Sometimes, you just want to make your own beer. While it can be nice to rely on a brewery to give you the beer you want, it can be much easier for you to just brew some for yourself. This way, you know exactly what is in it, how it’s made, and you can adjust the ingredients to make it taste just as you want it to.
Brewing your own Vienna Lager recipes, in particular, can be a wonderful way to celebrate your own home brew skills. A good Vienna Lager is hard to come by anyway, so why not make a perfect one right in your kitchen? To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of our five favorite Vienna Lager recipes for you to brew at home.
5. Embracing Sunset Lager
Perfect for the late summer nights and dips in the pool, the Embracing Sunset Lager is a delicious recipe hailing from Charlie Papazian, the founder of the AHA. This classic Vienna Lager recipe embraces the roasted malty notes and strong hop flavors to create a refreshing brew that you’ll love during even the hottest months.
Ingredients:
- 7.0 lb. Munich Malt
- 8 oz. Belgian Aromatic Malt
- 1.25 oz. Santiam, Tettnanger or Mt. Hood pellet hops (60 min)
- 0.6 oz. Crystal, Tettnanger or Mt. Hood pellet hops (5 min)
- 0.25 tsp. Powdered Irish Moss
- 0.75 cup of Corn Sugar
- Oktoberfest-style Lager yeast
First, start by adding 7.5 quarts of 145°F water to your crushed grain. Stir it well and keep the temperature held around 132°F for exactly half an hour. After 30 minutes, go ahead and add 4 quarts of boiling water to bring the temperature up to 167°F. Collect around 6 gallons of runoff from this, and add your sixty-minute hops into the mix. Bring it to a boil once again.
Now, let your wort boil for 60 minutes. When there is only ten minutes left in your boil, go ahead and add in your Irish Moss. Five minutes after that, add in the 0.6 oz. of Crystal or Mt. Hood hops, and mix well. After the hour finishes, remove your wort from the heat to cool. Place the pot in a cold water bath, strain, and sparge.
Get your wort into a sanitized fermenter and pitch your yeast when it is around 70°F. After that, go through the primary fermentation process at 55°F for a few weeks. Then, rack to secondary and lager between 35 and 40°F for four to six weeks total. Prime with sugar, and you’re all set.
4. Vienna By Way of Mexico
Even though Vienna Lagers were first crafted in Germany, this type of beer has created quite a following in Mexico. This recipe is a take on a classic Vienna Lager with all the delicious twists you’ll find down in Mexico. Even if you’re in one of the Southwest states, you can brew this recipe at home and experience these flavors for yourself.
Ingredients:
- 9.25 lbs. Vienna Malt
- 1 lb. Flaked Maize
- 0.25 lb. Caramunich Malt
- 0.20 lb. Black Patent Malt
- 0.6 oz. Magnum Hops (13.2% AA, 60 min.)
- 0.25 oz. Saaz Hops (15 min.)
- 3 packs of Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager yeast
To make this single-infusion mash, start the mash at 148 to 150°F for an hour. After the hour, mash out for 15 minutes. Then, drain, sparge, and get started with a 60-minute boil. At the start of the boil, add the Magnum Hops, and then 45 minutes later, add the Saaz Hops. Once the 60-minutes have passed, chill the wort down to between 48 and 50°F and pitch the yeast. Allow it to ferment at this temperature for the next two to three weeks. As soon as the brew reaches the right gravity, larger your brew for two to six weeks at between 38 to 44°F before you bottle and enjoy. It’s really as simple as that.
3. Derrick Flippin’s Vienna Lager Recipe
This specific recipe was crafted by Derrick Flippin and has won dozens of awards for its unique flavor and smooth feel in the mouth. In case you want to taste it for yourself, here’s the recipe to brew at home.
Ingredients:
- 4.62 lb. Belgian Pilsner Malt
- 4.62 lb. Vienna Malt
- 1.43 lb. Weyermann CaraAmber malt
- 1.43 lb. dark Munich malt
- 1 oz. Briess Midnight wheat malt
- 0.55 oz. German Magnum Hops, 13.2% AA (60 min.)
- 1 oz. Tettnang Hops, 3.9% AA (15 min.)
- ½ tsp. Wyeast nutrient blend
- 1 tsp. Gelatin
- White Labs WLP833 German Bock lager yeast
This straightforward recipe starts with a simple mash at 158°F and leave it for 60 minutes. Then, pull a decoction and boil for fifteen minutes. After this time, add it back into the main mash. When you do this, the temperature should equalize around 168°F. Keep it at this temperature for the next ten minutes.
After this, you’re going to want to boil your wort for 60 minutes. At the start of the boil, add all of your German Magnum Hops. Then, 45 minutes after that, 15 minutes before your boil is finished, you can add your Tettnang Hops.
Once you’re done with this, it’s time for fermentation. Pitch your yeast and ferment your brew for the first time at 50°F for 21 days. Then, rack to secondary and ferment for another 13 days at 33°F. Carbonate with 2.5 volumes of CO2 and then you’re ready to drink your bubbly Vienna Lager.
2. Salzburger Vienna Lager
It’s hard to resist the toasty, roasted flavor of the Salzburger Vienna Lager. This recipe is sought-after by brewers everywhere, and now you can brew it yourself right at home. Here’s how.
Ingredients:
- 4 lb (1.8 kg) Munich malt
- 3 lb (1.4 kg) Vienna malt
- 3 lb (1.4 kg) Maris Otter malt
- 3 oz ( 85 g) Chocolate malt (350L)
- 0.5 oz (14 g) Nugget (14% AA) at 60 minutes
- 0.75 oz (21 g) Hallertau Mittelfuß (4% AA) at 5 minutes
- Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) yeast
To create this brew, start by milling the grains and mix it with 3.2 gallons of water at 163°F. Mix it to reach a strike temperature of 152°F. When it reaches this, hold the mash at this temperature for the next 60 minutes. Then, sparge the grain with about 4 gallons of water and top off to reach 6 gallons total. Boil this wort for the next 60 minutes, adding the Nugget hops right as the boil starts. Five minutes before the boil ends, add the Hallertau hops.
Once the boil has finished, remove your wort from heat and cool it to 50°F. Aerate your wort well and then pitch the yeast. Ferment in a sanitized container at the same 50°F for the next three days. After that, let the temperature rise ten degrees for four days. Carbonate to 2.25 volumes of CO2, and you’re all ready to enjoy.
1. Sweet Mischief Vienna-Mild
The sweet Mischief Vienna-Mild is a twist on a classic Vienna Lager recipe. While it has all the flavors of a Vienna Lager, it’s also blended with a classic English ale to produce a unique composition and profile that’s unlike any other brew we’ve talked about yet. Here’s how to make this unique beer.
Ingredients:
- 4.0 lb. 10° L German Munich malt
- 2.0 lb. German Pilsner Malt
- 1.5 lb. English Brown Malt
- 6.0 oz. 10° L English crystal malt
- 4.0 oz. Belgian aromatic malt
- 1.25 oz. German Hallertauer whole hops, 4.3% AA (60 min.)
- 1.5 oz. Mt. Hood whole hops, 5.3% AA (45 min.)
- 0.5 oz. Crystal pellet hops
- 0.25 tsp. Powdered Irish Moss
- German or Bavarian Lager
- 0.75 cup Corn Sugar
To make this brew, start by mashing your grains. Add about 8 quarts of water at 140°F to the crushed grain and stir well. Then, stabilize the mash at 132°F for half an hour. After those 30 minutes, add another 4 quarts of boiling water to the mash and bring the heat up to 155°F. Hold it there for another 30 minutes.
After this, raise the temperature up to 167°F, then lauter and sparge with about 3.5 gallons of water at 170°F. Collect 5.5 gallons of runoff and bring the wort up to a 60-minute boil. At the start of the boil, add the German Hallertuaer hops. After 15 minutes, add the Mt. Hood hops, and then when only 10 minutes remain, add the Irish Moss into the mixture.
Once the 60 minutes is over, remove the wort from heat and place in a cold water bath for 30 minutes. Strain and sparge your mixture into a sanitized fermenter, bringing the total volume in the kettle to 5.5 gallons. Pitch the yeast and ferment at about 55°F for one week. Rack to secondary and add the dry hops. Finally, lager the beer between 35-45°F for three to six weeks. Prime with sugar, bottle, and sip to enjoy.
