Description

Utopians signature Premium British Lager is influenced by the Bavarian Helles style, but just like all Utopian Beers, it has been brewed solely with the finest, British grown malted barley and hops. A slow, low temperature fermentation followed by a long cold conditioning, gives this lager a crisp, clean finish whilst allowing all the wonderful flavours from the malt and hops to fully develop and shine. Light golden in colour, with depth of flavour and impeccable balance, this is lager at its finest.

We are super excited to be able to offer you the brewing expertise of Utopian Brewing from Devon who have kindly shared their recipe for Premium British Lager. We are also able to bring you their specific malt which is produced by Warminster Maltings, malted to their exact specifications to produce their modern lagers with the classic brewing methods of Europe.

Be sure to check out their beers in our Indie Beer Fridge section

---

Ingredients Included

Warminster x Utopian – Czech Style Lager Malt

Warminster Floor Malted Munich

Malt Total Grain bill: 4.74kg

Fuggles Pellets (34 grams)

East Kent Goldings ( GOLDINGS ) Pellets (9 grams)

SafLager W-34/70 – 11.5g (2 packs)

---

Method

Beer Style (main): European Lagers

Beer Style (sub): Bamberg-Style Helles Rauchbier

Batch Size: 23L

Original Gravity: 1.044

Final Gravity: 1.009

ABV %: 4.7%

IBU: 20

THE MASH

Temperature °C: Step Mash

Length (mins): 65 mins

Mash in at 52C – add grains

Then heat to 62C for 10min

Raise temp to 65C for 15 min

Heat to 72C for 30min (check saccharification)

Mash out at 76C for 10 mins

THE BOIL Boil time (mins): 60 mins

Additions and timing:

 

FWH: 30g Fuggles for 15 IBU’s

30min hop addition: 5gEKG for 2 IBU’s 10min

hop addition: 4g EKG and 4g Fuggles for 3 IBU’s

Yeast: 2 x W-34/70 Fermentation temperature/steps: 7c, capped at 9c max

Comments:

To brew this recipe you will need to have temperature control of your fermentation, and the ability to do a step mash (adjust the mashing temperature).

Notes from Jeremy: Our process is that during the boil we adjust the pH down to 5.2 After a whirlpool rest we chill the wort to 7C, aerate well, and pitch a healthy amount of 34/70 or WLP833. (15-18 x 10^6) The fermentation is capped at 9 C and typically takes about a week. As we get to the end of fermentation we begin slowly reducing the temperature to 5C to encourage yeast flocculation.

We do not do a raised temp diacetyl rest, rather we allow for a slow reduction of diacetly at lower temperatures. At 5C the beer is ready to be transferred into a conditioning tank – the goal is to get the beer off the yeast cake to prevent autolysis.

After diacetyl has reduced (typically 5 – 7 days) we reduce the temperature to 0C and let it lager for 2 to 4 weeks. Absolute minimum time in tank is 28 days.

For the homebrewer I might recommend something like this: Chill wort as much as possible. 5 – 7C is great, anything above 10C isn’t. Let the beer ferment at 9C until it has completely finished 10 to 14 days.

For conditioning: If you have a conical dump the yeast cake and condition in tank. Or rack the beer into kegs. Chill to 0C and lager for 2 to 3 weeks before drinking.

Alternatively it can be bottled (with priming sugar) after it reaches FG. Ignore this if in tank or kegged, allow 1 week at 9-10C for the secondary fermentation in bottles. Then chill to 0C and lager for 2 to 3 weeks before drinking.

Make sure you check out the videos of us brewing this beer with them at their brewery where you see they share lots of detailed information to help you brew this recipe and to help talk you through their best practises for brewing awesome quality lagers.