This post is one in a series following five brewers limiting themselves to a select set of ingredients and brewing several beers each with only those ingredients. The goal of these limitations is to push creativity and to see what can be done within the confines of a single set of ingredients. More about this concept can be found here. The ingredients chosen for this project were Maris Otter, White Wheat (malted), Light Munich, Amarillo, Nugget, WLP810 San Francisco Lager and WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast. The brewer must use all ingredients (with the exception of choosing one yeast strain). The rest of this series can be found here.
Author: M. Rasmussen
Going into the third and final beer of this series was a bittersweet feeling for me. On one hand I was starting to grow a little bored of the small set of ingredients; on the other hand, I was excited for the challenge of coming up with a recipe for a beer that didn’t seem like it was made from the exact same ingredients as the previous two in this series, and I was feeling quite comfortable and confident that I’d be able to deliver.
Recipe
Since my first two beers in this series were ales, my first thought for the final installment was that I needed to make a lager. After brainstorming possible styles with the rest of the crew, I decided that I wanted to shoot for some kind of German lager. The main reason for that was because, firstly, I love drinking a bold, crisp Bavarian lager. Secondly, since the other beers I brewed were American ales, this felt like as far from a similar style as I could go.
I knew that the majority of this beer would be consumed during the hot summer months, so I wanted to go for something lighter than a Munich/Marzen lager, which is my favorite German style. A close cousin to that Munich-heavy beer is a Festbier. The BJCP defines the Festbier style as “A smooth, clean, pale German lager with a moderately strong malty flavor and a light hop character. Deftly balances strength and drinkability, with a palate impression and finish that encourages drinking.” That sounded like exactly the kind of beer I wanted to drink after mowing the lawn or to share with friends around a backyard fire.
After doing a bit of research on the style, I came up with the recipe rather quickly. The malt bill was simple to construct, as my main goals were getting the right SRM and OG; I was aiming for an SRM of 6 and an OG between 1.055 and 1.060.
I like simple, rounded numbers when it comes to recipe creation. If I can use whole numbers for grain and hop weights, as well as hop addition timing and ABV, I’m a very happy brewer. The hop additions were constructed mainly to add a low amount of bitterness, but I wanted to use the Amarillo to get a slight bit of hop character layered into the flavor profile. Lastly, the yeast choice was beyond simple because I wanted this to be as close to a German lager as our ingredient list would allow.
- Mashed for 60 minutes at 152°F
- 64% Maris Otter
- 18% White Wheat Malt
- 18% Light Munich
- Boiled for 75 minutes
- 1 oz. of Nugget (60 minutes) @ 14.2% (23.0 IBUs)
- 1 oz. of Amarillo (30 minutes) @ 7.7% (10.4 IBUs)
- Vitality starter of WLP810 pitched @ 58°F
- Fermented at 58°F for 5 days
- Slowly raised to 70°F over 5 days
- Cold crashed to 38°F over 2 days
- Lagered at 38°F for 4 weeks
- Target OG: 1.059
- Actual OG: 1.052
- FG: 1.008
- Target ABV: 6.6%
- Actual ABV: 5.8%
- Closed transferred, kegged, and quick-carbed overnight
Brew Day
This was an odd, unpredictable brew day for me. From the weather to the brewing metrics, everything felt slightly off. The first mishaps resulted from leaving the yeast vitality starter on too high of a heat setting whilst prepping the mash. The starter boiled over twice before I had the sense to turn the heat down, add some fermcap, and actually pay attention. The other big headache came from the refractometers.
I was brewing a ten gallon batch of this beer so that I could have five gallons and my brewing partner could take the other five. My refractometer uses Brix percentage as the measurement scale, and my friend’s uses the SG scale. We usually use both during the brewing process and compare the numbers to ensure everything is on track. Although we both calibrated the refractometers prior to reading the first sample of the day, over half of the samples we took throughout the process gave different readings—sometimes on the same refractometer. Now, it wouldn’t be abnormal for the two of us to be a little more than buzzed on our previous batch while we’re brewing the next one; however, that was not the case this day. I’m still not quite sure what was going on with gravity readings on this brew, and I’m not quite sure if I absolutely trust the OG that I wrote down for this beer.
Despite those issues, the brew day felt very successful. The yeast was visibly ripping through the vitality starter within an hour of hitting the stir plate, I nailed my target mash pH, and the wort chilled down much quicker than I anticipated.
Once the wort was transferred and chilled down to my target pitching temp, I was more than happy to let the yeast take over. After a quick and seemingly healthy fermentation, I then fined, kegged, and carbonated the beer. After that, I did what all brewers hate to do: I exercised patience and waited four weeks so that the beer could properly “lager” before I began drinking and evaluating it.
Tasting
Appearance: Deep, golden color. Crystal clear. Looks very “clean.” Light, steady carbonation. Thick, white head that dissipates and leaves a white ring as it subsides.
Aroma: Light, and slightly bready. Sweet, caramel. Straw.
Flavor: Caramelly, sweet straw notes from the aroma come through in the middle of the swallow. Sweetness hangs out on your tongue as the dry, bitter finish settles in to create a pleasing finish. Biscuit, light cracker. Little to no yeast coming through here. Crisp, dry, slightly bitter finish. Unmistakably a lager.
Mouthfeel: Full. Crisp. Nearly over-carbonated, but not quite. Medium body.
Aftertaste: Slight hop flavor. Crisp, mildly bitter, residually sweet.
Overall: It’s a darn good, easy drinkin’, summer lager. Hard to tell the inspiration was a staple German style, but still very good in its own right.
If I were to brew this beer again with the same limitations on the recipe, I don’t really think I’d change anything—at least, not with the recipe. I would definitely try to tighten up my sloppy brewing practices from the first go, but I’m quite pleased with how this recipe lined up with my initial goals.
If I were to brew this recipe/style again without these limitations, the first (and most obvious) change would be to use a German lager yeast. The trademark characteristics of a Bavarian lager yeast are noticeably absent from this beer; a hint of banana being the most apparent (and also my favorite) of those missing notes. I’d also switch out the Maris Otter for a more traditional pilsner malt. Surprisingly, I probably wouldn’t even bother changing the hop schedule at all. The hop profile in this beer is exactly what I intended.
Overall, this resulted in a very satisfying beer. It’s my favorite of the three beers I brewed for this project by far. Although I don’t think this project turned out to be exactly what we were all expecting, I feel like I understand these ingredients, my process, and recipe creation as a whole much better than before.
| Beer 1 | Beer 2 | Beer 3 | Beer 4 | Beer 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Style | Hoppy Wheat | Pale Ale/Lager | IPL | NEIPA/IPA | Munich Lager |
| Maris Otter | 34.4% | 50% | 50% | 82% | 30% |
| Light Munich | 5.5% | 25% | 41% | 7% | 60% |
| Wheat | 60.1% | 25% | 9% | 11% | 10% |
| Hop Addition 1 | 28.7 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) | 41.3 IBUs Nugget (First Wort) | 21 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) | 41.8 IBUs Nugget (First Wort) | 24.4 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) |
| Hop Addition 2 | 5.5 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) | 5.8 IBUs Amarillo (15 min.) | 23 IBUs Amarillo—30 min. Whirlpool | 4.8 IBUs Amarillo (20 min Whirpool at 170F) | 8.9 IBUs Nugget (10 min.) |
| Hop Addition 3 | 7.1 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) | 2.3 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) | N/A | 0.8 IBUs Amarillo & Nugget (20 min Whirlpool at 120F) | 6.8 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) |
| Hop Addition 4 | 16.8 IBUs Amarillo—30 min. Whirlpool | 0 IBUs Amarillo (flameout) | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Hop Addition 5 | 22 IBUs Nugget—30 min. Whirlpool | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dry Hop | 2.5 oz. Amarillo, 2 oz. Nugget (10 days) | N/A | 2 oz. Amarillo @ Day 1; 2 oz. Amarillo @ Day 4 | 1 oz. Amarillo & 0.5 oz. Nugget @ Day 2, 1 oz. Amarillo @ Day 8; 2 oz. Amarillo & 0.5 oz. @ Day 8 | N/A |
| Yeast | WLP090 at 64°F, raised to 70°F | WLP090 at 66°F, raised to 72°F; WLP810 at 63°F | WLP810 at 65°F, raised to 68°F | WLP090 | WLP810 at 60°F, raised to 65°F |
| OG | 1.059 | 1.058 | 1.050 | 1.063 | 1.055 |
| FG | 1.012 | 1.009/1.014 | 1.010 | 1.012 | 1.013 |
| ABV | 6.2% | 6.5%/5.8% | 5.3% | 6.7% | 5.5% |
| Beer 6 | Beer 7 | Beer 8 | Beer 9 | Beer 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Style | California Common | Hoppy Wheat | American Pale Ale | ESB | Sticke Altbier |
| Maris Otter | 30% | 21% | 50% | 80% + 10% baked | 9.3% |
| Light Munich | 60% | 12% | 41% | 5% | 72.1% |
| Wheat | 10% | 67% | 9% | 5% | 18.6% |
| Hop Addition 1 | 28.2 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) | 23 IBUs Nugget (45 min.) | 21 IBUs Nugget (30 min.) | 24.4 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) | 16.8 IBUs Nugget (60 mi.) |
| Hop Addition 2 | 4.35 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) | 8.2 IBUs Nugget (15 min.) | 23 IBUs Amarillo (0 min.) | 6.1 IBUs Nugget (15 min.) | 15.8 IBUs Nugget (45 min.) |
| Hop Addition 3 | 1 oz. Amarillo (165ºF Whirlpool for 20 min.) | N/A | N/A | 2.4 IBUs Nugget (5 min.) | 14.2 IBUs Amarillo (15 min.) |
| Hop Addition 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.7 IBUs Amarillo (5 min.) |
| Hop Addition 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dry Hop | 2 oz. Amarillo | 1 oz. Amarillo for 9 days; 1 oz. Amarillo for 4 days | 1 oz. Amarillo & 1 oz. Nugget day 1 of fermentation; 2 oz. Amarillo day 4 of fermentation | 1 oz. Amarillo | N/A |
| Yeast | WLP810 at 65°F | WLP090 at 65°F for 5 days; raised to 72°F over 5 days | WLP090 | WLP810 at 65°F for 4 days; raised to 70°F over 4 days | Wyeast 2112 (WLP810 equivalent) at 60°F; raised to 67°F over 7 days |
| OG | 1.050 | 1.059 | 1.055 | 1.057 | 1.055 |
| FG | 1.012 | 1.009 | 1.010 | 1.014 | 1.014 |
| ABV | 5% | 6.6% | 5.9% | 5.6% | 5.4% |
| Beer 11 | |
|---|---|
| Style | Festbier |
| Maris Otter | 64% |
| Light Munich | 18% |
| Wheat | 18% |
| Hop Addition 1 | 23 IBUs Nugget (60 min.) |
| Hop Addition 2 | 10.4 IBUs Amarillo (30 min.) |
| Hop Addition 3 | N/A |
| Hop Addition 4 | N/A |
| Hop Addition 5 | N/A |
| Dry Hop | N/A |
| Yeast | WLP810 at 58°F, raised to 70°F |
| OG | 1.052 |
| FG | 1.008 |
| ABV | 5.8% |