Normally it gets to be late January before I realize that I am rapidly running out of lagering season, and I end up in a rush to get them finished before the weather warms up. Lager yeasts need low temperatures and a couple of months of time to do their work, so absent a specialized freezer, it has to be Adeodatus’ crawlspace in January, February, and early March. This year I’m ahead of the game: he may be storing my carboys before the New Year.

This year’s light lager is very similar to the recipe I’ve used in the past, except this year I used White Labs Copenhagen Lager Yeast (at Adeodatus’ suggestion) and clover honey instead of wildflower (because they were out of wildflower):

I elected to do the amber lager again this year, not being overwhelmed with affection for the dunkel I did last winter. This too is derivative of previous works, but with the same yeast change and a touch more Saaz hops than in the past. I’m thinking of dry-hopping it, too, but that is yet to come:

UPDATE (12/28/06): After two full days of inactivity, I bought an extra couple of vials of White Labs German Lager yeast, since the store was out of Copenhagen. It’s been way too long for me to wait any longer. Beer at Home treated me better than right, charging me for only one of the replacements. Way to go, guys!

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• Posted by Tim on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 at 11:15:32 pm PST
• Category: Zymurgy
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