Name: The Handlebar Pub and Grills Ska Mexican Lager Recipe
Cook time: 48 h
Total time: 48 h
Yield: 20 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 4.5 kg Pilsner malt (2-row or light base malt); 0.5 kg Flaked corn (or corn grits); 20 g Saaz hops (bittering); 25 g Saaz hops (flavor/aroma); 10 g Saaz hops (dry hop - optional); 1 pack Brewing yeast - lager strain (e.g., Wyeast 2308, White Labs WLP830, or Saflager); 20 L Water (brewhouse); 5 L Water (fermenter top-up); 2 tsp Gypsum (calcium sulfate) - for water profile adjustment (optional); 1 tsp Irish moss or whirlfloc (clarifier) - optional; 120 g Priming sugar (for bottling) or corn sugar for kegging; 1 each Campden tablet (optional, for water sanitizing); 1 each Large brew kettle (at least 30 L capacity); 1 each Fermenter (carboy or bucket) - 20 L capacity; 1 each Airlock and stopper; 1 each Large spoon or mash paddle; 1 each Thermometer; 1 each Hydrometer or refractometer; 1 bottle Sanitizer (no-rinse); 1 each Siphon/tubing; 20 each Bottles and caps or keg equipment

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

The perfect Mexican lager. Light and refreshing, it really hits the spot after a long day of brutal chainsaw work. Brewed with the finest malt, Saaz hops, yeast, water and love.

Sanitize all equipment that will touch wort or beer with a no-rinse sanitizer. Heat 18 L of your brewing water to about 74°C (165°F). If using Campden tablet, dissolve it in the water 15 minutes prior to brewing to remove chlorine/chloramine. If desired, add gypsum to the water and stir to dissolve to achieve a slightly crisp, mineral profile typical of Mexican lagers.

Prepare Water

Add crushed pilsner malt and flaked corn to a mash tun or your kettle. Strike with the 74°C (165°F) water to reach a mash temperature of 65°C (149°F). Stir thoroughly to remove dough balls. Hold the mash at 65°C (149°F) for 60 minutes to convert starches to fermentable sugars. Perform an iodine test after 45–60 minutes; if it shows no starch, proceed to mash out.

Mash

Raise the mash temperature to 75–78°C (167–172°F) for 10 minutes for mash out (optional). Begin lautering/sparging and collect the wort into your brew kettle until you have about 20–22 L of wort (pre-boil volume). Sparge with 5–7 L of water at ~75°C (167°F) to rinse remaining sugars from the grain bed.

Mash Out and Lauter

Bring the collected wort to a vigorous boil. Start a 60-minute boil. At the start of the boil (60 minutes remaining), add 20 g Saaz hops (bittering). With 15 minutes left in the boil, add the Irish moss or whirlfloc if using and add 15 g Saaz hops. At 5 minutes remaining, add the remaining 10 g Saaz hops for late aroma/flavor. If you want a subtle dry-hop aroma, reserve 10 g Saaz for dry hopping after primary fermentation (optional).

Boil and Hops Schedule

After the 60-minute boil, turn off heat and chill the wort rapidly to 10–12°C (50–54°F) for lager yeast pitching (or to 18–20°C/64–68°F if you plan a diacetyl rest/step fermentation with a lager strain). Use an immersion chiller or plate chiller. When chilled, transfer the wort to a sanitized fermenter, aiming for a final volume of about 20 L. Top up with the additional 5 L of water if needed to reach target volume, ensuring the total wort temperature is appropriate for pitching yeast.

Chill and Transfer

Aerate the cooled wort by vigorous shaking, splashing, or oxygenate with pure oxygen to ensure healthy yeast fermentation. Rehydrate or prepare your lager yeast per manufacturer's instructions and pitch the entire pack/slug at 10–12°C (50–54°F). Ferment at this primary temperature for 7–10 days until the gravity approaches expected final gravity (around 1.010–1.014 depending on attenuation).

Pitch Yeast and Ferment

Raise the temperature to 16–18°C (61–64°F) for 2–3 days to allow the yeast to clean up diacetyl. After the rest, cold crash the beer down to 2–4°C (35–39°F) over 2–3 days to clarify and drop yeast/trub.

Diacetyl Rest and Cold Crash

If using dry hops, add the reserved 10 g Saaz to the fermenter during the last 48 hours of cold crash at ~4–10°C (40–50°F) for a subtle fresh-hop aroma. Remove after 48 hours or at bottling/kegging time.

Dry Hop (Optional)

Sanitize bottles and bottling equipment. If bottling, dissolve 120 g priming sugar in 250 ml boiling water, cool, and add to a bottling bucket. Rack the beer onto the priming solution and gently mix to distribute. Bottle and cap. Condition bottles at 18–20°C for 10–14 days to carbonate, then lager (store) at 4°C for 2–4 weeks to mature and clarify. If kegging, force carbonate to 2.5–2.8 volumes CO2 and lager cold for 2–4 weeks.

Carbonation and Packaging

Serve cold in a pilsner glass. The finished ska Mexican lager should be light-bodied, crisp, mildly bready from the pilsner malt, with delicate Saaz noble-hop spice and a clean lager yeast profile. Ideal drinking temperature: 3–6°C (37–43°F).

Serve

Expected original gravity (OG) is approximately 1.044–1.048 and expected final gravity (FG) 1.008–1.012 depending on mash efficiency and corn adjunct use. Adjust mash thickness or grain bill proportionally for desired strength.

If you can't lager at low temperatures, a 'pseudo-lager' can be made by fermenting a clean ale yeast at the coolest steady temperature available, then cold conditioning for several weeks to improve clarity and reduce fruitiness.

All weights and volumes are for a ~20 L finished batch. Scale ingredients up or down proportionally for different batch sizes.

Pilsner malt (2-row or light base malt)

Flaked corn (or corn grits)

Saaz hops (bittering)

Saaz hops (flavor/aroma)

Saaz hops (dry hop - optional)

Brewing yeast - lager strain (e.g., Wyeast 2308, White Labs WLP830, or Saflager)

Water (brewhouse)

Water (fermenter top-up)

Gypsum (calcium sulfate) - for water profile adjustment (optional)

Irish moss or whirlfloc (clarifier) - optional

Priming sugar (for bottling) or corn sugar for kegging

Campden tablet (optional, for water sanitizing)

Large brew kettle (at least 30 L capacity)

Fermenter (carboy or bucket) - 20 L capacity

Airlock and stopper

Large spoon or mash paddle

Thermometer

Hydrometer or refractometer

Sanitizer (no-rinse)

Siphon/tubing

Bottles and caps or keg equipment

Ska Mexican Lager

Make Ska Mexican Lager Recipe in just 48h . The perfect Mexican lager. Light and refreshing, it really hits the spot after a long day of brutal chainsaw work. Brewed with the finest malt, Saaz hops, yeast, water and love.

Ska Mexican Lager

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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