Take a look at my mexican amber

[bdaugherty]

Vienna Lager

Type: All Grain
Date: 4/15/2011
Batch Size: 10.50 gal
Brewer: Byron
Boil Size: 12.00 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: BREWTREE- 15 Gallon Brewing System
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
10.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 43.48 %
10.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 43.48 %
1.00 lb Caraaroma (130.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.50 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 11.4 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] (60 min) Hops 7.0 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] (20 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 4.7 IBU
2 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [Starter 3000 ml] Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.058 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.76 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.61 %
Bitterness: 23.0 IBU Calories: 255 cal/pint
Est Color: 12.8 SRM Color: Color

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 23.00 lb
Sparge Water: 8.07 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Mash In Add 7.19 gal of water at 165.1 F 150.0 F

Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 10.7 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 39.0 F Age for: 42.0 days
Storage Temperature: 34.0 F

Notes

Created with BeerSmith

I am making it with uso5 since I dont have anyother yeast ready. And a brewday opportunity has presented it self that I cannot miss taking advantage of. I will still ferment pretty cool and lager in kegs for a while.

[barley_water]

Humm…I think I would call that beer a Mexican Stickle Alt. Should be good, give it a try.

[hamiltont]

Here’s a couple thoughts…

Boil time.
Bump it up to 90 minutes due to the Pilsner Malt.

Hop Schedule.
Up the 60 minute Magnum to .75 or 1.00 oz.
Drop the 60 minute Hallertauer. Waste of good hops since all you’re going to get it a little bitterness from them.
I’m not a FWH fan so I’d do 1.00 oz of Hallertauer at 15 minutes.

Flaked Corn? IMO the only reason breweries do it is to cut cost. I prefer malt over corn. YMMV. Maybe throw a little light Munich in with it? Or go equal parts of Pilsner/Vienna/Munich.

Cheers!!!

[ken_lenard]

I assume the flaked corn is because it’s a “Mexican Amber” and most Mexican beers use corn because it’s cheap and locally available. You call it a Vienna Lager but it’s made with 1056 which would make it an ale. Also, this will probably turn out to be a great beer and something that would be right up my alley. The 7 AAU of Magnum at 60 would probably be considered too much for a Mexican-style beer and more than that would be pushing it further away from that. Most Mexican beers are hopped lower because the maltier profile works better with some of their spicy food. Heat from chiles does not work that well with hops. I put a Mexican Beer Page on my site (link below) because I like many of their styles. But if you’re not really concerned about that part of it, screw the “Mexican” part of the name and just make it an American Amber Ale (corn or no corn) and call it a day. Just my 2¢.

[bryanh]

The CaraAroma is too dark and too aggressive, IMO. Replace with an equal amount of additional Vienna malt. For the corn, if you are looking for a lighter body like the commercial Mexican products increase it by a pound or two and drop the base malts by the same weight as only 4% isn’t going to bring much impact here. Agree with Ken on the hops. :cheers:

[rookie_l_a]

@hamiltont

Boil time.
Bump it up to 90 minutes due to the Pilsner Malt.

Depends on the brand. I read a thread not too long ago that said you can do a 60 minute (maybe less) boil using Best pilsner malt with no problem.

[bdaugherty]

Thanks for all the replies if i had more time to shop and plan. the recipe would look a little different. these are the hops i have. i may re arrange them in the boil i am brewing tomorrow. i adjusted a vienna lager recipe i have to suit some of the ingredients i have. i actually meant to include a 90 min boil.

maybe a name change is suitable. i didnt want to call it an american amber because i didnt think it was hoppy enough. As for the corn to each his own i like it in a couple styles that most would cringe at (cream ale, aipa, kolsch,) :cheers:

[ken_lenard]

I have no problem with flaked corn in a beer and it’s almost always in my beer inventory. I also love the idea of creativity so you should make what you envision to be a great beer. I happen to narrow my focus a little when it comes to Mexican styles because if you’re making a beer with a certain culture/food/climate in mind, it makes sense to alter the recipe for that. Mexican beers are fantastic with food or without… great when standing on a beach or not. I think your hops are great choices but if you make the beer higher in IBUs, it may not line up with the definition of a Mexican beer and there’s nothing wrong with that. When I make beers in the style you describe here, I usually use some pilsner, Munich and/or Vienna, maybe some CaraMunich and mostly Noble hops. Pair that with something like WLP830 or WLP940 with ABVs around 5% and IBUs in the mid-20s and you have a very drinkable beer that’s good for almost any season and almost any food pairing. Good luck with the beer.

[barley_water]

Well if you want to have a little fun and maybe learn something try doing a cereal mash on corn grits rather than using flaked corn. I do it when I make my CAP which is 20% grits; in my opinion you end up getting better flavor by doing the cereal mash versus using the flakes although the difference is subtle and yeah, it’s more work. We did a “blind tasting” once and the cereal mash made better beer (although to be honest we did some serious sampling before conducting the test so take that for what it’s worth). I personally like corn is some beers, I have also done a Ballentines XXX beer which I enjoyed but you will for sure taste the corn in the beer. In contests, some judges mistake the corn flavor for DMS so you might also want to take that into consideration. Good luck.