Not too long ago I decided to try my first Boston Lager. Now I have decided to try and brew one. When I logon to AHA to look for a receipe and did find one, it was classified as an American Pale Ale. WHY???
Ale grist fermented with lager yeast.
A lager style should be classified by one thing: brewed with lager yeast.
who says boston lager is an ale? regardless of grist, lager yeast fermented lager temps is a lager. ales regardless of grist fermented at lager temps with ale yeast is still an ale.
+1 to both. I’ve never heard Boston Lager called an ale.
A lager is an ale if it is brewed to taste like one. And vice versa. In the end it’s all about the flavor profile regardless of how it is made.
Ballantine was justly famous for their ales, but during the time when they were the third largest brewer in the USA, they also produced a best selling lager beer…which was actually fermented with a specially selected ale yeast.
i can make an ale appear to be a lager and a lager appear to be an ale, sure. if boston lager is made with lager yeast and at lager fermentation temps (no idea if it is or not), its a lager.
S A also makes a Boston Ale, maybe there was a mistake and the pale ale designation meant that beer.
This is what I was thinking. And as far as I am concerned if it is made with a lager yeast, and then lagered. It’s a lager. If you don’t ferment it at the right temp it’s a sh!tty lager.
I went to BeerSmith and clicked on the Recipes tab and searched for Boston Lager clone. The 8-9 results showed all but one as an American Pale Ale with ale yeast. I think it is a really nice beer and would like to try brewing something like it.
Even SA says they use lager yeast. 2-row with crystal grist.
Those recipes are classified by the Homebrewer who published them on the Beersmith site.
Nice sleuth work…user error it appears.
Unless the beer is in texas. If its over 5% and in texas, its an ale.
That law was changed a year or 2 ago.
Disregard. And good for Texas!
I think that debate ale vs lager is about nothing. Who cares. Make a good beer.
The same yeast will behave different in different fermenters (open and shallow vs tall and closed) as well as different temperature and pitching rate.
Learn your yeast well and use it to your advantage.
So if you ferment your Boston Lager with ale yeast clean and you like it, good for you. If you want to let it sit on yeast in fridge for another two weeks, go for it. Just make good beer and be happy.
Just my 2 cents to it.
Instead of getting philosophical, how about a link to the recipe? I can’t find it.
couldn’t get link but here’s what it has…just some guy who saved it to the cloud:
Sam Adams Boston Lager
American Amber Ale (10 B)
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.75 gal
Boil Time: 75 min
End of Boil Vol: 5.50 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 4.50 gal
Fermentation: My Aging Profile
Date: 13 Nov 2014
Brewer: Feldpausch Biergarten
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: Our Keg (15 Gal/60 Qt/56 L)
Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 73.2 %
Taste Rating: 30.0
8.00 gal Detroit, Michigan 2013 Water 1 -
1.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 2 -
0.50 tsp Muriatic Acid (Mash 60.0 mins) Water Agent 3 -
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 68.1 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5 8.5 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 6 8.5 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 7 8.5 %
12.0 oz Melanoiden Malt (27.0 SRM) Grain 8 6.4 %
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.10 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 9 29.4 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 10 -
1.00 oz Tettnang [2.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 11 3.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Tettnang [2.40 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg German Bock Lager (White Labs #WLP833) [35.49 ml] Yeast 13 -
Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Est Original Gravity: 1.054 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.3 %
Bitterness: 33.7 IBUs
Est Color: 11.2 SRM
Measured Original Gravity: 1.054 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.3 %
Calories: 180.8 kcal/12oz
Mash Profile
Mash Name: BIAB, Medium Body
Sparge Water: -0.00 gal
Sparge Temperature: 168.1 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 12.0 oz
Grain Temperature: 66.0 F
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Mash PH: 5.30
Mash Steps
Name
Description
Step Temperature
Step Time
Stir Add -0.00 qt of water at 152.0 F 152.0 F 15 min
Stir Add -0.00 qt of water at 152.0 F 152.0 F 15 min
Stir Add -0.00 qt of water at 152.0 F 152.0 F 15 min
Saccharification (4.5 gal) Add 18.06 qt of water at 162.3 F 152.1 F 15 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min
Sparge: If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Mash Notes: Brew in a bag method where the full boil volume is mashed within the boil vessel and then the grains are withdrawn at the end of the mash. No active sparging is required. This is a medium body beer profile.
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Bottle
Pressure/Weight: 3.53 oz
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 70.0 F
Fermentation: My Aging Profile
Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Carbonation Used: Bottle with 3.53 oz Corn Sugar
Age for: 30.00 days
Storage Temperature: 42.0 F
Notes
Southern german lager yeast WLP838 not available–used WLP833
Create
German lager yeast - sounds like a lager. My guess is it winds up in American Ale from a combination of it doesn’t really fit any BJCP style well and the person designing it didn’t care much about the ‘style’ and picked something that matched the color and abv. Not too concerned either way.