Alright friends, grabbed my trusty old fermenting bucket yesterday morning. Had this simple lager recipe bouncing around in my head forever, figured it was finally time to put it to the test. Kept it dead simple because hey, not everyone has fancy gear.
Gathering The Stuff
First things first, needed ingredients:
- Dry Malt Extract: Just picked up a big bag of light stuff.
- Nottingham Yeast: Dry, cheap, and people say it works for lagers.
- Hops: Got some Saaz pellets.
- Water: Used tap water, let it sit out overnight to get rid of chlorine.
- Sugar: Plain old white table sugar.
Dusted off my biggest pot – think it holds about 10 liters. Cleaned everything super good with bleach solution, rinsed like crazy. Don’t want funky tastes ruining this.
The Hot Water Soak
Filled the pot with about 8 liters of water. Fired up the stove, waited for it to get warm, not boiling, maybe like 70 degrees Celsius. Turned the heat off. Slowly dumped the dry malt extract into the water, stirring like mad with a big spoon the whole time. Wanted it all dissolved, no sticky lumps hiding at the bottom.
The Boiling Stage
Put the pot back on the heat. Brought it up to a proper rolling boil. This took a while, had to watch it like a hawk to stop it boiling over. Kitchen smelled sweet! Once it was bubbling good:
- Timer 60 Minutes: Tossed in a small handful of those Saaz hop pellets.
- Timer 15 Minutes: Threw in another small handful.
Just let it boil away for that whole hour. The smell was awesome, that kind of grainy, slightly hoppy smell. Steam everywhere!
Getting It Cold
This part is always stressful. Needed to cool that hot sugary liquid down fast. No fancy chiller here. Stuck the whole pot in my kitchen sink. Filled the sink with cold water and ice cubes. Dumped ice packs in too. Swirled the pot around every few minutes. Took about 30 minutes to get it down to maybe 20 degrees. Not perfect, but cool enough.
Yeast Time & Waiting Game
Poured the cool wort into my cleaned fermenting bucket. Topped it up with cold, dechlorinated water to the 10-liter mark. Sprinkled the dry Nottingham yeast right on top, no messing about hydrating it first. Put the lid on, stuck the airlock in with a bit of water.
Carried the bucket down to my basement. It’s usually around 15-17 degrees down there this time of year – hope that’s cool enough for the yeast pretending to be a lager yeast! Now it’s a waiting game. Saw bubbles starting in the airlock after about 18 hours. Slower start than some beers.
After The First Wait
Left it alone for almost two weeks. Bucket got quiet. Took the lid off. Smelled clean, maybe a little fruity? Nothing bad. Carefully moved the beer into another clean bucket, trying not to suck up the sludge at the bottom. Added a spoonful of dissolved sugar to give it some fizz later. Bottled it up into sturdy glass bottles.
The Taste Test (Or Lack Thereof)
Yeah… I know lagers need time. I am bad at waiting. Tried one after just one week in the bottle. Mostly flat, tasted green and kinda harsh. Tried another at two weeks. Slight fizz coming in. Still tasted rough, but maybe smoother? Sweet malty flavor underneath, slight earthiness from the hops. Going to try REALLY hard to leave the rest alone for at least another 2 weeks, maybe 4. Want that crisp lager feel!
