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The pre-prohibition lager is a bit of an enigma. You will get a wide range of opinions as to what a pre-prohibition lager really is. The way I look at it, you can brew an American lager with a little more leeway. The bitterness is going to be much higher than a modern American lager. The modern version is 12-15 IBU's. The guidelines suggest 25-40 IBU's for a pre-prohibition lager. The preferred hop is a continental Noble hop. Saaz, Tettnang, Perle, Hallertau, etc., many early American breweries imported their hops from EuropeThinking about doing one of these in the near future…Anyone have any thoughts or tips on making one? And most importantly was it worth the effort? Distinctly different? 6 row seems to be a mainstay but what yeast and hops have you used, etc…?
The base malt doesn't have to be 6 row. Modern American 2 row is very similar to 6 row and has a better flavor. Adjuncts are used to lighten the body, but in many cases could be optional with modern 2 row. The starting gravity can go as high as 1.060. So do what you want with this beer, it's mostly interpretation.
The yeast is the easy part, a lot of people swear by WLP833, but I love dry yeast 34/70 for any American Lager. 34/70 is so easy to work, it's clean and dry. It's a great yeast for this style.
The fermentation temperature is up to you. 34/70 works really well from 48F to 64F. The ester it produces most is a lemon character. If you want to reduce or eliminate it, pressure ferment at 5 PSI @ 50F. Or just let it go in the low 60's and it can produce a very clean beer.
Basically the beer is a German Pilsner with some adjuncts in it. Personally, I like to push the lagers a bit higher in original gravity and attenuate them as low as I can. SO a 1.060 beer lands around 1.010 to 1.012. 34/70 is a great yeast for this effect. A decent recipe would be something like this:
80-85% 2 row American Pilsner malt; Rahr Premium Pils is perfect for this.
15-20% flaked corn or rice, I like Minute Rice as an adjunct. Just toss it into the mash.
SG 1.058 FG 1.011 ABV @ 6%
Perle, German Tradition or Magnum at 60 minutes for bittering
Saaz or Hallertau for a finishing hop. @ 10 minutes
IBU's 25-30
Mash @145F for 60-90 minutes to get the attenuation up to +80%
Water is 100% R/O or distilled.
3 grams of calcium chloride and 3 grams of calcium sulfate as a salt addition
Pitch a lot of yeast when cold, you can back off when warm. 3-4 packs cold, 2 packs warm.
Lager 4-6 weeks
Good Luck!