🍺 Top-down Brew: International Pale Lager

Data Entry

Recipe variables

Conversion to malt extract

  • Delete the pilsner and corn malt lines.
  • Add sugar: Corn sugar, 10, 1, 80
  • For liquid malt extract, add sugar: Liquid Pilsner or ultra-light malt extract, 85, 5, 76
  • For dry malt extract, add sugar: Dry Pilsner or ultralight malt extract, 85, 3.5, 96
  • Set the mash efficiency variable to 55% (eff: 55) for steeping the carapils.
  • Option: Skip the corn sugar and carapils. Make the malt extract 100% of the fermentables

Explore other malts, sugars, and hops

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Results

Notes

International pale lager: "Two- or six-row barley. May use rice, corn, or sugar as adjuncts, but are generally all malt."

Vital statistics: OG: 1.042 – 1.050, FG: 1.008 – 1.012, IBUs: 18 – 25, SRM: 2 – 6, ABV: 4.5 – 6.0%

Use Pilsner malt for the base. Corn or rice (20 to 25%) is a common adjunct grain, but all-malt versions are also possible. This style should have less corn/rice than an American light lager. Very light crystal-type malts can be around 5% of the grain bill for the pale version.

Extract brewers should use the lightest available malt extract with 5 to 15% corn sugar.

The hops are usually noble European varieties like Saaz, Hallerau, and Tettnanger. Magnum is sometimes used as a bittering hop paired with late hop additions of Saaz, Hallertau, or Tettnanger. American hops bred from European varieties, such as Mount Hood, are acceptable. Aim for a BU/GU of about .5 for the pale version of the style.

Clean lager strains like W-34/70 are the most common yeast.

Sources

Colby, C. (2005, July-August). International lagers: Go full-throttle green bottle. BYO, 38-43.

Strong, G. (2017, December). Mexican lager: An example of international pale lager. BYO, 28-32.

Weikert, J. (2017, January-February). Brewing south of the border cerveza. BYO, 66-72.