Schwarzbier Recipe

Before going to Mexico I decided to brew some beer that I could leave behind to lager in my kegerator for the five months while we would be away. One of the beers I brewed was a hybrid of sorts. I don't have the equipment to ferment at lager temperatures but I really wanted a schwarzbier to return to when we got back to Santa Cruz. Something light in alcohol but full of flavor. My solution was to come up with a "mock" schwarzbier recipe using White labs WLP810 California Common yeast. I had a large jar of this yeast in the refrigerator that I had salvaged from a Steam beer that I had brewed earlier. This is a yeast that can ferment nicely at warmer temperatures. In my case, I fermented with this yeast at the top of the suggested optimum temperature range of 65f. and this may be why I got an unusually high attenuation of 78%.

Now that we are back in S.C. I've really been enjoying this beer. It turned out great and the cold storage has paid off in terms of the clean, crisp and bright flavors that make this beer a very enjoyable and unique session beer. The dark roast character may be to bold for style and if you follow this recipe you may want to reduce the carafa by several ounces, but this is a good beer just as it is.

Batch size 11 gal.

Eff. 93%

Attn. 78%

ABV. 5.8

SRM. Black

IBU. 30

O.G. 1.056

F.G. 1.012



Mash in 6 gals. H2O for 1 hr. at 150f. with:

16 lbs. 2-row

28 oz. Munich

22 oz. carafa II



Boil for 90 minutes

Add:

60 min. 4oz. Hallertau @ 3% AA

20 min. 2oz. Hallertau @ 3% AA

15 min. Irish moss

1 min. 1oz. Hallertau @ 3% AA


Chill to 60f. aerate thoroughly and pitch salvaged WLP810 yeast.
Ferment to completion.


I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you brew this, please report back how the beer turned out for you. Also, if you have a schwarzbier recipe you would like to share, post it here. Thanks.