Name: The Field Irish Pubs Pacifico Recipe
Cook time: 240 h
Total time: 240 h
Yield: 20 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 5 kg Pilsner malt (2-row pale pilsner base); 0.6 kg Flaked corn (adjunct for light body & crispness); 0 kg Rice (optional light adjunct, use in place of some corn if desired); 25 g Saaz hops (low AA, for noble/grass character); 15 g Cascade hops (use lightly for citrus/grass topnote or substitute with Perle); 10 g Hop additions - whirlpool/late (for delicate citrus/sea-spray aroma); 1 tsp Irish moss or kettle finings; 1 pack Lager yeast (clean, lager strain such as Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager or White Labs WLP830 German Lager); 20 L Brewing water (adjusted to soft/moderately soft profile: low bicarbonate, moderate chloride/sulfate); 110 g Priming sugar (for bottling) or CO2 (keg); 0 each Campden tablet (optional, for water sanitization); 0 to taste Sanitizer (no-rinse)

Pacifico

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

ABV 4.4% Mexican Pilsner-style lager with a crisp, refreshing flavor and a touch of grass-citrus and ocean mist.

Add 18 L of brewing water to your mash tun and heat to a strike temperature that yields a mash temperature of 63°C (145°F). Add the 5.0 kg pilsner malt and 0.6 kg flaked corn. Stir well to avoid clumps. Hold at 63°C (145°F) for 60 minutes for a moderately fermentable wort that yields a crisp, dry finish. Perform a dextrin/alpha amylase rest is not required; a single infusion mash at 63°C is appropriate.

Mash

After mash rests, raise temperature to 75°C (167°F) for 10 minutes (mash out) to stop enzymatic activity and help lautering. Vorlauf until runoff is clear, then sparge with 6–8 L of 75°C water to collect a pre-boil volume sufficient for a 20 L batch (account for boil-off). Aim for approximately 23–24 L pre-boil.

Bring the wort to a rolling boil. Start a 60-minute timer once boiling commences.

60-minute boil

Add 20 g Saaz hops at 60 minutes remaining if a small bitterness is desired. (Recipe above calls for modest bitterness suitable for a pilsner; adjust by +/- 5 g to taste).

Bittering hops

With 10 minutes left in the boil, add Irish moss or kettle finings (1 tsp) to help protein coagulation. Add 5 g Cascade hops at 10 minutes for light flavor contribution.

Late hops & clarifier

Turn off the heat at 60-minute mark. Add 10 g Saaz and 10 g Cascade (or 10 g hop addition listed as whirlpool/late) directly to the hot wort and allow to steep for 15–20 minutes (whirlpool) to extract delicate citrus/grass and 'ocean-mist' topnotes without adding harsh bitterness.

End of boil hops

Rapidly chill the wort to 10–12°C (50–54°F) using a wort chiller to minimize DMS and retain aroma. Transfer to a sanitized fermenter. Top up with water if needed to reach 20 L total volume, checking gravity.

Cool wort

Aerate the wort thoroughly (oxygenate to ~8–10 ppm O2 for lager) and pitch one pack of a clean lager yeast (rehydrate or make a starter if desired for healthy fermentation). Target original gravity (OG) around 1.044 for ~4.4% ABV.

Pitch yeast

Primary ferment at 10–12°C (50–54°F) until high krausen has subsided and activity slows (about 7–10 days). After active fermentation, raise temperature gradually to 14–15°C (57–59°F) over 2–3 days for a diacetyl rest and hold 48 hours. Then cold crash to 1–3°C (34–37°F) and lager for 3–6 weeks to develop crispness and clarity (minimum 2 weeks recommended, 4 weeks ideal).

Fermentation schedule

After lagering, rack beer to a bottling bucket or keg using sanitized equipment. If bottling, dissolve 110 g priming sugar in 250 ml boiling water, cool, and mix gently into the beer before bottling to achieve a lively carbonation typical of Mexican pilsners (~2.5–2.8 vols CO2). If kegging, force-carb to 2.5–2.8 volumes CO2.

Conditioning

Condition bottles at room temperature for 1–2 weeks to carbonate, then cold-condition for another week if possible. Serve very cold (4°C / 39°F) in a tall pilsner glass. Expect a light, straw color, bright clarity, crisp body, subtle grass-citrus hop character, and a clean, slightly saline/marine topnote reminiscent of ocean mist.

Serving

Sanitize all equipment that contacts cooled wort and beer. Use no-rinse sanitizer and follow manufacturer directions. If using city water with high chlorine, treat with activated carbon or campden tablets prior to brewing. Adjust water profile for low bicarbonate, moderate sulfate/chloride to accentuate dryness and hop snap; target Ca 50–100 ppm, Mg 5–10 ppm, Na 10–20 ppm, SO4 50–100 ppm, Cl 30–60 ppm.

Pilsner malt (2-row pale pilsner base)

Flaked corn (adjunct for light body & crispness)

Rice (optional light adjunct, use in place of some corn if desired)

Saaz hops (low AA, for noble/grass character)

Cascade hops (use lightly for citrus/grass topnote or substitute with Perle)

Hop additions - whirlpool/late (for delicate citrus/sea-spray aroma)

Irish moss or kettle finings

Lager yeast (clean, lager strain such as Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager or White Labs WLP830 German Lager)

Brewing water (adjusted to soft/moderately soft profile: low bicarbonate, moderate chloride/sulfate)

Priming sugar (for bottling) or CO2 (keg)

Campden tablet (optional, for water sanitization)

Sanitizer (no-rinse)

On Saturday and Sunday we open our doors bright and early to bring you San Diego's Best Irish Breakfast.

San Diego's Best Irish Breakfast

Select Draft Beer

Draft Beer

Paddy's Irish Whiskey, Simple Syrup, Angostura Bitters, Guinness

Old Irish Fashioned

Titos, Tamarind Syrup, Pineapple Juice, Lime Juice

No Shade

High Noon Cans

Make Pacifico Recipe in just 240h . ABV 4.4% Mexican Pilsner-style lager with a crisp, refreshing flavor and a touch of grass-citrus and ocean mist.

Pacifico Recipe

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

You might also like