Mexican Lager

So... What is it?

Mexican lager is a light, crisp, easy drinking beer influenced by European brewing traditions brought over to Central America. Characterized by a golden straw colour, clean mild taste, subtle malt & corn based sweetness, minimal bitterness and relatively light ABV (4-5% normally) it is a fantastic summer beer and palate cleanser!

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What's ours like?

Ours is spot on the profile! Showing a beautiful golden straw colour, light body and sweet malt and corn finish its a brilliant summer beer to have beach side! The bitterness is certainly in check, showing only enough IBU's to keep everything in balance without overpowering the rest of the beer. It's clean, easy drinking and perfect for warmer weather and lazy afternoons in the sun!

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Batch Size & Stats

• 19L / 5 gal finished beer
• 22L (6.8 gal) wort
• Starting gravity – 1.044
• Final gravity 1.009
• ABV – 4.9%
• Brewhouse Efficiency 88%
• EBC - 4.7
• IBU - 12

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Brewfather link

What ingredients?

Water 

With sparging

• 15L (3.9 gal) strike water approx. 64°C (147°F)
• 15.2L (4 gal) sparge water at 78°C (172°F)

Without sparging

• 27L (7.1 gal) strike water approx. 64°C (147°F)

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Malts

Total Grain Bill 5kg (11 4lb)

• Joe White Pilsner malt – 3.14kg (7 lb)
• Flaked Corn (Maize) - 790g (1.74 lb)

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Hops & whirlfloc tablets  

Spalt Spatler (4.2% Alpha Acid)

• 19g (0.67 oz) 10 IBU - 60 mins
• 30g (1 oz) 2 IBU - 5 mins

Whirlfloc 

• 0.75g (0.026 oz) / 1 tablets – 15 minutes left in the boil

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Water Profile

• Ca²⁺22
• ‍^‍Mg²⁺ 5
• ‍Na⁺ 15
• ‍Cl^- 31
• ‍^‍SO₄^2- 30
• ‍^‍HCO₃^- 57

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Yeast options & fermentation temperatures

• SafLager™ S‑23  – ferment at 14°C (57°F) 23g (0.41 oz) / (1 packets) - Fermented under 10 psi pressure (not necessary but a great option)
• Saflager W34-70 – ferment at 14°C (57°F) 23g (0.41 oz) / (1 packets) - Fermented under 10 psi pressure (not necessary but a great option)

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Step by step process

Step 1 – Milling

• Mill grains to medium crush (set mill rollers to a gap of approx. 1.00mm / 0.039 inches (credit card width)
• Just keep in mind roller gap settings are not universal so as you brew more batches you will find the ideal crush size for your setup
• Alternatively if you don’t have a grain mill you can order your grains crushed from most homebrew stores, both online and in person

Step 2 – Mashing 

Mash for 60 minutes at 64°C (147°F) with 15L (3.9 gal) of strike water

• Set your strike water to a few degrees above the target mash temperature (you can use the calculator in our website for this)
• ensure you mix in the grains thoroughly with a mash paddle to prevent dough balls from forming (big spoons, spatulas or whisks will also work)  
• its easier to mash the grains and prevent dough balls if you add a little grain at a time, mix, add more grain and repeat until all the grains are mixed

if you don’t have a mash tun with heating then ensure after you have finished mixing the grains in to insulate your mash tun (thick neoprene or heavy blankets both work well)

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Step 3 (optional) – Sparging

• if your setup has the capability to sparge then do so with 15.2L (4 gal) sparge water at 78°C (172°F)
• if you are not sparging and using a BIAB (brew in a bag) method then remove grains from mash tun and twist and squeeze the bag to get as much liquid out of the grains as possible
• as you start sparging (or straining your BIAB bag) begin raising the temperature of your wort to a boil

Step 4 – Boiling

• once your wort begins to boil start a timer for a 60-minute boil and add your bittering hops, 19g (0.67 oz) of Spalt Spatler
• at 15 minutes left in the boil add 1 whirlfloc tablet (OR granulated whirlfloc 0.7g (0.025 oz)\
• At 5 mins left in the boil add the flameout hops, 30g (1 oz) of Spalt Spatler and start cooling wort

Step 5 – Whirlpooling / cooling

• After 60 mins of boiling turn off your heat source and start cooling wort down
• Once you’ve reached yeast pitching temperature take an original gravity reading of your wort

Step 6 – Yeast Pitching

• It is best to make a yeast starter before beginning your brew day (ideally 1 day before) to ensure your yeast are as active and healthy as possible before pitching, but not completely necessary – you could also just rehydrate yeast 30 minutes before pitching.
• Wort Aeration (Optional) if you have a paint mixer give your wort a quick blitz before pitching yeast to help add more dissolved oxygen into the wort to help the yeast have a healthier kick start into fermentation
• Now add your tincture of Vanilla extract! (or you can wait till end of fermentation if you prefer)
• Pitch yeast in wort a degree or two higher than the target fermentation temperature to help yeast take off more aggressively 

• To make a yeast starter you can use either:

• DME (dry malt extract) at a ratio of approx. 100g per 1L water (3.5 oz per 33 fluid ounces) for gravity of approx. 1.040 
• some unfermented wort kept cold and sanitary from a previous brew day
• 70g of table sugar per 1L water (2.5 oz per 33 fluid ounces) – however, it is best to use malt sugar (wort / DME) whenever possible to reduce the chance of shocking the yeast with a different food source from starter to wort pitching

• To rehydrate yeast

• Add yeast to approx. 10 times as much room temperature water as the weight of the yeast e.g. 10g yeast in 100 ml water (0.35 oz yeast in 3.5 fluid ounces water)

Step 7 – Fermentation

• Allow yeast to ferment over the next two weeks (aprox)
• If you have a temperature-controlled system keep the fermenter temperature to the recommended fermentation temperature for each yeast strain (stated in the yeast ingredients section above)

• It's important to note that fermentation times will vary based on your circumstances like temperature, amount of yeast pitched, the healthiness of yeast, the gravity of the wort, pH, etc. so don’t stress be patient and know that these times are just a rough guide
• If you have temp control then when there are 2 days left of fermentation raise the temperature by 2 degrees for a diacetyl rest (once gravity reaches roughly 1.01) & gravity is the same 3 days in a row move onto cold crashing and adding gelatin! (Dont worry cold crashing & gelatin are both optional steps to help clarify your beer)

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Step 8 (optional) – Cold crashing & Gelatin

• begin cold crashing your fermenter (bring the temperature of your fermenter down to as close to 0°C (32°F) as possible, for 2 days to a week depending on how patient you are, and add 1-2 teaspoons of gelatin dissolved in boiling water and allowed to cool a bit to your fermenter
• If you don’t have a temp-controlled fermenter, you can cold crash by putting your fermenter in a fridge or temp-controlled chest freezer
• After you have finished cold crashing it's time to keg/bottle your beer! If you are bottling your beer from the fermenter uncarbonated, remember to add about 5-7 grams (0.17 - 0.24 oz) of priming sugar to your bottles to carbonate your beer.

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