Khazad-dûm Black Lager
Brewed: 02/10/2013 Kegged: 03/09/2013
 For my 2013 goal, I needed a beer in the BJCP Category 4 (Dark Lager). 4C. Schwarzbier (Black Beer) seemed like the obvious choice. It is a flavorful, dark, clean tasting lager with a fair amount of hop flavor and enough hop bitterness to balance out the malty sweetness. Think German Pilsner ... only Black. Seems like a wonderful beer style for me.
The name "Khazad-dûm" refers to the abandoned Dwarfish Kingdom of Moria through which the Fellowship of the Ring had to travel on their quest. By the time Frodo and his companions went through, Khazad-dûm was overrun by orcs and other creatures of the dark. It was a dark, black place. The trip through Moria was one of the most exciting entertaining parts of the Lord of the Rings trillogy and the name of my beer is a tribute to adventure. I also think that if Gimli was into craft beer, he would have chosen a black lager as his go-to beer.
Khazad-dûm Black Lager was my second in the series of German lagers using Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124). By the time I brewed it, I had brewed Snowball's Chance (in) Helles and harvested its yeast. When Khazad-dûm was done, I harvested its yeast and used it in a Mailbock.
I developed my recipe toward the dark side of the style, using 8% Carafa III (over 500 srm). The base malt is simply a German pilsner and I added in almost 10% Munich malt for more flavor. I am balancing the malt sweetness with 25 or 26 IBU, making my BU:GU ratio right at about 50%. I am adding quite a bit of Hallertaur, Crystal, and Tettnang hops towards the end of the boil, giving this beer a little more hop flavor than your typical Schwarzbier. With its relatively low alcohol (under 5.5ABV) and flavorful balance this made a great session beer.
I thought this beer turned out awesome.
I entered it into the 2013 National Homebrew Competition, and although it did not place, it did "win" a Silver Certificate.
| Khazad-dûm Black Lager --- Batch 1 |
| Style |
|
Schwarzbier (Black Beer) |
|
Batch Size |
|
5.50 gal |
| Type |
|
All Grain |
|
Boil Size |
|
7.76 gal |
| Brewhouse Efficiency |
|
70.00 |
|
Boil Time |
|
90 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity |
|
1.050 SG |
|
Estimated FG |
|
1.011 SG |
| Recipe Bitterness |
|
28.1 IBUs (Rager) |
|
Alcohol by Volume |
|
5.2 % |
| BU : GU |
|
0.558 |
|
|
|
|
| Recipe Color |
|
30.6 SRM |
|
|
|
|
| Measured OG: |
|
1.050
|
|
Measured FG: |
|
1.012
|
| ADF: |
|
76
|
|
Measured ABV: |
|
5%
|
Ingredients
Ingredients
| Amt |
Name |
Type |
# |
%/IBU |
| 8 lbs |
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) |
Grain |
1 |
73.6 % |
| 2 lbs |
Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) |
Grain |
2 |
18.4 % |
| 14.0 oz |
Carafa III (525.0 SRM) |
Grain |
3 |
8.0 % |
| 0.375 oz |
Columbus (Tomahawk) [13.90 %] - Boil 50.0 min |
Hop |
4 |
19.1 IBUs |
| 1.00 tsp |
Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) |
Other |
5 |
- |
| 0.50 tsp |
Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) |
Fining |
6 |
- |
| 1.000 oz |
Hallertauer [3.90 %] - Boil 10.0 min |
Hop |
7 |
3.0 IBUs |
| 1.000 oz |
Crystal [4.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min |
Hop |
8 |
2.8 IBUs |
| 1.000 oz |
Tettnang [4.80 %] - Boil 5.0 min |
Hop |
9 |
3.1 IBUs |
| 1.0 pkg |
Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124) [124.21 ml] |
Yeast |
10 |
- |
Mash Profile
Mash Steps
| Name |
Description |
Step Temperature |
Step Time |
| Mash In |
Add 13.59 qt of water at 159.1 F |
148.0 F |
75 min |
Batch sparge with 2 steps
(1.79gal, 3.88gal) of 168.0 F water
Recipe Notes
Use harvested yeast from Snowball's Chance in
Helles.
Add the Carafa III in for the last 15 minutes of the mash.
A week
before brewing, make a 3 liter starter. Let ferment out, cool, decant, and make
another 3 liter starter with the resulting yeast.
Cool wort to below 55
degrees before pitching.
Ferment for 2 weeks as close to 55 as possible.
After 2 weeks, let temperature rise into mid to upper 60s for a week.
Keg.
Save the yeast to use in another batch of beer.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: |
|
2/10/2013
|
|
Strike Temp: |
|
168
|
| Mash Temps: |
|
150 ... maybe up to 152
|
| Pre-boil OG |
|
1.046 (1.041 SG) |
|
Pre-boil Vol |
|
7.5 (7.76 gal) |
| Actual Mash Efficiency |
|
87%
|
|
Pitch Temp |
|
|
| Fermentation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Day 1 - 5: Pretty active. 52 - 54 ish
|
Day 6 - 7: Slowing down let rise to 56 - 58 ish
|
| Day ... |
|