Rasenmäher Blonde German Leichtbier

Josh Weikert

ALL-GRAIN

Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters) Brewhouse efficiency: 73% OG: 1.034 FG: 1.008 IBUS: 22 ABV: 3.2%

MALT/GRAIN BILL

5.5 lb (2.5 kg) German Pilsner malt 8 oz (227 g) Victory malt

HOPS SCHEDULE

1 oz (28 g) Styrian Goldings [5.5% AA] at 60 minutes 1 oz (28 g) Saaz [4% AA] at 2 minutes 0.5 oz (14 g) Hallertau at whirlpool

YEAST

Wyeast 1007 (German Ale) Yeast

DIRECTIONS

Mill the grains and mix with 1.9 gallons (7.1 l) of 163°F (73°C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 152°F (67°C). Hold this temperature for 75 minutes. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge the grains with 5.4 gallons (20.3 l) and top up as necessary to obtain 6 gallons (23 l) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, following the hops schedule.

After the boil, chill the wort to slightly below fermentation temperature, about 58°F (14°C). Aerate the wort with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 58°F (14°C) for 5 days, then let the temperature rise to 70°F (21°C) over the next week. Cold crash and then bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to about 2.5 volumes of CO2.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

You can, if you like, use any good German Lager yeast instead of the German Ale yeast, and if you do, you may add a slight sulfur note to the finished beer: it’s neither good nor bad, just a flavor you might notice! The hops may seem a bit too heavy-handed for so light a beer; if you’re not a fan, you can wait them out. Time will drop those IBUS out fast enough.