Anyone out there into to brewing lagers and have an all grain recipe they love brewing for the Christmas- New Years holidays?? If so please share!
I brew a lot of lagers, but not a holiday lager. What are you looking to make?
Been brewing 11 years but for some reason didn’t start brewing lagers till this year. So far I brewed an Oktoberfest and a schwarzbeir. Was looking for a lager recipe someone has brewed and fine tuned that would be good to serve around the holidays.
This may sound crazy, but for the Holidays I often like a Pilsner. It’s elegant, festive in a Champagne sort of way, and a nice change from all the Christmas ales. And for a Pilsner, keep it simple. German Pilsner malt, and German hops in two equal additions, FWH and 10-15 minutes. From there it’s all execution, getting everything perfect process-wise.
I grabbed these a long time ago from:
Low oxygen baseline recipes for German lagers - German Brewing. I think they are nice guidelines.
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I would keep the water pretty bare bones…
Otherwise, use RO with enough calcium chloride to hit 30-50 ppm Ca, and let the sodium metabisulfite provide you with the sodium and sulfate.
I am only recommending noble-type hops for these recipes. It’s fine to use just one, like Hallertau Mittelfruh, which works well by itself, or you could try blending two different varieties 50/50. Use what you like and experiment!
For hopping schedules, it is really up to you. A single 60 minute addition is fine if that’s what you like. 70% at 60 min + 30% at 30 minutes is a really nice one for helles. 1/3 at 60, 1/3 at 40, and 1/3 at 15-20 is a great pilsner schedule.
As far as yeast goes, I’ve had the best results with WY2206, WLP835, and WY2124.
Helles - OG 11.5-12.8 Plato
80-90% Pilsner malt at 3.5 EBC
0-15% Vienna malt at 8 EBC
0-10% Munich malt at 15 EBC
0-10% caramalt at 25 EBC (aka Weyerman Carahell)
0-3% caramalt at 100 EBC (aka Weyerman Caramunich)
14-20 IBUs
Pils - OG 11.5-12.8 Plato
90-95% Pilsner malt at 3-3.5 EBC
5-10% caramalt at 5 EBC (Carafoam), 25 EBC (Carahell), or 120 EBC (Caramunich 2) (or a blend)
25-35 IBUs
Marzen - OG 13.5 Plato
30-50% Munich malt at 15 EBC (aka Weyermann Munich I)
30-50% Pilsner malt at 3.5 EBC
0-30% Vienna malt at 8 EBC
0-10% caramalt at 25 to 120 EBC (aka Weyermann Carahell to Caramunich 2, or a blend)
20-26 IBUs
Festbier - OG 13.5 Plato
70-90% Pilsner malt at 3.5 EBC
0-30% Vienna malt at 8 EBC
0-30% Munich malt at 15 EBC
0-10% caramel malt at 25 EBC (Carahell)
18-24 IBUs
Dunkel - OG 12.5 Plato
75-95% Munich malt (blend Munich I and Munich II to taste; 7:3 light:dark is a good ratio)
0-20% Pilsner malt at 3.5 EBC
3-6% caramalt at 100 to 150 EBC (aka Weyermann Caramunich I, II, or III)
0-1% carafa special at 1200 EBC (carafa special 1) - can also use more and cold steep and/or add at vorlauf to get even more color without too much roast flavor
18-22 IBUs
Schwarzbier - OG 12 Plato
70% Pilsner malt at 3.5 EBC
0-25% Munich malt at 15 EBC (Munich I)
0-5% caramalt at 25 to 120 EBC (Carahell to Caramunich 2)
2-3% carafa special at 1400 EBC (carafa special 3)
24-28 IBUs
- formerly alestateyall.
I saved those as well. Love the very loose guide that it provides.
+1
Is there ever a bad time for Pilsner?
+1
I totally agree. Although, I’m not a fan of winter spice beers. But a nice German Pilsner during the holiday season would be very tasty!
Dopplebock is nice in the colder months. I’ve used this recipe with good results 55% Munich 40% Pils 5% Caramunich OG around 1.085 German Noble hops to around 25 IBU’s and Wyeast 2206 (I used a yeast cake from a Munich Dunkel).
This is awesome! Going to print this and keep it in the grain room. 
I agree with Dan—dopplebock would be a nice choice.
I would also suggest a weizenbock. I don’t have any recipes but you might look here: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipes/
A good bock or doppelbock is always a hit around the holidays. One of the secrets I have found for my bocks is dark malted wheat. I discovered it by accident last year when I was short on an ingredient. I’ll try to remember to post a recipe today once I get back to my other computer.
We’re going to need a bigger mash tun…
I like a hint of roast in my doppelbock, similar to what I pick up in Celebrator. This recipe isn’t a dead-on Celebrator clone, but it gets me what I’m looking for. Substitute real German hops if you have ones that you like. Sterling is my house “Continental-style” hop, since the stuff I’ve been getting from Hop Heaven in recent years is way more reliable than the German imports I’ve gotten.
Title: Goatenator
Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Doppelbock
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 4 gallons
Efficiency: 80% (brew house)
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.077
IBU (tinseth): 23.02
SRM (morey): 16.67
FERMENTABLES:
3.5 lb - German - Dark Munich (44.1%)
2.5 lb - German - Munich Light (31.5%)
1.5 lb - German - Bohemian Pilsner (18.9%)
4 oz - Belgian - Aromatic (3.1%)
3 oz - United Kingdom - Pale Chocolate (2.4%)
HOPS:
0.55 oz - Sterling, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.1, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 23.02
0.25 oz - Sterling, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.1, Use: Boil for 0 min
MASH GUIDELINES:
- Infusion, Temp: 153 F, Time: 75 min, Amount: 18 qt, Sacc Rest
YEAST:
Wyeast - Octoberfest Lager Blend 2633
Thank you for all the replies and recipes 
