Name: Brickyard Pub & BBQs Common Ground Recipe
Cook time: 24 h
Total time: 24 h
Yield: 20 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 5 kg Pilsner (2-row) malt; 0.75 kg Flaked maize (corn); 0.25 kg Light Munich malt; 0.15 kg CaraPils/Dextrine malt; 50 g Rice hulls (optional, for lautering); 28 L Water (brewhouse); 15 L Water (sparge); 18 g First wort hop: Magnum (60 min bittering) 10% AA; 10 g Aroma hop: Hallertau Mittelfrüh (10-3 min); 10 g Whirlpool hop: Saaz (at flameout, 10 min steep); 110 g Priming sugar (for bottling); 2 g Gypsum (calcium sulfate) — water adjustment; 1 g Brewing salt (calcium chloride) — water adjustment; 1 pack Lager yeast (SafLager W-34/70 or similar); 1 tsp Yeast nutrient (optional)

Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Mill the Pilsner, Munich and CaraPils malts to a medium-coarse crush. Heat 18 L of your mash water to ~74 °C (165 °F) to hit a target mash temperature of 65 °C (149 °F) when grains are added.

Mill & Heat

Add the milled grains and flaked maize to the mash tun. If using rice hulls, add them now to aid lautering. Stir thoroughly to remove clumps and ensure even hydration. Target mash temperature: 65 °C (149 °F). Hold for 60 minutes. Maintain temperature within ±1 °C.

Mash In

Raise the mash to 75 °C (167 °F) for 10 minutes to mash out and reduce viscosity for better lautering.

Mash Out

Run off wort into the boil kettle. Sparge with 15 L water heated to 75 °C (167 °F) until you collect approximately 26–27 L of wort in the kettle (account for evaporation and trub loss). Aim for pre-boil gravity around 1.040–1.046 (adjust volumes if necessary).

Sparge & Collect Wort

Bring wort to a vigorous boil. At the start of the 60-minute boil, add Magnum hops (18 g) for bittering. Add gypsum and calcium chloride to adjust water profile early in the boil so they dissolve and react properly.

Bring to Boil & Bittering Hop

With 10 minutes left in the boil, add Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops (10 g). Add any whirlpool-only hops to the kettle at flameout instead of late-boil if you prefer.

Aroma Hop Additions

Turn off the heat at the end of the 60-minute boil. Add Saaz hops (10 g) to the kettle and perform a gentle whirlpool for 10 minutes, allowing hop oils to steep without extracting harsh bitterness. Let the whirlpool rest for a few minutes so solids settle.

Flameout Whirlpool

Chill wort quickly to 10–12 °C (50–54 °F) using an immersion chiller or plate chiller. Transfer the chilled wort to a sanitized fermenter, leaving most trub behind. Top up with pre-boiled and cooled water if necessary to reach 20 L final batch volume.

Cool Wort

Aerate or oxygenate the wort to ~8–10 ppm dissolved oxygen (for lager yeast; lower temps need oxygen). Rehydrate the lager yeast per manufacturer instructions or pitch a properly prepared yeast starter. Add yeast nutrient if using. Pitch yeast when wort temperature is between 10–12 °C (50–54 °F).

Oxygenation & Pitching

Ferment at 10–12 °C (50–54 °F) until vigorous activity subsides (typically 5–10 days). Monitor gravity — expect a steady drop toward terminal gravity around 1.008–1.012.

Primary Fermentation

Once gravity is within ~2–3 points of final expected gravity or fermentation slows (usually day 7–10), raise temperature to 15–16 °C (59–61 °F) for 48–72 hours to allow yeast to clean up diacetyl and other off-flavors.

Diacetyl Rest

After diacetyl rest, gradually reduce temperature by ~1–2 °C per day down to 2–4 °C (35–39 °F). Lager (cold condition) at 2–4 °C for 3–6 weeks to clarify and mellow the beer. Be patient — good lager character comes with time.

Cold Crash & Lagering

If bottling: gently warm beer to ~12 °C and dissolve 110 g of priming sugar in 200 ml boiling water, cool and add to sanitized bottling bucket. Transfer beer to bucket, mix gently to distribute priming solution, then bottle and cap. Condition at room temperature for 2 weeks, then move to cold storage. If kegging: force carbonate to 2.5–2.8 volumes CO2 at cold temperatures and serve chilled.

Carbonation & Packaging

Serve chilled (4–8 °C / 39–46 °F) in a tall pilsner or lager glass. Expect a light, crisp body with restrained malt sweetness, subtle corn dryness, low-hop aroma and a clean finish typical of Mexican-style lagers.

Common Ground

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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