Author: Jake Huolihan

The German term lager is both a verb and a noun, referring not only to the process of storing beer in a cool environment over time for conditioning, but the beer produced using this very process. Lagering is believed to have originated in Bavaria in the early nineteenth century when brewers began storing beer in cool caves during the warm summer months, a practice that, in combination with the use of bottom-fermenting yeasts, led to crystal clear, crisp, and deliciously clean beer.

Despite advancements in brewing knowledge and technology, many modern brewers espouse the benefits of employing a traditional lager step, believing it necessary to produce the delicate flavors and high drinkability characteristic of styles like Helles, Pilsner, and Märzen. From this perspective, lagers are a labor of love requiring a good degree of patience with the payoff being a wonderful drinking experience.

Alternatively, some brewers of today fall in to the “freshness is best” camp when it comes to lagers, contending that long lagering periods serve only to age the beer and remove certain desirable characteristics. As a lover of lager who also happens to be rather impatient, I’ve tended toward the less time consuming approach in my own brewing. Curious to learn what I might be missing, I decided to put it to the test!

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a Festbier that underwent an extended lagering period and one that did not.

| METHODS |

I went with a modified version of Bill Eye’s Märzen recipe for this xBmt, subbing out Caramunich for Pilsner malt in order to bring it more stylistically inline with a Festbier.

Üold

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 22.4 IBUs 6.9 SRM 1.055 1.014 5.4 % Actuals 1.055 1.018 4.9 % Fermentables Name Amount % Weyermann Vienna 7.5 lbs 61.22 Munich II (Weyermann) 3.75 lbs 30.61 Odyssey Pilsner 1 lbs 8.16 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Hallertau Magnum 8 g 60 min Boil Pellet 11.5 Perle 15 g 30 min Boil Pellet 8 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Harvest (L17) Imperial Yeast 72% 50°F - 60°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 49 | Mg 0 | Na 8 | SO4 38 | Cl 61 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

In order to appropriately test the impact of extended lagering time, I had to make two batches of the same recipe at different times, the non-lagered batch being brewed 11 weeks after the lagered batch. While we typical make a strong effort to keep things as controlled as possible, this gap in brewing time required me to make some concessions. To ensure the beers were as identical as possible, I collected the grain and hops at the same time then stored half as ideally as possible, the grains unmilled in an airtight container while the hops were vacuum sealed and kept in a freezer.

The yeast used for each batch was the same approximate age at time of pitch, which some might argue created a vector of difference due to different initial propagation dates; however, given Imperial Yeast’s excellent quality assurance, this was determined to be less risky than pitching lower viability yeast from the same lot into the beer brewed later.

The brew days for each batch were as identical as I could make them and began with the collection of RO water that I adjusted to my desired profile before turning on the electric element.

While the water was heating up, I milled the previously collected grain.

Once the water was adequately heated, I added the grains and stirred to incorporate before checking the mash temperature.

Each mash was left to rest for 60 minutes, during which I stirred every 15 minutes.

I collected the kettle hop addition during the mash rest.

When the mash was complete, I collected the sweet wort in my kettle and brought it to a boil.

Both worts were boiled for 60 minutes, after which they were quickly chilled to slightly warmer than my groundwater temperature.

Refractometer readings revealed both worts achieved a similar OG despite being brewed 11 weeks apart.

The worts were transferred to identical Brew Buckets and hooked up to my glycol chiller and left to finish cooling to my desired fermentation temperature of 50°F/10°C. I made vitality starters using about 500 mL of remnant wort from each batch, into which I pitched 2 pouches of Imperial Yeast L17 Harvest.

I noticed diminished signs of fermentation activity in both beers 10 days after pitching and gently raised the temperature to 58°F/14°C for a diacetyl rest. Hydrometer measurements taken from each batch at 13 days post-pitch showed they ended up at the same FG.

Both batches were then chilled back down to 50°F/10°C where they sat for a day before being chilled further to 45°F/7°C. After 2 more days, the beers were racked to sanitized and CO2 purged kegs.

While both kegs were placed in my 38°F/3°C keezer, the lagered batch sat in the cool environment for 8 weeks before the non-lagered version was placed next to it. I let the beers condition for 3 more weeks before collecting data. Intentionally skipping the gelatin fining step, the difference in clarity was rather stark.

| RESULTS |

A total of 22 people of varying levels of experience participated in this xBmt. Each participant was served 1 sample of the lagered beer and 2 samples of the non-lagered beer in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. While 12 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to accurately identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, only 8 (p=0.46) did, indicating participants in this xBmt were unable to reliably distinguish a beer that was lagered 11 weeks longer than the same beer that was held cold for only 3 weeks prior to serving.

While we don’t usually share preference data on xBmts that fail to achieve significance, I thought some might be interested to know that of the 8 participants who were correct on the triangle test, the lagered and non-lagered batches both won the preference of 3 people, while the other 2 claimed no preference.

My Impressions: Out of the 5 semi-blind triangle tests I attempted, I only guessed the odd-beer-out 3 times. To be honest, knowing what I knew about the variable and given the difference in appearance, I was surprised with how difficult it was to distinguish these beers. The only difference I thought I noticed was in the aroma, the lager batch just seemed less aromatic, but they tasted identical. And this was not a bad thing, as this Festbier may have been one of the best lagers I’ve made to date and ended up taking 3rd place in a local Märzen/Festbier competition host by The Brew Hut.

Marshall and his family happened to be in Denver during the time I was collecting data for this xBmt, so I brought some of these beers along for him to try. Similar to my experience, he was unable to identify the unique sample with confidence out of various triangle test attempts.

| DISCUSSION |

Lagering is an age-old practice that was presumably born out of necessity and has come to be viewed by many as essential to producing clean, crisp lager beer. Despite caves no longer being the cooling mechanism of choice for modern brewers, the idea that extended cold storage somehow serves to refine beer character has held strong, which makes the fact tasters in this xBmt were unable to reliably tell apart a lagered Festbier from one that wasn’t lagered so interesting.

The one obvious difference between the beers in this xBmt was the appearance, the lagered version predictably finishing much clearer than the one that wasn’t lagered. What’s striking about this is that the particulate suspended in the non-lagered batch didn’t create a perceptible difference, which aligns with findings from past xBmts. As a follow-up to this xBmt, I’d be interested to repeat it using gelatin to fine the non-lagered beer.

When considering explanations for these results, a couple main things come to mind. It’s well known that cool temperatures delay certain chemical reactions known to negatively impact beer, while reducing exposure to oxygen exposure can prolong shelf-life. Both of the beers in this xBmt were not only treated in a manner to limit cold-side oxidation, but kept cool after packaging, which may have slowed the aging process. Of course, that does little to explain the lack of “green/young” flavor in the non-lagered beer.

As impatient as I am, I was fully prepared to accept that the lagered beer was decidedly better than the non-lagered beer and commit to changing my hasty ways. However, based on both my experience as well as the blind data, I feel more confident skipping the extended cold aging step and turning my lager beers around sooner. Confident, but not entirely convinced. I definitely look forward to exploring this variable more in the future.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

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