Fox Place Brew 80: Lager

A "yeast-starter" was produced from the tailings of the previous lager brewed at The Fox and was pitched into brew 80.  Despite the weather having turned cool last week, this lager strain was again a steady performer.  A graphical representation of the course of the fermentation is shown below.

The original and final density readings of this brew were 1039 and 1007 g/L, respectively.  These reading correspond to an alcohol concentration in brew 80 of approximately 5.1 % (v/v), or 1.7 standard drinks per schooner.

Fox Place Brew 79

All kegs were, until this morning, empty at the Fox.  This called for immediate action.  I am shown below shaking a keg sterile.

The brew I kegged today is an approximation of the Rooftop Red Lager.

I loosely followed the recipe suggested at the Country Brewer.¹

Ingredients:

• Cooper's Lager, 1.7kg
• Cooper's Dry Light Malt Extract, 0.5kg
• Corn Starch, 0.25kg
• Dextrose, 0.25kg
• Cracked Crystal Malt, 0.3kg
• Hersbrucker Hops, 12g
• Saflager Yeast, 10g

The 21L brew had an OG of 1.039 and FG of 1.007.  The final alcohol concentration is approximately 4.2% (v/v), or 1.4 standard drinks per schooner.  (The genuine article is 4.7%, or 1.6 standard drinks per schooner).  The development of this brew is exhibited graphically below.

Brewing is often a learning process, and in this brew I learnt another new item.  Corn starch is not equivalent to maltodextrin.  Maltodextrin can be manufactured from corn starch by breaking some of the very long starch (carbohydrate) polymers down into smaller fragments.  Maltodextrin is water-soluble and partially accessible to yeast as a food-source.  Corn starch, which I mistakenly included in this brew, is insoluble in water and inaccessible to yeast.  As such, is fell from suspension and was discarded from the vat while cleaning.