Batch 243, Leeser

 This is the second half of a double batch day. I'm making a major change to this recipe, so we'll see how it comes out. Usually, I use a Bohemian Lager yeast for this, but I want to get it done faster and I want to be able to ferment it at the same time as the Panama Red (batch 242). This time I'm using Wyeast 1318, London Ale III, since it has a similar flavor profile, but it ferments at ale yeast temperatures and won't need a diacetyl rest. The rest of the recipe is as usual.

10 gallon batch

21.5 lb pilsner malt

1.5 lb white wheat

Mashed in with 8 gallons at 175F, a little high, hit 156F, added a gallon of cold water to hit 148F. Adjusted pH to 5.25. Mashed about an hour and a half because I was waiting on the Panama Red to get out of the way.

1 oz Saaz, FWH

1.5 oz Magnum, 60 minutes

3 oz Saaz, 5 min

90 minute boil. Like as last time, the Saaz comes in 2 oz packets, so I put the extra ounce at the start as a first wort hops.

 

1.5 qts Wyeast 1318 from batch 232, it's a couple of months old, so I made a starter to get it going well.

Update, June 2, 2021 -- I meant to add a note about this last year. I had a keg and a half of this left in the fridge before we went to Mexico. I'd canned 12 or so cans to take, and they didn't even make it to Mexico before they were gone. It's a quite good beer, very similar to using the lager yeast, in fact, it's close enough that no one will notice it's not technically a lager, it is in fact an ale. The half keg went sour while we were gone, the full keg came through the winter just fine and I'm drinking it now. Doing it as an ale is a big time saver, however, I've been brewing these just before heading south so they can lager over the winter and be ready when we get back. That worked out fine for one keg, it was on CO2 all winter. The CO2 for the half-keg went empty while I was gone, so maybe that's what caused it to sour. Or it could have been the other keg in the kegerator, I don't have check valves on the CO2, so maybe some funk from the other empty keg made its way into the Leeser keg and soured it.

I should mention also that I had about half a keg of Panama Red from batch 242 and about half a keg of IPA from batch 241 that wintered just fine. Those kegs also remained on CO2 over the winter, and are quite drinkable now. The hops aroma hasn't faded as much as I would have guessed. It's nice to have these available since I won't be able to brew for a few more days and it'll be a few weeks before a new beer is ready.