Hi all,
I have a cheapo can of Canadian Blonde that I wanted to turn into a darkish German style lager. I have some leftover grain lying about that needs using. I have:
About a kg of Munich
Some crystal (prob 300g)
Some choc malt (about 300g)
Was thinking of mashing the Munich with 50g choc and maybe a bit of crystal and then adding the kit and fermenting with some S-23.
Does this sound OK? I haven't done many lagers so far (and no AG ones) so any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Tim
German dark lager advice please
Re: German dark lager advice please
Definitely use the Munich, and just enough Chocolate to give you the colour you want.
I'd steer clear of the Crystal, as it just wouldn't suit the style.
I'd steer clear of the Crystal, as it just wouldn't suit the style.
Re: German dark lager advice please
My latest dark lager has IIRC 300g Caramunich and 150g Carafa. Still too much carafa but I'm getting there slowly, reducing it in subsequent batches. 50g choc sounds like a good start.
Re: German dark lager advice please
I like Warra's advice a lotwarra48 wrote:Definitely use the Munich, and just enough Chocolate to give you the colour you want.
I'd steer clear of the Crystal, as it just wouldn't suit the style.
Re: German dark lager advice please
Agree with Warra, I would never add crystal to any lager.
I make munich dunkels regularly which are quite simple. Munich malt with just enough carafa to adjust the colour.
Single bittering addition (which you wont need when using a tin of hopped extract) and a good lager yeast.
Very easy and oh so tasty.
I make munich dunkels regularly which are quite simple. Munich malt with just enough carafa to adjust the colour.
Single bittering addition (which you wont need when using a tin of hopped extract) and a good lager yeast.
Very easy and oh so tasty.
Re: German dark lager advice please
If you were to use crystal malts in a lager though munich dunkel would be the one, there would be commercial examples that do, they can be fairly rich, but you want to get most of that from munich malt, its also one of the lagers were a little more dextrinous mouthfeel is called for.
With munich malt all though you want it rich you still want decent attenuation and a drier finish whilst still being medium-full bodied and rich, so I think you can add crystal to munich dunkel for added maltiness, complexity and depth. Slight caramel and toffee flavours are also in style. Theres some truelly amazing bock like dunkels out there that make me, not much of a lager drinker, sit back and go wow holy hell thats one great beer. I would consider and have put 5% crystal in those beers.
Proberly being based on the blonde kit it will deffintly help.
I have not made one with it but I think melanoidin malt would be great in there.
Schwarzbier is differnet though you almost just want a pilsner that is as black as you can get it without gettng too much flavour, you could even make it with just pilner malt and carafa. They are blacker then dunkel but don't have the richness, you would not use the crystal in that.
Anyway I think dunkel could be the exception to the ussuall no crystal malt in a lager.
cheers
Jaysingtonsworth
With munich malt all though you want it rich you still want decent attenuation and a drier finish whilst still being medium-full bodied and rich, so I think you can add crystal to munich dunkel for added maltiness, complexity and depth. Slight caramel and toffee flavours are also in style. Theres some truelly amazing bock like dunkels out there that make me, not much of a lager drinker, sit back and go wow holy hell thats one great beer. I would consider and have put 5% crystal in those beers.
Proberly being based on the blonde kit it will deffintly help.
I have not made one with it but I think melanoidin malt would be great in there.
Schwarzbier is differnet though you almost just want a pilsner that is as black as you can get it without gettng too much flavour, you could even make it with just pilner malt and carafa. They are blacker then dunkel but don't have the richness, you would not use the crystal in that.
Anyway I think dunkel could be the exception to the ussuall no crystal malt in a lager.
cheers
Jaysingtonsworth
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Re: German dark lager advice please
Good advice all round guys!
In my experience I have found that these darker beers have been far to acidic. To get a really drinkable dark lager I would recommend a small abount of Calcium Carbonate to raise up the PH otherwise there will be too much astringency.
Filter all the water for the brew and then add 2g to the water for the steep or mash.
It's not much but it will make a big difference. Without knowing your water stats I would use this amount and no more.
Sure it may not be enough, but at least it's better then nothing.
You are aiming for a PH of 5.2 for most beers. Roasted grains are very acidic and if you use more then 1% (50g/24L) then you need to combat this acid.
Cheers
James
PS most light lagers dont have crystal, but MANY do call for small amounts of crystal and I have used pale cystal malts in many lagers with excellent results.
In my experience I have found that these darker beers have been far to acidic. To get a really drinkable dark lager I would recommend a small abount of Calcium Carbonate to raise up the PH otherwise there will be too much astringency.
Filter all the water for the brew and then add 2g to the water for the steep or mash.
It's not much but it will make a big difference. Without knowing your water stats I would use this amount and no more.
Sure it may not be enough, but at least it's better then nothing.
You are aiming for a PH of 5.2 for most beers. Roasted grains are very acidic and if you use more then 1% (50g/24L) then you need to combat this acid.
Cheers
James
PS most light lagers dont have crystal, but MANY do call for small amounts of crystal and I have used pale cystal malts in many lagers with excellent results.