🍺 Top-down Brew: Czech Amber Lager

Recipe Variables

Enter the parameters

Variations

For steeped grains plus malt extract:

  • Delete the Pilsner, Vienna, and Munich malt lines.
  • For liquid malt extract, add sugar: Liquid Munich malt extract, 88, 5, 76
  • For dry malt extract, add sugar: Dry Munich malt extract, 88, 3.5, 96
  • Set the mash efficiency variable to 55% (eff: 55) for steeping.

Explore other malts, sugars, and hops

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Results

Notes

BJCP 3C Characteristics ingredients: "Pilsner and caramel malts, but Vienna and Munich malts may also be used. Low mineral content water. Traditional Czech hops. Czech lager yeast."

Vital statistics: IBU: 20 - 35; SRM: 10 - 16; OG: 1.044 - 1.060; FG: 1.013 - 1.017; ABV: 4.4% - 5.8%

The Pilsner malt base is supplemented with generous amounts of Vienna (15 to 40%) and Munich (5 to 25%). Medium crystal malts are also important, being about 7% of the grist. Small amounts of darker malt, such as the debittered Carafa III, can be used for achieving an amber color.

Double or triple decoction mashing processes are considered standard for Czech beers, especially for the amber and dark styles. If a simple infusion mash is used, decoction can be simulated with melanoidin malt.

Consider Perle, Magnum, or Northern Brewer for bittering. The rest of the hops can be Saaz - the classic Czech hop. Saaz can be used for multiple later additions. Strong also suggests Sterling, a hop bred from Saaz, as a possibility.

Czech lager yeasts are recommended. These are less clean and more "rustic" according to Strong. Attenuation is lower than some other yeast strains. The most used yeasts according to beer-analytics.com are Imperial L28, Wyeast 2278, Wyeast 2124, Fermentis W-34/70, and White Labs WLP802.

References

Beer-analytics.com Czech Amber Lager

Strong, G. (2016, July-August). Czech amber lager: The Czech answer to Vienna lager. BYO 30-34.