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Recipe: Pueblo Vida Willa Dry-Hopped Lager
“This beer was our ode to new meets old,” says Landon Swanson, head brewer of Pueblo Vida in Tucson, Arizona. “It’s a classic light lager with a punch of Lórien hops in the fermentor.”
Photo: Courtesy Pueblo Vida Brewing
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Pueblo Vida Brewing in Tucson, Arizona, first released Willa in 2020, when the recently named Lórien was still known as IH033.
“This beer was our ode to new meets old,” says head brewer Landon Swanson. “It’s a classic light lager with a punch of Lórien hops in the fermentor. This lager comes out slightly hazy by design. There is a nice, bright lime note from the Lórien hops and a neutral grain character from the American-grown pilsner malt.”
For more about Lórien and other new lager-friendly varieties, see These Hops Were Made for Lager.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.044
FG: 1.008
IBUs: 12
ABV: 4.8%
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Pueblo Vida Brewing in Tucson, Arizona, first released Willa in 2020, when the recently named Lórien was still known as IH033.
“This beer was our ode to new meets old,” says head brewer Landon Swanson. “It’s a classic light lager with a punch of Lórien hops in the fermentor. This lager comes out slightly hazy by design. There is a nice, bright lime note from the Lórien hops and a neutral grain character from the American-grown pilsner malt.”
For more about Lórien and other new lager-friendly varieties, see These Hops Were Made for Lager.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.044
FG: 1.008
IBUs: 12
ABV: 4.8%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
7 lb (3.2 kg) American pilsner
1.2 lb (544 g) torrefied wheat
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
0.25 oz (7 g) Lórien at first wort [5 IBUs]
0.65 oz (18 g) Lórien at 20 minutes [7 IBUs]
1 tablet Servomyces at 10 minutes
1.8 oz (51 g) Lórien at flameout/whirlpool
2.2 oz (62 g) Lórien at dry hop
YEAST
White Labs WLP830 German Lager or Fermentis SafLager W-34/70
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 145°F (63°C) for 45 minutes, with a water-to-grain ratio of about 1.4 quarts per pound (3 liters per kilo). Start recirculating 30 minutes into the mash; when your runnings are clear, run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops and Servomyces (or other zinc-containing yeast nutrient) according to the schedule. After the boil, add flameout hops or, optionally, stir for 5 minutes to create a vortex then add hops. Chill to about 46°F (8°C), aerate well, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 52°F (11°C). When the gravity has dropped to about 1.014, raise the temperature to 62°F (17°C) and add dry hops, holding this temperature for at least 2 days. Crash to 32°F (0°C) and remove hops. Lager for 3 weeks. Package and carbonate to about 2.75 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Water and pH: This recipe is best with a soft, Pilsen-like water profile. Aim for a mash pH of about 5.2 and post-boil pH of about 5, adjusting if necessary. The last runnings shouldn’t go below 3°P (1.012) in gravity; top up with distilled water, if necessary, to get your full boil volume.
Nutrients: Zinc is beneficial to fermentation, especially when brewing with some unmalted grains. Some yeast-nutrient blends, such as those from White Labs and Wyeast, include zinc, as does Servomyces.
Hop drop: Starting 48 hours after we dry hop, we dump hops every other day until the hops are mostly gone. We have a filter to remove larger hop particles before we send the beer to lager.
