# 🍺 Top-down Brew: International Lager

Original Gravity

Enter the desired original gravity as specific gravity (1.0XX) or degrees plato (°P).

Style specification: 1.042 to 1.056; 10.4 to 13.7 °P

Target volume

Enter the desired volume at the end of the boil. The volume units can be either liters, gallons, or US barrels.

Measurement Units
Metric US US Barrels

Select the preferred unit of measurement for the inputs and outputs. Metric uses liters, grams, and kilograms. US uses gallons, ounces, and pounds. US Barrels (31 gallons = 1 barrel) is in barrels, pounds, and ounces.

Mash Efficiency

Enter the anticipated mash efficiency percentage. If this is not known, try the following values based on the sparge method: Steeping (50%), No-sparge or brew-in-a-bag (65 to 75%), Batch sparge (80%), or Continuous (fly) sparge (85 to 90%).

Grains

Enter the name, fermentable %, Lovibond, and yield (SG or percent) with comma separations.

Use Pilsner malt for the base. Corn or rice (20 to 25%) is a common adjunct grain, but all-malt versions are also possible. Very light crystal-type malts can be around 5% of the grain bill for the pale version.

Amber versions of this style family may have toasted malts like Munich (5%) and small amounts (1 to 2%) of dark roasted malts. Roasted malt flavors can be avoided by using debittered black malts like Carafa I, II, or III (Weyermann) or Black Prinz (Briess). Dark versions of international lagers have a higher percentages (3 to 5%) of dark specialty malts.

- Beer-analytics.com International pale lager analysis
- Brew United's grain database
- BYO magazine grain and adjunct resource

Sugars

Enter the name, fermentable %, Lovibond, and yield (SG or percent) with comma separations. The grain and sugar percentages must add to 100%.

Extract brewers could try the lightest possible malt extract with 5 to 15% corn sugar. Darker versions can be brewed by steeping small amounts of crystal or roasted, debittered malts.

- BYO magazine sugar resource

Bitterness

Enter the desired bitterness in international bittering units (IBUs).

Specification: 18 - 25 IBUs. The BU/GU ratio of average values from beer-analytics.com is .46 for a pale version.

Hops

Enter the hop name, IBU %, AA %, and boil minutes with comma separations.

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.

- Beer-analytics.com International pale lager analysis
- Brew United hop database
- BYO magazine's hop resources
Late Boil Additions

Enter late boil additions like spices with the name and dosage (grams/liter), with a comma separation.

Spices are not typical for this style.

Dry Hops

Enter dry hops with name and dosage (grams/liter), with a comma separation.

Dry hopping is not typical for this style.

Yeast
Ale Lager

Select the yeast type, ale or lager.

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

← Click here when the data entry is done.

## Results

*** Waiting for results ***

## Notes

International pale lager: "Two- or six-row barley. May use rice, corn, or sugar as adjuncts, but are generally all malt." Amber ingredients: "Two-row or six-row base malt.Color malts such as Victory, amber, or roast. May be all malt or use adjuncts. Sugars or coloring agents possible. Caramel malt. European or American hops." Dark ingredients: "Two- or six-row barley with corn, rice, or sugars adjuncts. Light use of caramel and darker roasted malts. Commercial versions may use coloring agents."

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

Vital statistics - amber: OG: 1.042 – 1.055, FG: 1.008 – 1.014, IBUs: 8 – 25, SRM: 6 – 14, ABV: 4.5 – 6.0%

Vital statistics - dark: OG: 1.044 – 1.056, FG: 1.008 – 1.012, IBUs: 8 – 20, SRM: 14 – 30, ABV: 4.2 – 6.0%

## Sources

Beer-analytics.com International pale lager analysis

Beer-analytics.com International amber lager analysis

Beer-analytics.com International dark lager analysis

BJCP 02 International lager styles

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

Strong, G. (2017, March-April). International amber lager: A new style to fill a gap in the style space. BYO, 28-32.

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.

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