European Lager

[ash]

I'am thinking about doing a European Lager,any feed back by brewers who have made it would be appreciated. The 12 weeks in the bottle is putting me off a bit.So is it worth doing.

Cheers & Beers

[GrahamB8]

I recently finished a keg of it.

Kit + 1kg dme + Saaz hops fermented on top of the yeast cake from an AG Helles which used the Wyeast 2042 Danish Lager.

 

It was a beut mate and as good as the AG brew before it

[Beeblebrox]

I haven't tried it myself, but I think it would be worth it.

So far (from the Coopers range) I've done APA, Lager, Real Ale, and have also done a Tooheys Classic Dry Lager - though these were not true lagers, as they came with ale yeast.

Each time I make a brew, I make sure I have enough others brews left to drink from that I can get by without opening the most recent batch before it's matured enough. You don't want to spoil your perception of your brew by drinking it before it reaches its potential.

 

I wouldn't be put off by the 12 weeks conditioning, if that's what it takes to get a good beer, better than a sub standard beer ready to drink in 4 weeks!

 

I'd recommend you get yourself some more bottles, make a batch of something else first, then as soon as you bottle that do the Euro Lager - at least that way by the time you are bottling the lager you can be drinking the beer you made first.

 

12 weeks waiting is only a problem if you have issues with space and with bottle numbers, so make sure you have both of those, make sure you've got enough other brews to drink while you wait and problem solved.

 

Any good beer has got to be worth the wait, and 12 weeks is a small price to pay, and less time than it would take if you made a true lager.

[ash]

I recently finished a keg of it.

Kit + 1kg dme + Saaz hops fermented on top of the yeast cake from an AG Helles which used the Wyeast 2042 Danish Lager.

 

It was a beut mate and as good as the AG brew before it

Thanks Graham coming from you that's a pretty good wrap[cool] [cool]

[GrahamB8]

Thanks Graham coming from you that's a pretty good wrap[cool] [cool]

 

[lol] We all have different taste buds mate.

 

[ash]

Thanks Beeblebrox for your comment,at the present time I am drinking some brews that have nearly turned 1yr.I test all my brews @ 2 wks @ 4 wks then I make a decision whether to put another of them down.What I was looking for was feedback on the Euro. Lager.to see if the brewers who have put 1 down enjoyed it or not,I didn't won't to put in down then wait 12 wks to say that is a nice drop then put down another & wait 12wks more.So with positive feed back on this brew I was thinking of putting down more than 1.If it wasn't to my liking I would still drink it sooner or later.LOL

[Beeblebrox]

Cheers Ash, I think I'll try doing the Euro Lager soon too.

It can be tricky having the patience to keep a batch long enough to get to its best, so good luck with that, though I'm sure your plan of trying one at 2 then 4 weeks is a good way to check the progress of the conditioning.

Good one.[happy]

[trabfountain]

I also want to make a European Lager and found this recipe on the Coopers site.

1.7kg European Lager

500 gm Light Dry Malt

200 gm Crystal malt

kit yeast plus Saflager W-34/70 yeast

 

This brew according to Coopers results in ABV of around 4.4%

I would like it to be a little stronger and wonder if using 1kg of DME would give me something around 5%. I note GrahamB8 also used some Saaz hops and as his brew turned out a beaut would it be better for me to use these instead of the Crystal Malt. If so how much and should it be a hop boil or just dry hopped. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

 

[PhilboBaggins]

I don't brew lagers (or largers, if I wanted to give Muddy the s##ts) so I may not be the best to comment, but to me the crystal seems a little out of place in a beer that's supposed to be quite pale?

 

Why not just make what Graham made exactly? Then you can blame him if it's crap. [innocent]

[trabfountain]

I think I'll do that Phil the only thing I'm not sure about is the amount of Saaz hops or if it's a hop boil or just a dry hop but thanks for your suggestion.

Cheers

[Hairy]

The recipe you posted was for the Octoberfest style lager.

 

Run with Graham's recipe as suggested by Phil and then blame Phil if it is crap [wink]

 

Personally, I wouldn't dry hop with Saaz but would add it to a small boil. Perhaps something like:

 

10g @ 15 minutes

20g @ 5 minutes

 

Saaz has a very low AA% so you won't get much bitterness from it.

[trabfountain]

Thanks for that Hairy I'll go with the hop boil as you suggested.

Cheers

[Hairy]

I like Saaz and I like hoppy lagers. If you want to scale it back a bit then change the 5 minute addition to 10g.

[PhilboBaggins]

And if it turns out nice, thank Hairy for telling you to take my advice when I advised you to follow Graham's recipe. [cool]

[Otto Von Blotto]

but to me the crystal seems a little out of place in a beer that's supposed to be quite pale?

 

I usually chuck in 100g of Carared and 250g Carapils in my lager recipes. These are a form of crystal malt aren't they? Or at least the Carared.. [unsure]

 

[PhilboBaggins]

but to me the crystal seems a little out of place in a beer that's supposed to be quite pale?

 

I usually chuck in 100g of Carared and 250g Carapils in my lager recipes. These are a form of crystal malt aren't they? Or at least the Carared.. [unsure]

 

I thought so, yeah. I just never pictured them being a common ingredient in a lager. But like I said, never brewed one!

 

[trabfountain]

Thanks guys, with all that helpful advice how can I go wrong!

[Otto Von Blotto]

I thought so, yeah. I just never pictured them being a common ingredient in a lager. But like I said, never brewed one!

 

Yeah, I probably wouldn't use it in a pilsner because they are generally very pale. I like my Helles to have a slightly yellow/golden color though which is why I add the small amount of Carared. I only bought a kilo of it and I still have half of it left after 5 or 6 months. [lol]

 

[PhilboBaggins]

Thanks guys' date=' with all that helpful advice how can I go wrong![/quote']

 

Erm, you may wanna investigate the contents of my regular posts before you go taking advice from me. [lol]

[NeilE1]

I brew the coopers euro lager

 

I do it to 17-20litres

 

I give it a min of 4 weeks in bottle before testing

 

it is worth the wait to give it the full amount of time in the bottle to fully enjoy

[trabfountain]

This brew is going down tomorrow but I have another question. After fermentation is complete should I give it a D rest then rack into another FV and lager for a few weeks or just give it a D rest and cold chill for a week without racking.

[Scottie]

Hey Trab

I've only done two Lagers but they both seem to be free of Diacetyl, i.e. there aren't any butter type flavours. I did my D rest in the primary and later, 3 weeks, transferred to a cube for lagering at 2'C.

[Otto Von Blotto]

This brew is going down tomorrow but I have another question. After fermentation is complete should I give it a D rest then rack into another FV and lager for a few weeks or just give it a D rest and cold chill for a week without racking.

 

The D-rest should be done before fermentation finishes, normally you start raising the temperature when it's about 75% finished or thereabouts, as the yeast is still at its most active at this point. You can leave it at the higher temp until FG is achieved, then either bring it back down to ferment temp for a few days then chill, or bring it down about 1 degree a day until you reach lagering temp and leave it there for 3 or 4 weeks. I usually do the latter. You don't have to rack it to lager it for a few weeks, it's more when you're doing it for months that it is a better idea.

[trabfountain]

Thanks guys, I'll follow your advice and hopefully end up with a nice lager.

 

Cheers

Bart

[PhilboBaggins]

Aah! The penny drops.

 

Trab puk cip! Trab puk cip!

 

[lol] [lol]