Lagers

A sneaky kind of brew: brewed with patience and cool temps, it is a deceptively smooth strong beer. The ocus is on the malt and rich full flavor. Not about hops, it’s all about the malt this time. This is a homebrew that rewards your patience every time. Cheers!

This is a beer that only homebrewers seem interested in brewing. Pre-pro’s are beers that German brewers devised: a pilsner from the Old Country brewed with New World ingredients. The earlier versions can be fairly hoppy and close to 6%. Post-prohibition recipes are a bit toned down but still a “bigger” beer than any cream ale or N American lager. Use maize for a golden beer with a subtle corn aroma or rice for a lighter color. Don’t wait for a brewery to make one, you can do it!

This is homebrew. There isn’t a style to compare this beer to, so I’ll just describe it. If you want a sunny yellow pilsner, that is crisp and dry, with enough hops to compare to a pale ale, maybe this is a lager for you to brew. Oh, and it is more like a bock for alcohol, you could call it an imperial pilsner… As with all lagers, pitching enough yeast and temperature control is very important. And when you have an alcohol content more like a bock, patience is an ingredient too.

Many people think that the only dark roasty beers are ales, like porter and stout. But here is a lager that will satisfy all your cravings for the roasty, coffee notes of a dark ale. I think this would also make a great smoked beer with a half pound of cherry, oak, or beechwood-smoked malts.

I have a lot of respect for Jim Koch and the fine beers brewed at Sam Adams. They made learning about beer styles fun at a time (I’m in the way back machine here) when Heineken was exotic. This lager is a rich copper-colored Vienna-style brew. Rich malt character and balanced bitterness make a tasty session lager. Not brewed in Boston, but I bet they’d like it. Cheers! (Try it with an ale yeast, too.)

Munich helles is one of the smoothest, easiest drinking brews you can make. It has a rich gold color and nice everyday beer amount of alcohol. The focus is on the malt character, not bitterness. This recipe is also very tasty when brewed as an ale. Kind of like Marilyn Monroe, a smooth, full-bodied blonde. Cheers!

If you looked at this golden yellow brew with the pillowy white head and thought this was going to be another insipid, flavorless, mass-produced glass of nothing, you’d be wrong. In the hands of a homebrewer, pilsners can be a crisp, yet malty, smooth, but hoppy, great anytime homebrew. The extra ounce of hops at the end will guarantee you an extra layer of nasal enjoyment. Mmmmmm, cheers!

Smooth and malty, you could consider the Dunkel the German cousin of an English Brown Ale. Very rich malt character and full brown color, but not opaque. Dunkels are a “quick” lager, but you still want to have patience. Prost!

Since Anchor trademarked the term Steam Beer, and it is acknowledged as the classic interpretation of the style, so please try a bottle before, and while, you brew. This is our homebrew interpretation of the style. Rich, ruby red, a lot of Northern Brewer hops, and a very homebrew friendly fermentation schedule. Good to brew if you have a spot in the upper 50’s to low 60’s. The maltiness helps to balance the bitterness. Similar in many ways to a Dusseldorf Altbier, it’s the American version. Enjoy!

When you are in the mood for a super-malty, higher alcohol lager, here’s a good one for you. Doppelbocks are sneaky brews: when well crafted the malt flavor and aroma dominate, the alcohol just sneaks up on you. Rich and malty, doppelbocks are a special beer to share with someone special. Cheers!

This is a version of bock that isn’t quite a widely brewed as the darker traditional Bock. Rich gold color, smooth and malty, and high enough in alcohol to take it out of the everyday session category. Brewed cool and slow, after a month or more of lagering, you’ll be very proud to share this beer. That is if you share any. Cheers!

Pilsners should be hoppy, pale colored and crisp in the body. We use a combination of extra-light dry malt & honey to achieve that. And it’s hoppy too (did I mention that?) Ask about brewing lagers if you haven't tried one yet. Cheers!

Smooth, malty, easy to drink. This is a great beer to showcase the differences between an ale and a lager. The cooler (in the 50’s) ferment and extended cool secondary give you a crisp, dry beer without the fruity character of an ale. That being said, this is also a great beer to brew as an ale when you need a light colored malt focused homebrew. Cheers!

Sometimes it seems like a shame to only drink a style of beer just one month of the year. Like Octoberfest. If you are looking for a crisp, malty brew that tastes great with dinner or just all on its own, try this one. Not for hopheads, but enough hops to keep the malt character from totally dominating. Also fine fermented as an ale (see, you can have Octoberfest all year long!). Cheers!

Not your regular kind of lager….rich dark burnt orange color, a slightly higher alcohol content than an everyday beer, and something else….SMOKEY! You should probably sniff the grain bin to make sure you like the aroma, and if you do, you have to try brewing this beer! Great with dinner that was grilled. Or a grilled cheese sandwich. It’s all good. Cheers!

Pale colored yet not as flavorless: hops to flavor and for bitterness and enough malt to bring it up to 5% alcohol. Crisp and dry, great anytime or now… Cheers!