Saaz hops.

[PaulCa]

The commercial lager I like presently is Stella 4%. Note that for some reason I don't like the normal Stella premium.

I have been trying to get that crisp hop taste that Stella 4 has (and Stella premium doesn't).

I was led to believe this was Saaz hops.

Now I'm not trying to make a lager, but an ale with the same hop flavour and aroma.

I tried making a golden ale and added 25 grams of Saaz at 30min to go and another 25 grams at flameout which I left in as the beer cooled to about 40C.

It's still very young, only when in the keg on Tuesday, but the hops don't taste anything like what I expected/wanted.

Does anyone know the actual hops used in Stella 4 and if it's achievable to get that same strong hop taste while leaving the beer still slightly sweet and malty as Stella 4 is. Is it achievable in an ale for a start or would I need to lager it?

 

[RobWalker]

what yeast are you using?

that also strikes me as a lot of hops, I would probably chuck 10g in at 10-15 minutes for a lager.

 

[PaulCa]

This ale was done with Nottingham Ale yeast. Fermented around about 18-20C. It went off like a bomb though which worried me, it was bubbling the airlock in about 2 hours and I struggled to get it down to 18C in a bath of cold water.

 

[PaulCa]

Oh and the recipe did include hopped malt in the form of what I call the "base can", a Coopers Draft kit. So far it's the most neutral kit to use as a base I have found. I do a half mash as I only have boiler room for 10-12 litres.

 

[RobWalker]

I'd think about a few things for crispness...

1) Lager base. Pale Ale malt (the kind you will find in your draft kit) has more malt flavour than lager malt, so that will clean it up.

2) Yeast - Kolsch is a good style for this but expensive yeasts. Maybe you could use US05? That'll attenuate low and produce a low level of yeast esters.

3) Carbonation/Serving temp. Carbonate it high like a lager, and serve it cooler than normal ale, maybe 5-8c? Again, that'll add to crispness.