black lager

[sam c]

i love schwarzbiers and have only had the chance to drink a few as they are hard to come by so i want to brew some up.

i made an oktoberfest last winter in the cupboard under the stairs which was at about 13 c. i also raised the temp for the rest. it was lagered at temps from 14 - 16 c as that was the lowest temp i could get at the time for a few months.

now although this turned out to be quite nice it just wasnt as good as i had hoped. it s not as crisp as a comericial lager and has a slight twang in the after taste.

so after all that my question is, is it worth me making a black lager or will i be disapointed again? will having a fridge with an atc 800 ect to controll the fermentation and lagering temp make much difference? also are there any other tips people can offer?

thanks

sam

[EoinMag]

i love schwarzbiers and have only had the chance to drink a few as they are hard to come by so i want to brew some up.

i made an oktoberfest last winter in the cupboard under the stairs which was at about 13 c. i also raised the temp for the rest. it was lagered at temps from 14 - 16 c as that was the lowest temp i could get at the time for a few months.

now although this turned out to be quite nice it just wasnt as good as i had hoped. it s not as crisp as a comericial lager and has a slight twang in the after taste.

so after all that my question is, is it worth me making a black lager or will i be disapointed again? will having a fridge with an atc 800 ect to controll the fermentation and lagering temp make much difference? also are there any other tips people can offer?

thanks

sam

You will need the lagering and the proper temperature control to do a proper lager, no way around it, unless you have a cave in an icy mountain handy.....

[sam c]

no cave im affaid

think i better get myself an atc 800+ then and get myself on the look out on freecycle

[weiht]

Been looking around for a yebisu black recipe as well, its a fine black lager.. So far the best i tried

[EoinMag]

Been looking around for a yebisu black recipe as well, its a fine black lager.. So far the best i tried

Koestritzer is the daddy of Schwarzbiers if you can get your hands on it.

[weiht]

nah, cant get that anywhere near me.

[EoinMag]

nah, cant get that anywhere near me.

Hmm I was gonna post a link to beers of europe but I see you're in Singapore, that's not gonna help you much.

http://www.beersofeurope.co.uk/acatalog ... r_588.html

There it is anyway.

[weiht]

yes feel me pain... but thats the main reason i started homebrewing, so that i can replicate beers i love but cant get my hands on... Would love to see a recipe of a dark lager tho:)

[EoinMag]

yes feel me pain... but thats the main reason i started homebrewing, so that i can replicate beers i love but cant get my hands on... Would love to see a recipe of a dark lager tho:)

I'm trying to get you one at the moment, I'm a member on a German brewing forum too, so am trying to translate a recipe for you, I'll want to use it myself too, so I'll get back to you once I have some answers to my questions and can successfully translate the recipe for myself and yourself.

[weiht]

GREAT!!! thats really big of u to do that dude

I've managed to find the samuel adams version only, but i guess i would like to try a german version instead. I'm guessing lots of caramel n some munich with dark malts? A dark lager will be refreshingly great in the hot climate here, as compared to a porter or a stout although im a sucker for it.

[sam c]

hi weiht

how easy is it to get hold of malt, hops ect in singapore and where from?

i plan to go back to live in thailand in the future and really want to be able to continue brewing. was thinking that as sinapore is kinda close that it might be a good place to order from.

cheers sam

oh heres my recipe for a black lager. its roughly a copy of one i found here on jkb.

21 litres

lager/pilsner malt 3500g
munich 800g
flaked barley 110g
carafa 3 290g

tettnag 4.2% 40g - 80 mins
tettnang 18g - 10 mins
tettnang 18g - 0 mins

W-34/70 yeast - 2 packs

[weiht]

There are 2 local homebrew stores in singapore at this moment in time, and ingredients are available for your usual brews, however, i believe it to be a little more pricey than what you are paying there, and of course you cant choose which maltster you prefer.

i order from a friend at this website, http://www.ibrew.com.sg

Singapore is very small and expensive, and you can drive from one end of the island to the other under an hour. But for a tiny island, we have 6 microbreweries.

I'm not very sure about the homebrewing scene in thailand, but i do like thailand alot for the cheaper shopping and relaxed pace of life as well as the FRIENDLY locals. They do have a few microbreweries but from what i understand only 1 stands out. The locals still still mainly to their local chang and singha beers.

The main challenge of homebrewing in this part of the world would have to be the weather and climate. Its like brewing in a really hot and humid summer all year round for you. If u ever visit singapore, do give me a pm

[raiderman]

Go for it
I'd hesitated over black lagers and my attempt wasn't on the mark, but I'll give it another go. What prompted me was drinking in Praghe and realising how close to strong milds their black beers are, so I kinda had a starting point. If you can source the ingredients ferment as cool as you can and even if you can't store cool laager it anyway. My lagers go under the stairs and improve with aging.

[sam c]

cheers weit

yer thailand is great for that relaxed pace of life. i lived there on and off for 5 years and me and the wife are back in the uk now trying to save some money to move there in the future. i do get bored of drinking singha though and i cant stand chang. gives me horride changovers

there is a german micro brewery close to where i live there so i plan to see if i can get any stuff from them to brew when im back.

temp wise i would have to build myself a fermentation cupboard to brew in. i have brewed kits there in the past with the wet towell technique but its a right pain in the ass.

ive been to singapore also, just for a few days. its a strange place but i liked it alot. but yes very pricey!

good luck if you go ahead with the schwarzbier mate.

sam