Style Of The Week 2/8/06 - Australian Lager

[warrenlw63]

Just another thought,

I'd actually rate Cascade Premuim lager as a flagship of the style, and much more interesting than Boags. You can actually perceive some hop character in this one.

So when I'm back in my homeland and away from my own crafted beverages, this is my preferred lager.

I'm not sure how the James Squire line compare though.

cheers, Arnie

G'day Arnie.

I think that Squire's Pilsner is all malt (Pale and some Munich). IIRC off the top of my head the hops are a combo of Czech and NZ Saaz. Nice(ish) beer but I suppose closer to a continental Pils than an Australian Lager.

I'd have to say my local fave ATM in terms of a nice lager would have to be Gage Roads. That's got a really good, firm, cleansing bitterness.

BTW Still reckon yours is nicer than most of the commercial attemps. My memory is long. :lol:

Warren -

 

[James Squire]

I'd actually rate Cascade Premuim lager as a flagship of the style

I gotta back you up on that one Arnie. :beer:

It's gotta be the best of a bad bunch I reckon. h34r: Good on a hot day.

JS

 

[ArnieW]

BTW Still reckon yours is nicer than most of the commercial attemps. My memory is long. :lol:

Warren -

Oh thanks Warren -

Actually I've been showing it off lately to a guy down the road who is running a classy cafe cum beer and wine bar - and making him lust after the product because I keep telling him I won't share

OK, I'm not quite that mean, I do share the occasional bottle with him to remind him what he is missing out on!

Seriously, I'm very happy with my the evolution of that recipe - it hits the spot all year round.

And I agree with JS that cascade is good on a hot day - but premium prices are a bit much.

cheers, Arnie

 

[Steve]

BTW Still reckon yours is nicer than most of the commercial attemps. My memory is long. :lol:

Warren -

Oh thanks Warren -

Actually I've been showing it off lately to a guy down the road who is running a classy cafe cum beer and wine bar - and making him lust after the product because I keep telling him I won't share

OK, I'm not quite that mean, I do share the occasional bottle with him to remind him what he is missing out on!

Seriously, I'm very happy with my the evolution of that recipe - it hits the spot all year round.

And I agree with JS that cascade is good on a hot day - but premium prices are a bit much.

cheers, Arnie

Arnie - do you think you could post your new updated recipe as I did do a cut n paste of the one that TDA "linked" us too. Sounded very nice. Much appreciated.
Cheers
Steve

 

[ArnieW]

Arnie - do you think you could post your new updated recipe as I did do a cut n paste of the one that TDA "linked" us too. Sounded very nice. Much appreciated.

Hi Steve,

see post #14 of this thread
:beerbang:

 

[Airgead]

I'd have to say my local fave ATM in terms of a nice lager would have to be Gage Roads. That's got a really good, firm, cleansing bitterness.

Warren

Have to agree with you there. The Gage Roads is the first commercial lager I have actually enjoyed for a long time.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Malnourished]

I hope they still stick to the double decoction method, at least they still use that for the Draught

What? Really??? That's really interesting if it's true.

 

[sponge]

Time for a little grave-diggin'!

The in-laws (FIL in particular) have been complaining that I seem to brew a lot, but never bring them any. I tell them it's because they all drink aussie and euro-swill, which I haven't brewed, but at Xmas they have insisted I pull my finger out and brew something for them this year. They tried a US wheat I brewed last year but complained that it was too sweet and fruity.

So I thought I might aim to get them a keg of something swill-esque for Easter, since the extended family from Sydney will be down as well and will give me some time to lager whatever I brew.

I have some 2001 on hand, along with some hallertau which needs to be used, so was thinking of something along the lines of;

90% pils
8% sugaz
2% xtal
Hallertau @ FWH

1.046
21IBUs
2001 @ 10'C for a month, d-rest, CC @ 0'C for a month in the keg.

How does that look?

Might have to follow it up with a vienna lager or something similar to use with the 2001..

 

[AntonW]

Looks delicious. If you're keen, and you're worried that it'll be too tasty, you could swap the sugar or some of the base malt (up to about 20% I've read) with cooked rice. You'll have to mash for a bit longer though, and might want to use just a few less IBUs. Swill drinkers can be hard to please.

 

[sponge]

I was toying around with that idea as well, bit more of an Asian lager style which I know they'd be happy with.

I was looking at a low and slow mash, probably 53/63/68/72/76 (10/60/10/10/10).

I guess as long as it's mashed low with majority pils, fermented low and hopped low, it should turn out somewhat drinkable for them

 

[mje1980]

Sponge, I did a xxxx gold clone last year that was super light bodied and dry, and quite enjoyable IMHO. 90 minute rest at 62, and some sugaz ( 10% I think ). Mid strength starting gravity, with a very low final gravity ( 1.005 ). Danish lager yeast ( huge starter pitched cold ) and a 7 week primary. Crystal clear when I kegged it and probably the cleanest lager I've ever done. 2nd batch is in a cube waiting for yeast

 

[sponge]

I knew you had a recipe lying around somewhere and remembered something like 90/10 pils/sugaz, I just couldn't find the post! I might drop the xtal and just keep things real simple.

Muchas gracias senor.

 

[mje1980]

I'm convinced pitching heaps of yeast cold ( 6c ), then raising up to 10c gives a super clean finish. I struggled to have only one glass haha. I'd probably do more lagers if I had another ferm fridge. Don't tell les and Sean

 

[Tahoose]

I really need more kegs for lagers, been procrastinating on a rice lager for a few months.

 

[TheWiggman]

I've struggled in the past to get good performance out of my lager ferments. Here's a success story for my latest batch -

Simple 'Bribie G' recipe using JW pils and light crystal with some acidulated malt, raw sugarz for kicks
Bit of CaCl2 for maltiness
Cluster flowers at 60 mins, some PoR to up the bitterness (ran out of Cluster)
2h mash at 62°C. Single infusion + mashout.

19.5 l in the fermenter
Wyeast 2042 Danish Lager. 2 months since manufactured.
Ferment at 13°C up to 17°C
OG 1.044, FG 1.008 (actual)

The main things I did differently this time were -

1. 3 litre starter at 1.040 using light dry malt with a. a pinch of yeast nutrient and b. hit of pure O2. Starter finished and settled after about 5 days.
2. Yeast nutrient in the boil
3. Pure O2 in the fermenter prior to pitching yeast (1 l/min for 1 min)

My primary ferment hit 1.008 after 6 (SIX) DAYS. I started bumping up temp 1°C/day once it got to 1.020 and it was finished before I got to 17°C. I left it for 8 days prior to crash chill, which is where it sits now.

I couldn't believe how quickly it finished. I've banged on about it before but the big pitch, lots of oxygen and yeast nutrient has worked very well to finish at 81% AA in under a week for a lager at 13°C.
This will definitely be my approach to lagers and big ales in the future.

 

[TheWiggman]

Update on the Aussie lager - as a preface the pub beer is a guilty pleasure of mine that I have no qualms knocking back in the right environment. I'll prefer some over others but haven't turned down a beer yet. I rarely buy beer so with guests I want something I can serve them that they'll appreciate. It's a good challenge. And personally, something to down on a 40°C day after mowing a dusty lawn.

I've done the above recipe a few times with minor changes and to my taste, can note the following -

• Using standard town tap water doesn't cut it. I've switched to RO and the big difference it makes is taking out the chlorine. In the beer there's little going on flavour-wise and you can taste it.
• Lowest FG so far is 1.007 with light crystal. There is a minor 'sweetness' about the beer which may mellow with time but my preference would be to drop the crystal below 4.4% to say 3.5%. Or substitute with roast barley to the same EBC.
• Lower the OG to achieve a lower FG. Maybe aim for 4.6% ABV like the big players with an FG of 1.004. I know some use enzymes but I don't want to go there just yet, I'll probably target a 61°C mash for 2h. Thus target 1.040 OG, 1.005 FG.
• More bitterness. I know that VB, XXXX Bitter, New and the like have an IBU of 18-20 but achieving this (theoretically) with a single PoR addition at 60 mins doesn't yield the same 'bitter' flavour the Aussie lagers are known for. I reckon the hop extract they use has quite a large impact on the beer and even though the numbers show it's not that bitter, there is a perceived bitterness that requires a larger addition when using flowers or pellets. Next brew I'll up the bitterness from 19 to about 24 IBU according to Beersmith, or maybe do a late addition of - shock! - Pride of Ringwood.

The other critical points are of course fresh yeast, big pitch, O2, nutrient and careful monitoring of the ferment. This applies to all lagers though.

The above may seem picky but because there is so little going on flavour-wise every little bit counts. I based some of my comments on a side-to-side test with Boag's Draught. I can honestly say they taste similar, but the Boag's had a touch more body, slightly less sweet and more hop aroma.
I'll get it right one day.

 

[Bribie G]

Hmmm .. I've got a sack of BB pale and a water tank at my new place. WRT to the bitterness, some of the Carlton brews have a distinct bitter note such as Resch's Draught. I'd be inclined to get most of the IBUs from something clean like Dr Rudi or Magnum with a touch of POR just for that extra "twang".

 

[TheWiggman]

When you say a touch do you mean at 60 mins or late?

 

[GalBrew]

I wouldn't go with a late POR addition. It's not good, I did a 10min POR addition on one of my early brews and needless to say there is a reason why people don't do it.