Royal Lager Recipe

Apr 26, 2017

Royal Lager (22 Litres)

Royal Lager is a classic well-balanced mildly-hopped beer with a light golden colour. Heredity is vital when it comes to royalty so, with pedigree in mind, this German lager is brewed using the Thomas Cooper’s Golden Crown Lager brewing extract. Malted biscuit flavours are followed by herbal spicy notes nearly as fruity as an 18th century aristocrat. But unlike those old European courts, this lager has a clean finish and is far less bitter. With sophisticated taste and texture, you’d expect to pay a king’s ransom for the Royal Lager. But luckily for us, this monarch is a beer of the people.

Ingredients

1 x 1.7kg Thomas Coopers Golden Crown Lager
2 x 500g Light Dry Malt
1 x 200g Caramunich (I) grain
1 x 25g Hallertau Mittelfrueh Hop pellets
1 x 11.5g Saflager W-34/70 Dry Yeast
1 x 250g Dextrose Corn Sugar or Carbonation Drops

Features:

Colour: Light Gold
Body: Medium
Bitterness: Medium/Low
Approx. Alcohol Level: 4.8%
Naturally Carbonated: Natural

Instructions:

Step 1 : Mix

The day before: Line a pot (at least 4 litres) with a mesh cleaning cloth (pulled straight from the pack). Place the grain in a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag and crack it using a rolling pin. Add the cracked grain and 2 litres of cold water, fit the lid and sit in the fridge overnight. Brew Day: Remove from the fridge then gather up the corners of the mesh cloth and lift, allowing the liquid to drain from the grain back into the pot. Place the pot of strained liquid onto the stovetop, bring to the boil, add about half of the Hallertau Mittelfrueh hop pellets and boil for 5 mins. Remove from the heat, add the remaining Hallertau Mittelfrueh hop pellets and steep for 15 mins. Cool the liquid by placing the pot in a bath of cold water for about 15mins then strain into a Fermenting Vessel (FV). Add the contents of the brew can plus the Light Dry Malt and stir to dissolve. Fill with cool water to the 19 litre mark, stir vigorously and check the brew temperature. Top up to the 22 litre mark with warm or cold water (refrigerated if necessary) to get as close to 18C as possible. Sprinkle on the dry yeast (sachet of W-34/70 + yeast sachet from the brew can) and fit the lid.

Step 2 : Brew

Place the FV in a location out of direct sunlight and try to ferment between 13C to 15C. Fermentation should take about 14 days. On day 13 check the specific gravity (SG). Check the SG again the following day and so on.

Step 3 : Bottle

The brew is ready once the SG has stabilised over a couple of days, expect about 1006 to 1010. Gently fill clean PET bottles to about 3cm from the top. Add 2 carbonation drops per bottle and secure the caps (use only one carbonation drop for bottles intended to be stored for a longer period). Store the bottles upright in a location out of direct sunlight at or above 18C.

Step 4 : Enjoy

After at least two weeks, check for sufficient carbonation by squeezing the PET bottles. Bottles kept unrefrigerated should improve with age. When ready to drink, chill the bottles upright. The chilled beer may be poured into clean glassware, leaving the sediment behind. Expect the alcohol content to be approximately 4.8% ABV.