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Recipe: Uncle John’s Pre-Prohibition Lager
Give this one some time. After about three months, you’ll find that the malt and hops are so perfectly integrated that you’ll want to just sit and smell this beer for a while.
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The hop aroma and flavor drop off a bit as time goes by, but the malt’s grain-and-honey flavors take up the slack, with a lasting burr of bitterness on the tongue to scrub the palate. Brew it today, ration the bottles, and you could still be drinking and enjoying it a year from now.
For much more on brewing this style, see Make Your Best Pre-Prohibition Lager as well as America’s Founding Lagers: The Pre-Prohibition Landscape.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.014
IBUs: 33
ABV: 5.5%
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The hop aroma and flavor drop off a bit as time goes by, but the malt’s grain-and-honey flavors take up the slack, with a lasting burr of bitterness on the tongue to scrub the palate. Brew it today, ration the bottles, and you could still be drinking and enjoying it a year from now.
For much more on brewing this style, see Make Your Best Pre-Prohibition Lager as well as America’s Founding Lagers: The Pre-Prohibition Landscape.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.054
FG: 1.014
IBUs: 33
ABV: 5.5%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
4.8 lb (2.2 kg) Czech floor-malted pilsner
4.8 lb (2.2 kg) Maris Otter
8 oz (227 g) Carapils
HOPS SCHEDULE
1.5 oz (43 g) Crystal at 60 minutes [26 IBUs]
1 oz (28 g) Crystal at 10 minutes [6 IBUs]
0.5 oz (14 g) Crystal at whirlpool [1 IBU]
YEAST
Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager or Fermentis SafLager W-34/70
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 152°F (67°C) for 75 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then sparge and top up as needed to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, cooling the wort to 170°F (77°C) if possible, then add the whirlpool hops and steep for 10 minutes. After the boil, chill to about 48°F (9°C), aerate well, and pitch plenty of healthy yeast. Ferment at 48°F (9°C) for 2 days, then allow to rise to 52°F (11°C) until the end of primary fermentation—about 3 weeks. Then crash to 35°F (2°C) for 48 hours, package, and carbonate to about 2.25 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
If you use the 34/70, be mindful of over-attenuation. It’s an excellent and popular strain, but it can take this beer a bit too stark and dry. If going with that strain, consider upping your dextrin malt by 4 oz (113 g) or so, and/or mash for just 50–55 minutes to yield a less-fermentable wort and preserve body.
