# Bluetongue Lager Recipe Needed



## rosswill (27/8/10)

Iv'e just been asked to make a keg of Bluetongue Lager beer for a friend's 40th. Iv'e done the search thingy and all I could see is a K&K recipe. Has anyone done a AG version or have any suggestions? 
I'm thinking for a 23 L batch, 4.5kg pilsener, 200g carapils, Hersbrucker 30g 60 mns, 20g 20 mins. Mash 65 degrees. ? lager yeast.

The party is in 4 weeks, so I think I will have to get cracking this weekend. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.


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## amiddler (27/8/10)

What sort of Lager yeast are you thinking of Ross? I have only dabbled in Lagers and mainly use dry S-23 but Im sure there would be a better liquid yeast. As for the grain bill, BT is is a very simple beer so IMO things are OK there. The few lagers I have done have been a 90% Pils 10% Carapils and been very good. Never used Hersbrucker hops to date so may give it a go.

Drew


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## A3k (27/8/10)

Hi Ross,
I haven't tried Bluetongue for about a year, but from memory, i'd say add some sugar or rice to thin it out a bit.
As for the hopping, sounds pretty good to me, likewise, i haven't used hersbrucker on its own, but seems okay.

I reckon the beer you've got sounds great though, and i'd probalby just go with that and bugger off the sugar.

I'm sure someone else will have better ideas though.

Al


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## under (28/8/10)

4000 bb galaxy
1000 maize/polenta/rice
330 carapils

bittered with por @ 60

late hoppings of hersbrucker 15-10-5 NOT SURE?


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## under (28/8/10)

under said:


> 4000 bb galaxy
> 1000 maize/polenta/rice
> 330 carapils
> 
> ...



I would go with a german yeast. Something like WLP830 german Lager, Wyeast Bohemian or 34/70.


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## rendo (28/8/10)

Hi under & rosswill

Under, you are right a german yeast would be good, but there is no time. ross, u are going to have to use a ale yeast, US-05 will give you graet fake lager that no one (maybe even you) will be able to tell the difference.

Lager yeast will take at least 2-3 weeks to brew and it takes a long time to bottle condition. Also, i find beer brewed with lager yeast can still have sulphury tones (brrrt...farty) in it for the first few weeks. Hence it isnt any good given the 4 week timeframe. 

If you use US-05 it should be done (if you rush it) in 7-10 days if you keep it in a spot that isnt too cool, make sure its reached FG, then bottle....that should give it 2 or so weeks in the bottle so it SHOULD be carbed by then and it SHOULD be starting to taste semi-nice...get it down this weekend. Its a must.

All that aside the recipe looks great. I know nothing about blue tongue, but that recipe will make nice beer that I am happy to drink if others wont 

rendo



under said:


> I would go with a german yeast. Something like WLP830 german Lager, Wyeast Bohemian or 34/70.


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## mje1980 (28/8/10)

rendo said:


> Hi under & rosswill
> 
> Under, you are right a german yeast would be good, but there is no time. ross, u are going to have to use a ale yeast, US-05 will give you graet fake lager that no one (maybe even you) will be able to tell the difference.
> 
> ...




While you "should" lager a lager, i've had a few 830 lagers lately with very little conditioning ( less than 4 weeks that's for sure ), and they taste great young, no sulphur at all.


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## Bribie G (1/9/10)

Ross, what did you end up doing? I'm always interested in quick lager recipes as I only have a single vessel fermenting fridge with Tempmate, and with the weather warming up soon it's a bit of a bottleneck.


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## rosswill (12/9/10)

Bribie,
For a 25L batch, I ended up going 4.5 kg JW pils, 750g rice, 200g carapils. 20g POR 60 mins, 15g Hersbrucker 5 & 0 mins. S189 yeast. 2 weeks primary and racked with gelatine yesterday. Still a bit couldy. OG 1050 FG 1010. Crash chilled. Party next weekend. Hydrometer sample tasted good. Hope it clears up during the week. Will keg it on Wednesday and carb. Will report back Sunday (hangover permitting) on how it finished up.


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## rosswill (20/9/10)

OK, this one didn't even last two hours. To say it was a hit is an understatement. The only problem was having to revert to TED and Carlton Cold when the keg blew.

It was clear(ish) but not 'bright', as it needed at least another week to chill/clarify. No one minded or commented, so perhaps I'm just fussy.

I can recommend this recipe to anyone who needs to make a beer for the masses. Tasty without being OTT with hop flavour.


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## Bribie G (20/9/10)

rosswill said:


> OK, this one didn't even last two hours. To say it was a hit is an understatement. *The only problem was having to revert to TED and Carlton Cold when the keg blew.*
> 
> It was clear(ish) but not 'bright' as it needed at least another week to chill/clarify. Novone minded or commented, so perhaps I'm just fussy.
> 
> I can recommend this recipe to anyone who needs to make a beer for the masses. Tasty without being OTT with hop flavour.



:icon_drunk: That'll teach em haha

Good work, it's amazing how quickly they can learn to use that bronco tap :lol: 
I did something similar about a year ago for a 21st and really dumbed the hops down but they were all raving about how they liked the bitterness. 

Congrats.


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## mrsupraboy (5/2/14)

Sorry guys I'm new to this full grain recipe. I really interested in doing the blue tongue recipe. Can some please give me step by step instructions on how to do this particular recipe. I went out and bought the stuff Roswell used in his recipe. The guy at the home brew advised me that I need some type of heating pot or an ern. I've read up on doin it but still not very cluey on the whole thing. It's really appreciated.


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## Tony121 (1/12/17)

Apologies in advance for resurrecting this thread.

I was reminiscing with a mate today about how the Bluetongue beer was quite nice in its original form - though I may have just been romanticising about the taste considering the length of time & undeveloped palate since I’ve had it. 

Questions are does anyone remember if it was the Lager or pilsner that was the most prevalent and would anyone have an idea on recipes other than the above?


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## /// (1/12/17)

Hiya, for certain reasons I know it to have been;

10.5 plato starting Grav, 1.85 P finish

Lager malt, 20% cane sugar, buttered to 15-18 bu with a mix of kettle and iso-hop
Added at filtering. Aim for 15 with bettering and hallertau in the whirlpool

Run 34/70at 16c, let raise to 20c once you get to 4P in the ferment. It is heavily filtered, so clear as well as poss.

Most important flavour is the 16c warm lager yeast fermented. It’s the same way lion and cub get the eatery pong in their beers


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## Bribie G (1/12/17)

_buttered to 15-18 bu
_
So a bit of diacetyl 

I've only had the bluetongue once, that was at the Caboolture RSL about six years ago when they had a major issue with their gas and were only serving bottled beer one afternoon. Indeed it had a fairly Euro character, very nice compared to the usual fare there such as XXXX heavy or VB. I'd guessed that there must have been a Euro hop in there.


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## Black Devil Dog (1/12/17)

I didn't mind their Pilsner on the few occasions that I tried it. Unfortunately it disappeared from the market not long after I began to develop a taste for it.


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## Tony121 (1/12/17)

Thank you ///, greatly appreciated.

You wouldn’t happen to have any ideas on the Pilsner would you?


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## /// (2/12/17)

The pils would be around the same theme. I’ll check some records when off ipad


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## Tony121 (2/12/17)

You are a legend, thank you!


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## MHB (3/12/17)

The base malt was Joe White Pils out of Tamworth, there might have been a touch of something like a light carra in there for hue correction, but jesus it would be a very small addition, think less than 0.5% and definitely sugar rather than starchy adjunct
I do know they has a shed load of T-45 Northern Brewer in the cold-room, but they were brewing a lot of other beers at the time, (Grolsch, Peronei, MGD...) so no idea what that was going into, it would be a good generic Euro Lager bittering hop tho.
Read up on American Premium Lager BJCP 1C there will also be a bunch of info out there on brewing the style - the Americans tend to use 6 row malt and adjunct to dilute the protein, with a cereal cook, if you are using 2 row malt, that wont be necessary and as /// said just go with 20% sugar.
Warmer ferments tend to produce more esters (typically avoided in lager brewing), a lot more Sulphur flavours/aromas (pong) but less in the way of diacetyl. The centrifuge at the backend of the tanker farm was a monster and they always produced very clear highly filtered beer.
Mark


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## Tony121 (3/12/17)

Thanks MHB, appreciated


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