The red muse

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

Lager - Tmavé (Czech Dark)
4.7% ABV
A study in balance—this beer combines caramel and dark malts with earthen, spice forward hops and a surprisingly light, easy drinking body. Notes of chocolate, roast and a hint of green hop aroma come together for a deliciously dry finish.

Mill the malts if not pre-milled. Heat about 18–20 L of brewing water to strike temperature (target mash temperature 64°C / 147°F). Adjust water with gypsum and calcium chloride dissolved in the strike water to reach a sulfate-forward profile (start with the listed amounts, then adjust to your water report).

Mill and heat

Add the crushed grains to the strike water, stirring to eliminate dry pockets. Target mash temperature: 64°C (147°F) for a balanced fermentable profile that yields an easy-drinking body and dry finish. Hold mash for 60 minutes.

Check mash pH if possible: ideal 5.2–5.4 at room temperature. If pH is high, add acidulated malt (the listed amount) or a small amount of food-grade lactic acid to adjust. Maintain temperature throughout mash.

After 60 minutes, perform a 10–15 minute mash out at 75°C (167°F) if your system uses mash out to aid lautering (optional).

Vorlauf until runnings are clear, then sparge with enough water to collect approximately 23–24 L of wort in the kettle (target pre-boil volume accounting for boil-off to end with ~20 L post-boil). Typical total water used is ~25 L as listed; adjust for system losses.

Bring wort to a vigorous boil. Start timing a 60-minute boil once boiling.

Add 30 g Saaz at 60 minutes remaining (boil addition) for bittering. Add Irish moss or Whirlfloc with 15 minutes remaining to help kettle clarification.

At 10 minutes remaining in the boil add 15 g Saaz (late addition) to contribute spice and floral aroma while keeping bitterness moderate.

Cool the wort quickly after the boil to ~80°C for a short whirlpool rest (10–20 minutes) to allow break material to drop. If you prefer, perform a hop stand/whirlpool: add 10 g Saaz at flameout or during whirlpool and hold 10–20 minutes at 70–80°C to extract a clean, herbal hop aroma without extracting excessive grassy notes.

Chill the wort rapidly to 8–12°C (46–54°F). Transfer to a sanitized fermenter, leaving behind trub. Aerate or oxygenate the wort thoroughly to support healthy lager yeast fermentation (target ~8–10 ppm dissolved oxygen).

Pitch the Czech lager yeast according to the manufacturer’s instruction (make a healthy starter if using liquid yeast). Aim for an initial fermentation temperature of 10°C (50°F).

Allow primary fermentation at 10°C until vigorous activity subsides (typically 7–12 days). Monitor gravity; expect a moderate attenuation to around the target FG producing ~4.7% ABV.

When the gravity is within ~2–4 °P (°Plato) of final gravity or around 3–5 days after fermentation slows, raise temperature to 15–16°C (59–61°F) for 2–3 days to ensure diacetyl is reduced.

After the diacetyl rest, cold crash down to 0–2°C (32–36°F) over 24–48 hours. Rack the beer off the yeast/trub to a secondary lagering vessel if desired, and lager at 0–2°C for 4–8 weeks (longer for improved clarity and smoothness).

If bottling, warm beer slightly to bottling temperature, then dissolve 120 g priming sugar in 250 ml boiling water, cool, and gently mix into the beer. Bottle and cap, then condition at 18–20°C for 10–14 days before cold conditioning.

If kegging, carbonate to 2.2–2.6 volumes CO2 and serve at 1–4°C. If force-carbonating, chill to serving temperature and carbonate accordingly.

Allow beer to rest cold for at least a week after packaging to let flavors meld; this style benefits from additional conditioning/aging for smoothness and clarity.

Pilsner (lager) malt

Munich malt (10–20°L)

Caramel / Crystal 60L

Chocolate malt (small amount for color, ~350–450°L)

Acidulated malt (optional, for mash pH control)

Saaz (whole or pellet)

Saaz (late boil/aroma)

Saaz (dry hop / whirlpool aroma)

Czech lager yeast (Wyeast 2278 or White Labs WLP830 or similar)

Gypsum (calcium sulfate, for water adjustment)

Calcium chloride (for water adjustment, optional)

Irish moss or Whirlfloc (optional, for kettle clarification)

Priming sugar (if bottling)

Brewing water (adjusted to moderately hard with sulfate/chloride balance favoring sulfate slightly)

Czech-Style Dark Lager

CZECH – STYLE DARK LAGER

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Make Czech-Style Dark Lager Recipe in just 24h . Lager - Tmavé (Czech Dark)
4.7% ABV
A study in balance—this beer combines caramel and dark malts with earthen, spice forward hops and a surprisingly light, easy drinking body. Notes of chocolate, roast and a hint of green hop aroma come together for a deliciously dry finish.

Czech-style Dark Lager Recipe

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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