A New Direction

Lager beer is something I've always had a difficult relationship with. My first ever beer was a Bavarian Helles, drank in a small tavern in a small Bavarian town. I was on a school tour, and once us Irish boys discovered that you could buy beer at 16, there was a nightly escape attempt to discover it's mysteries. That first beer made quite an impression. I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not, but I was certainly interested in finding out more.

Back home the selection was basically down to two. Heineken or Budweiser. Though I later grew to love the Heineken that certain pubs in Ireland seem to be able to conjour up, most of it was in poor condition, almost undrinkable. Budweiser I could never stomach (quite literally!). Pretty soon after my beery beginnings I had switched to stout. Murphy's in particular was smooth and easy drinking with plenty of flavour. Later I discovered the dark roastiness of Beamish.

One trip to Oktoberfest back in 2005 made me reconsider my lager objections. There's a satisfying mouthfeel to the Marzen beer they serve there that is hard to forget. Certainly when you drink Oktoberfest/Marzen beer, and even Bavarian Helles, you can see why the Germans call beer 'liquid bread'. It's chewy and biscuity, and malt forward in a way I hadn't encountered in any beer up to that time.

Of course the difficulty in sourcing top quality german beer on tap, and the virtual absence of any examples of the style in Australian craft brewing, has meant that I have neglected this wonderful part of the beer world - until now!

Yesterday I purchased a Hanna Ph-meter, and I'm planning on making my first ever Lager, a Bavarian Helles, within a month or so. My main guides through this process will be the "Brewing Classic Styles - Bavarian Helles" book, as well as the excellent resources at The Braukeiser wiki. I also own a copy of Greg Noonan's "New Brewing Lager Beer", but unfortunately it's back in Ireland, so I'll have to do without it for now.

Horst Dornbusch's Bavarian Helles book

I am fully aware of the challenges of brewing lager beer, and this is one of the main reasons I want to try it. Though I am constantly tinkering with the hot side of the brewery, the cold side has remained pretty consistent for a good 9 months or so. It's time to put my processes to the test and see just how well I can manage a fermentation schedule.

I'm starting with a Helles so that I can manage to supply the quantity of yeast it will need. The plan is to then harvest this yeast to do something bigger, perhaps a Maibock, which would then be ready for Springtime here down under. I can't wait!