How to Brew a European Lager at Home

This post explains how to make beer at home, including a simple European Lager recipe made from a beer kit, plus the equipment we recommend. No matter what the season or the temperature, our creative artisan minds regularly turn to beer making and all the delicious possibilities of what we can create next!

Beer making is the right balance of science and cooking, and an exciting hobby that will reignite your passion and heighten your appreciation for beer. A lot of people are afraid that it might take too much effort and time, when really it only takes a few hours with the right equipment, the right attitude, some drive and creativity, and a little patience.

Not only are home-brewed beers less expensive over time, but they also give you a chance to prove to your mates that you really can make a better brew than the stuff that’s on tap at your local pub.

In fact, home-made yeast/bottle carbonated brews last much longer and are less likely to go flat than commercial brews, which may only last a year. If you are an amateur at the very beginning of your brewing experience, a safe place to start is with “tins”. These are pre-hopped liquid malt extracts that come with yeast. They are very simple to make at home and a great starting point for anyone wanting to dive into the world of malt and fermentation.

A few months ago, we had dinner at a German restaurant that was serving some awesome house brews made in their full-grain nano brewery. That late-night drinking session of prime German brews was the inspiration for our home-craft brew recipe. So, with our artisan ingredients purchased and our fermenter sterilised, we would soon be knocking steins and beer mugs together over our own quick-to-make European Lager!

Artisan's European Lager recipe

You will need

1 can of Morgan's Blue Mountain Lager OR Cooper’s European Lager
1kg of Light Malt Mix or Morgan’s Liquid Brew Enhancer Tin
12g of Hersbruker Hop Pellets (boiling/mix phase)
1 Packet of Premium Yeast (US-05, Nottingham, S-04, Morgan’s European Lager)
12g of Hallertau Hop Pellets (added as a dry hop on day 4-6 of the ferment)

How to make a European Lager at home

Follow your usual cleaning and sanitising procedures.
Bring 2-4 litres of water to a gentle boil and steep the hops for 10 minutes (you are essentially brewing a hop tea).
Combine the hop tea, the Morgan’s Blue Mountain Lager tin and the Light Malt/Brew Enhancer in your fermenter.
Top up the fermenter to 23 litres.
With a sterile large spoon or whisk, stir the beer vigorously until the top foams.
Make sure the temperature is less than 28 degrees, then sprinkle the yeast sachet over the beer. Fermentation will start soon and you will notice air bubbles in the airlock.
Measure specific gravity with your hydrometer regularly, to make sure fermentation is continuing until all the sugar is gone.
Towards the last days of fermentation (or even on bottling day), add the optional 12-25g of hops in the provided strain bag, which will give the beer a more aromatic hop finish with less bitterness.
When fermentation has finished, bottle the beer, adding priming sugar (or carbonation drops) accordingly, and let the bottles rest for at least 5-6 weeks in a dry, dark and warm place (16°C to 22°C).
Occasionally, give a plastic bottle a squeeze, and if it feels firm, it's time to refrigerate to 4°C and crack a few open with friends to enjoy the spoils of the home brewer legend, that is YOU!

Wanting more of a challenge?

If you’re looking to be a bit more creative and take off the training wheels, you can try your hand at making a brew from raw ingredients (i.e. malted grains and hops). If this is for you, we have you covered with a full set of options for mini mashing systems such as the Grainfather, as well as basic components to create your own simple system. Shop here on our online store, see us in store for more tailored advice, or keep an eye out for one of our upcoming brew workshops at https://weteachme.com/artisansbottega.

Recommended home brewing equipment

Here are some products that we recommend to get you started on your brewing journey!

A Flash Conical Fermenter with multiple valve ports, temperature control and all the modern accessories. The shape of the conical fermenter lets the sediment settle at the bottom, so you can flush out the nasty yeast sediment, allow your brew to mature and bottle cleaner beers.
To keep that fermenter heated, we also recommend a Heater Belt!
For great craft, pub-quality beer, we suggest Fresh Wort Kits in 15L carboys! What’s this, you ask? We have done the hard work of a 3-hour grain boil for you. Just add 5lt of fresh warm water to reach a 1045-1055 specific gravity, pitch your yeast and hops and get going!
Save hours bottling long necks to prepare for a party by getting yourself a 134 Litre Kegmaster keg storage and carbonating fridge, and have beer carbonated and ready in 24 hrs. You get fresh beer on tap, plus you can add a spare keg for sparkling wine, cider or water!
Don’t forget a digital thermometer to keep a close eye on the temperature in your fermenter and help it stay at the perfect temperature for optimum brew quality.

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