Colorado Vienna Lager

Late 2021 / Early 2022, I noticed that one of my favorite local homebrew shops was adding more and more malts from local Root Shoot Malting. 

Some of their are really unique, and I really liked the character / color that the malts add to my homebrews.

I started using them more and more ... especially their Vienna Malt and their Dark Munich Malt.

My Colorado Strong IPA used all Root Shoot malts, and shortly after brewing that beer, I decided to try a Vienna lager featuring their Vienna Malt and their Dark Munich Malt.

The resulting beer is slightly lighter in color than what I generally think of a Vienna lager, but is what I think of as more traditional with the bulk of Vienna malt.

It is less sweet, and more notes of bread or cracker in the malt beer. It has enough bittering hops to balance out the malt. I also threw in some flavoring hops for just a little extra flavor on the finish.

A great beer to enjoy in the late winter / early spring in Colorado.

Batch 1 was brewed on Super Bowl Sunday.

That batch had an issue and disappeared before I was able to enjoy much of it. (see Sheppy's Blog: Disappearing Beer), so I had to follow up fairly quickly with a second batch.

See Sheppy's Blog: Colorado Vienna Lager (Batch 310)

On untappd: Colorado Vienna Lager - SheppyBrew

To read more about this beer, see Sheppy's Blog: Co Vienna.

Colorado Vienna --- Batch 2 (310)

Style		Vienna Lager		Batch Size		5.50 gal
Type		All Grain		Boil Size		6.60 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency		68.00		Boil Time		60 minutes

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity		1.052 SG		Estimated FG		1.012 SG
Recipe Bitterness		29.1 IBUs (Rager)		Alcohol by Volume		5.3 %
BU : GU		0.556
Recipe Color		10.8 SRM		Color
Measured OG:		1.051		Measured FG:		1.014
ADF:		71.7		Measured ABV:		4.9

Ingredients

Ingredients

Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU	Volume
7.98 gal	Denver, Colorado	Water	1	-	-
5.00 g	Calcium Chloride (Mash)	Water Agent	2	-	-
3.00 g	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash)	Water Agent	3	-	-
0.50 tsp	Lactic Acid (Mash)	Water Agent	4	-	-
9 lbs 8.0 oz	CO Vienna Malt (6.0 SRM)	Grain	5	80.0 %	0.74 gal
2 lbs	CO Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)	Grain	6	16.8 %	0.16 gal
6.0 oz	CO Cara Ruby (28.0 SRM)	Grain	7	3.2 %	0.03 gal
0.500 oz	Magnum [14.40 %] - Boil 35.0 min	Hop	8	18.5 IBUs	-
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	9	-	-
0.500 oz	Magnum [14.40 %] - Boil 15.0 min	Hop	10	7.9 IBUs	-
1.00 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins)	Other	11	-	-
1.000 oz	Tettnang [3.90 %] - Boil 5.0 min	Hop	12	2.7 IBUs	-
1.0 pkg	Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70) [50.28 ml]	Yeast	13	-	-
0.50 tsp	Gelatin (Secondary 5.0 hours)	Fining	14	-	-

Mash Profile

Mash Steps

Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Saccharification	Add 31.88 qt of water at 158.7 F	152.0 F	45 min
Heat	Heat to 158.0 F over 10 min	158.0 F	15 min
Mash Out	Heat to 170.0 F over 7 min	170.0 F	10 min

If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Recipe Notes
Make 1.4 liter (6 cups) yeast starter a day before brew day.
Brewing salts in the mash water. This should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to "Balanced Amber"
Ca=85,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=106,Cl=103,HCO3=104
Acid addition to bring calculated pH around 5.4
Brew as directed from recipe.
Cool wort to as close to 50 degrees as possible.
Ferment in 50's for about 5 days, let rise to high 60's for another week.
Keg carbonate.
After the keg is chilled, add geletin to keg.

Brewing Record

Brew Date:				Strike Temp:
Mash Temps:
Pre-boil OG		(1.048 SG)		Pre-boil Vol		(6.60 gal)
Actual Mash Efficiency				Pitch Temp
Fermentation
Day 1:
Day ...
Day ...