Grain Belt Nordeast Recipe

1. Heat strike water

Heat about 3.25 gal of brewing water to approximately 165°F (74°C). This will give you a mash temperature around 150°F (66°C) when you add 7.25 lb of grain (adjust for your system).

2. Pour the crushed grains into the mash tun and slowly add the strike water while stirring to avoid dough balls. Target mash temperature: 150°F (66°C). Rest for 60 minutes.

3. If using acidulated malt or if pH adjustment is needed, check mash pH after 10–15 minutes and adjust to about 5.2–5.4 with food-grade lactic acid or baking acid as needed.

4. After the 60-minute mash, perform a mash-out by slowly raising the temperature to 168–170°F (76–77°C) for 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity and improve wort flow.

5. Sparge with enough water at 170°F (77°C) to collect approximately 6.5–7.0 gal of wort in your kettle (volume depends on boil-off rate and final batch size). Aim for around 5–5.25 gal into the fermenter after boil.

6. Collect wort and bring to a gentle boil.

7. Bring the wort to a vigorous boil and start a 60-minute timed boil.

8. At 60 minutes remaining (start of boil): add 0.75 oz Saaz hops (bittering). If using Irish moss/Whirlfloc, add it with 10–15 minutes left in the boil.

9. At 10 minutes remaining: add 1 tsp Irish moss or Whirlfloc (optional) and 0.5 oz Saaz hops for aroma/flavor. Add yeast nutrient if using.

10. Boil until time is complete, then turn off heat and chill wort quickly to yeast-pitching temperature.

11. Chill the wort to 48–52°F (9–11°C) for lager yeast. Transfer wort to a sanitized fermenter and aerate well (oxygenate to ~8–10 ppm or shake/splash vigorously).

12. Pitch the lager yeast (one pack or starter). Ferment at 48–52°F (9–11°C) until primary fermentation is complete — typically 7–14 days depending on yeast and starter strength.

13. After active fermentation has slowed and gravity is close to target, raise temperature slowly (diacetyl rest) to 60–62°F (15–17°C) for 48 hours to allow yeast to clean up diacetyl if present.

14. After rest, crash cool to 34–36°F (1–2°C) and lager (cold condition) for 2–4 weeks for improved clarity and flavor smoothing.

15. Measure final gravity; target FG for a light German-style pale lager is around 1.008–1.012 depending on mash and attenuation. Calculate expected ABV; this batch should yield approximately 4.6–5.2% ABV.

16. If bottling, dissolve 3.25 oz (approx. 92 g) corn sugar in a small amount of boiling water, cool and gently mix into the fermented beer. Bottle and cap. Condition at room temperature for 2 weeks, then cold condition for another week to carbonate and clarify.

17. If kegging, prime to target carbonation (2.5–2.7 volumes CO2) or force carbonate in the keg, then cold condition and serve at 36–40°F (2–4°C).

18. Serve cold in a straight-sided glass. Expect a crisp, light-bodied lager with soft malt sweetness, subtle noble-hop bitterness and a clean finish reminiscent of classic Midwest pilsner/adjacent lagers.