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Recipe: Smoky Grove Lichtenhainer

Light, gently tart, and smoked—lichtenhainer is an unusual beer, yet surprisingly good for all seasons and one you’ll want to brew and enjoy often.

Josh Weikert Oct 30, 2021 - 2 min read

Recipe: Smoky Grove Lichtenhainer Primary Image

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For more about this distinctive and relatively obscure style, see Make Your Best Lichtenhainer.

ALL-GRAIN

Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.040
FG: 1.009
IBUs: 9
ABV: 3.9%

MALT/GRAIN BILL
2.5 lb (1.1 kg) pilsner
2.5 lb (1.1 kg) Vienna
2.5 lb (1.1 kg) oak-smoked wheat malt

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HOPS SCHEDULE
1 oz (28 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh at 15 minutes [9 IBUs]

YEAST
Wyeast 1007 German Ale & Wyeast 5335 Lactobacillus

DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 152°F (67°C) for 60 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 15 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. After the boil, chill the wort to about 65°F (18°C), aerate well, and pitch the yeast and Lactobacillus. Ferment at 68°F (20°C) for 10 days, then package and carbonate to about 2.75 volumes of CO2.

BREWER’S NOTES
Lichtenhainer is meant to be enjoyed young; don’t worry if it’s not as polished as your other beers when you package. At packaging, you can also taste how your Lacto did in producing some tartness; you can give it more time or adjust with lactic acid, but it isn’t meant to be as brightly acidic as a Berliner weisse.

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