The driver guzzles another can of lager…
The last (and only) time we made lager was last year, a Bohemian Pilsner (in other words a Czech lager like Budvar). Regular readers will remember that it turned out pleasingly malty, but we had some problems making it fizzy.
So this year our lager will be a really simple German Pilsner. 100% lager malt and a couple of German hops (Hersbrucker and Tetnang). Last time’s carbonation problems were down to the fact that we could not get enough pressure in our King Keg to dissolve enough of the CO2. So we have concluded that the only way we can be sure our lager is fizzy (short of investing in a Cornelius keg system as used in pubs) is to bottle it.
So yesterday was the brew day. Making lager is a longer affair than making ales because you need to mash for 90 minutes (rather than 60), boil for 90 minutes (rather than 60) and chill the wort to a lower temperature (we chilled to 15C rather than about 22C). I could ramble on for ages about why all that’s necessary, but I’ll spare you the details. In short, it meant that we needed a full day at it (well, 1.30pm to about 8.30pm). But that did give us time to label the Audlem Smoky (or it would if the printer ink hadn’t run out).
Back to the pilsner: it’s currently in the fridge fermenting. The key difference between a lager and an ale is the fermentation temperature – about 10C rather than 20C. Normally our ales are fermented in the house. But for this out came my temperature controller to ensure the fridge stays at exactly the right temperature.
Since we’ll have a good batch of yeast from this brew, when it is finished we plan to make a rauchbier – a German smoked lager. We’ll pitch that right onto the yeast cake from this brew, giving it a really good start. More about that in a few weeks…
