Brewing darker lagers

[Kai]

Is it possible to produce a satisfactory dark beer using a lager-style brewing process? I was pondering this after ruminating over the darker colour of the heritage lager kits; could you brew a decent lager akin to a dark ale or porter/stout, or would it produce a lacklustre drop? I don't think I've seen a dark commercial lager.

[Jazman]

well it called a bock the germans make it just made one recently it a dark lager

[PB2]

According to Michael Jackson - Beer Hunter,

Before golden lagers existed, there were dark ones. What the Germans call simply a Dunkel is usually a dark brown lager. This is a traditional style in Munich..... The best examples have a spicey maltiness that is neither sweet nor roastily dry, with the clean roundness that derives from the use of lager yeast, working at low temperatures.

 

 

 

It is my understanding that bocks herald from Einbeck - Germany (pronounced Einbock) which, in the 14th and 15th centuries, became famous for very strong beers made so to survive long journeys, fermenting along the way. So the word "bock" indicates a strong lager, sometimes dark and often made as a seasonal beer.

 

 

 

If you keg and have a decent sized chest freezer you can make an "Eisbock" which requires brewing up a lager recipe, racking off, then placing the beer in the freezer until ice begins to form. Using a sieve scoop out the ice until the level goes down to 16 litres then transfer to your keg and gas as normal. A 4.9% lager will become a 7.0% Eisbock!!

[Oliver]

Don't be shy!

 

 

 

Pretty much any type of beer can be brewed with any yeast: an ale with a lager yeast; a lager with an ale yeast; a wheat beer with a lager yeast.

 

 

 

It's likely to be a beaut beer, but it may not have the characteristics the style would demand. However, unless you're a beer purist, this shouldn't bother you.

 

 

 

In broad terms, ale yeasts produce sweeter and fruitier beer; lager yeasts produce dry, crisp beer; and wheat beer yeasts impart some spiciness.