I Totally Rock

The second lager I made is starting to taste like actual beer. Seems to take a while for lagers, but it's worth it, because they're tasty and smooth and wonderful.

Beer freaks will recall that my first lager was a deep orange job with Crystal and Nugget hops. It was pretty sweet and very heavy, probably because I put a load of crystal malt in it. And there was a good deal of 2-row malt in it, which gave it an orange color and full flavor, sort of like Sierra Nevada or similar pale ales.

I didn't realize how the taste of the lager would change as it aged. I thought it was too sweet. So I reformulated the recipe. Later, it turned out that the lager was absolutely perfect; strong and complex like a high-gravity Belgian ale. But by that time, the second lager was in the works.

I took a lot of the ale malt out of the recipe and replaced it with Pilsner and Munich malt, and I removed the crystal malt entirely. And I used Santiam hops instead of Crystal and Nugget.

Crystal and Nugget are American hops, and when you combine them, you get a pretty wild result. I'm no hop expert, but my limited experience suggests that Old World hops are generally more subdued and refined. They may have very little flavor other than bitterness, or they may have a pleasant, gentle floral taste and smell. American hops are downright weird. They can taste like grapefruit or oranges or just about anything.

Santiam hops, though American, are supposed to be spicy and floral, sort of like some of the hops that are used in German beers. I was trying to get a result sort of like Altenmunster, which doesn't have a powerful hop smell, so I thought I'd give Santiam a shot.

The result is very nice. The beer is a couple of shades darker than Beck's. It's a bit sweeter than Beck's, but nothing like as sweet or heavy as the first lager. The hops give it a scent sort of like honey and orange blossoms.

I hate comparing it to Beck's, because Beck's is crap compared to a decent homebrew. It has no complexity and no hop flavor or aroma, and it's usually skunked because they sell it in green bottles that let light in.

Anyway, looks like another successful beer. I just wish it were a little clearer.