The People's Lager - Light Lager Recipe

The People's Lager

Lager - 5.5 Gal - 4.9ABV - 19 IBU - 1 SRM

Lagers. They are the most divisive beer style around. Many crafty brewers and enthusiasts got into craft beer because they were tried of the North American domestic beer scene. "It's like drinking water!" "tastes like piss!" were some of the many refrains that get tossed around when discussing big domestic lagers. 

Here's the funny thing about lagers though - they're incredibly hard to make properly. Lagers are so clean, that any mistake made in the brewing and fermentation process is magnified x 10. Things like DMS and diacetyl are ever present threats. Fermentation temperature is critical for this style, and that temperature happens to be around 10°c, followed by a lengthy period of 0°c. 

All of these factors make it really hard for homebrewers to make lagers. Temp control during fermentation is the biggest hurdle to climb, but, we have made a recipe that is a little more flexible than the average lager recipe. This recipe can be made like a traditional lager, but we had great success making it 'against the rules'. We intentionally fermented this recipe at 18°c for 10 days, never dipping below that 18°c threshold. We also made it and kegged it in under 2 weeks, another lager no-no. 

The point of breaking all the lager rules was to see if any homebrewer could make their own lagers - even without temperature control or aging tanks. The result is a relatively clean tasting, crisp easy drinking lager. It is a tiny bit more estery than a domestic lager - but overall it is quite close. So if you find the 'horse piss' taste of lagers not to your liking - this beer is not for you. However, if you're like us, and love to crush a cold one after a vigourous game of Sports. Then this beer is for you. 

Recipe Instructions

Included Ingredients

Grains

Pilsner x 7.5lbs

Flaked Rice x 2lbs

Carafoam x 0.5lbs

Acidulated Malt x 0.1lbs

Hops

Crystal 1oz @60

Hallertau 1oz @ 15

Hallertau 1oz @ 5

W34-70 Lager Yeast