is apparently not a bona fide lawnmower beer. A real lawnmower beer has to be a session beer. My mower beer is a session beer with more body than I really want, and the other lager I made drinks like a session beer but has a lot more alcohol and not much malt flavor.

There is no way I can enjoy beer WHILE I'm out there eating dust and being hit in the face with spiders, twigs, sand, and grasshoppers, in 90-degree-plus heat with high humidity and no wind. Where I am now, yard maintenance is pretty brutal. I used to fish off Miami and in the Bahamas a lot, and enjoying beer on the water was a lot easier.

It's strange that this 6.1% beer is so easy to drink. It goes down like water. You would never know it was that strong, but the grain bill and gravity readings seem like proof that it is.

Here is my decision. I already have the grain for the next batch of faux mower beer, so I will go ahead and brew it as before. When I made the first batch, I was just getting started again, and I made a lot of errors, so I don't trust the current batch as a baseline. I'll see how it comes out and THEN make adjustments on the batch that comes after it.

As for the 6.1% beer, I may abandon the Nugget and Crystal hops, since they don't seem to be optimal for this stuff. I think I'll go with something noble-ish instead. Maybe I can find a way to get slightly more malt flavor, too. It's a great beer, but I feel like homebrew should say something. It shouldn't just lie back and let you have your way.

I wonder what kind of malt goes in Warsteiner. A bit of that kind of flavor would be good here.

 

[hottpeper13]

I thought lawnmower beers were consumed while cutting the grass! Nobody mentioned POOL beers. We have retired float day once a week and we all decided that any beer is a good pool beer. I like sharing my RIS's at 10+ abv.
ps- The first accessory I added to my rider was a can holder!

 

[mac_1103]

I don't understand anything any more. I just poured a second 9-oz. glass of the beer with no head. It suddenly has head.

How is that possible?

I don't either, but I hope someone does because I've had the same thing happen a time or two.

My mower beer is a session beer with more body than I really want, and the other lager I made drinks like a session beer but has a lot more alcohol and not much malt flavor.

Have you tried a half and half?

 

[Ramjet]

I made a Mexican lager for my lawnmower beer ( NB Atlantico) My OG was 1.054 FG 1.014 for 5.25% abv. It's light and delicious

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I thought lawnmower beers were consumed while cutting the grass! Nobody mentioned POOL beers. We have retired float day once a week and we all decided that any beer is a good pool beer. I like sharing my RIS's at 10+ abv.
ps- The first accessory I added to my rider was a can holder!

If I tried that, the gas would be shaken out of the beer after 15 feet!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Have you tried a half and half?

I haven't fooled with it yet.

 

[RM-MN]

If I tried that, the gas would be shaken out of the beer after 15 feet!

Who said anything about starting the mower? You put the bottle of beer into the holder, then sit there and drink it.

 

[bellhp]

You put the bottle of beer into the holder, then sit there and drink it

Exactly , It takes me 3 days to cut my pasture ... Lot's of stopping for beer breaks . I just brewed a low ABV (3.5%) Vienna Lager I call " I just cut a big one" . I am on my way in from offshore and will be tasting that one for the first time tomorrow . I plan a second Pilsner version of the beer next ( It's a work in progress).

 

[bellhp]

I am on my way in from offshore and will be tasting that one for the first time tomorrow .

I'm home and drinking the beer .... aaaaand i'm back to the drawing board , not what I was expecting ... getting esters maybe from the 34/70 I've never got before ... It's ok but not right ... let's hope the pilsner is better.

 

[Grizwold1]

I don't understand anything any more. I just poured a second 9-oz. glass of the beer with no head. It suddenly has head.

How is that possible?

Second pour in same glass? Then nucleation points from any residual foam in the glass?

 

[mac_1103]

Second pour in same glass? Then nucleation points from any residual foam in the glass?

But there was no foam in the first glass.

 

[hottpeper13]

Maybe the first glass was rinsing the soap off!

 

[mac_1103]

Maybe the first glass was rinsing the soap off!

That was my first thought. Easy enough to test.

 

[Grizwold1]

I meant the residual lacing on the glass that makes it foam more, providing the nucleation points. (Unless he's rinsing in between) I see it all the time when I reuse the same glass for a second pour.

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

Maybe that's it.

 

[Yesfan]

Man, what's up with you guys? My lawnmower beers are 10%+ abv and I push mow my yard bear footed.


Get rekt..............

 

[day_trippr]

Aaaand now I have "bear footed" stuck in my head

 

[Yesfan]

Aaaand now I have "bear footed" stuck in my head

I'm going to blame that on the spell check...............