Sam Adams Boston Lager (extract)

[Sandimas]

Last time I was out in the USA we cadged a few Sam Adams glasses off the barman, so I've been waiting to brew something to put in it. Came across this recipe on the net about 6 months ago, so no claim for originality, just got round to doing it.

2.177kg Light Malt Extract
250g Crystal Malt

62g Tettnanger hops – 60 min boil (bittering)
15g Tettnanger hops – 15 min boil (flavouring)
10g oz Hallertau hops – dry hop

Saflager S23 Lager Yeast



Dunno how accurate you need to be with ingredients, but I come from the school of "always eat everything on your plate", so the whole 2.5kg of DME went in as I didn't want any left lying around, and 100g of Tettnanger (75/25) Not that bothered about getting it exactly like Sam Adams, as that's always hard, just a nice darkish lager for the summer. Brewed to 21L and OG 1.044, yeast pitched at 20C and I'll put it in the coolest room in the house tomorrow, as it's a lager yeast. Pity it's warmed up 'cos my last lager went along lovely at 13C in our freezing cold kitchen. Let's see how this goes, will dry hop with Hallertau in a few days.

 

[cwiseman77]

I loved this beer when I lived stateside, be interested in how it turns out. I've never used a lager yeast before so don't quite understand. So you ferment at a lower temperature, then what about the "lagering" bit. What is that exactly?

 

[pittsy]

I loved this beer when I lived stateside, be interested in how it turns out. I've never used a lager yeast before so don't quite understand. So you ferment at a lower temperature, then what about the "lagering" bit. What is that exactly?

With lager you just ferment lower as that's the ideal temp for that type of yeast strain , and lagering is just simply storing the lager (in a clean fv) for a period of time (4 weeks ) at a cold temp (2c) so the yeast and so on drops out more giving you a clearer and cleaner tasting beer . Then you raise temp back up for a few days then bottle as normal. Lagering will shorten the conditioning time .

 

[cwiseman77]

I loved this beer when I lived stateside, be interested in how it turns out. I've never used a lager yeast before so don't quite understand. So you ferment at a lower temperature, then what about the "lagering" bit. What is that exactly?

With lager you just ferment lower as that's the ideal temp for that type of yeast strain , and lagering is just simply storing the lager (in a clean fv) for a period of time (4 weeks ) at a cold temp (2c) so the yeast and so on drops out more giving you a clearer and cleaner tasting beer . Then you raise temp back up for a few days then bottle as normal. Lagering will shorten the conditioning time .

Got you. So basically the lagering is like secondary but at 2c as opposed to 14c or whatever. So is a fridge the only way to do it? I guess outside in the garage during winter.

 

[cwiseman77]

lagering is just simply storing the lager (in a clean fv) for a period of time (4 weeks ) at a cold temp (2c) so the yeast and so on drops out more giving you a clearer and cleaner tasting beer .

Does that mean that when you have any beer in secondary, the lower the temperature the better? I usually have it about 12-14c. But will a lower temp give you a clearer and cleaner tasting beer with other styles beside lager, IPA for instance?

 

[Sandimas]

I loved this beer when I lived stateside, be interested in how it turns out.

I've got a few volunteers lined up to do an A/B comparison with the real thing A little bit guarded in my expectations, as some of these "clone brew" recipes are some way off the real thing, but others are spot on - we'll see, will report back.

On the lagering thing, yes lager yeasts ferment at a lower temp - it's currently sat at 15C which is still a bit too high IMHO but the coolest room in the house, whereas I wouldn't dream of doing an ale below 18C. Then ideally very cold conditioning, just above freezing, for a couple of months. Most of my ales have been in the garage over winter at that temp too, although I can't really say whether it's improved them.