Don’t miss our New England Beer & Baseball adventure in 2026! Click here to register!

recipe

Boston Beer Co’s Sam Adams Winter Lager clone

Sam Adams Winter Lager clone

(5 gallon/19 L partial mash)
OG = 1.069  FG = 1.016 IBUs = 27  SRM = 16  ABV = 6.9%

Ingredients

3 lbs. (1.4 kg) wheat dried malt extract
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Munich liquid malt extract
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) crystal malt (60° L)
1 lb. (0,45 kg) wheat malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Munich malt (20° L)
1 oz. (28 g) Curacáo orange peel (15 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) freshly grated ginger root (15 min.)
0.5 tsp. ground cinnamon (15 min.)
6.3 AAU East Kent Goldings hops (60 min.) (1.33 oz./38 g at 4.75% alpha acid)
4.5 AAU Tettnanger hops (2 min.) (1 oz./28 g of 4.5% alpha acid)
4.7 AAU Hallertau Hersbrucker hops (2 min.) (1 oz./28 g of 4.7% alpha acid)
1 tsp. Irish moss (15 min.) White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) or Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar to prime

Step by Step

Steep the grains in 5 quarts of water at 150 ºF (66 °C) for 30 minutes. Strain out the grains, add the malt extracts and top up to 5 gallons (19 L). Bring to a boil. When the wort begins boiling, add East Kent Golding hops and boil for 60 minutes. Add spices and Irish moss for the last 15 minutes of the boil. Add Tettnanger and Hallertau hops for the last 2 minutes of the boil. Remove from heat and cool wort in ice bath or with wort chiller. Transfer to fermentation vessel (glass carboy). Add enough cold water to the wort to bring the volume up to 5 gallons (19 L). Pitch yeast and ferment at 55 ºF (13 °C) for 3 to 4 weeks. Prime, then bottle or keg. You should lager this beer for about 4 weeks prior to serving.

All-Grain Option: Replace the malt extracts with 5.25 pounds (2.4 kg) of pale malt. Increase the Munich malt to 4 pounds (1.8 kg) and the wheat malt to 4 pounds (1.8 kg). I would suggest a two-step mash schedule for this beer. This involves doing a 30-minute protein rest at 122 ºF (50 °C), followed by 60 minutes at 155º F (68 °C). Use 18 qts. (17 L) mash water.

You might also like…

recipe

The King’s Diamonds

This is a riff on Drew’s classic “Queen’s Diamonds” that’s slightly updated to modern ingredients and a change in history. Note th

recipe

Trans Canada Brewing Co.’s MisBEEhavin’ clone

This extra special bitter blends the sweetness of buckwheat honey with the bitterness of the hops. As a homebrewer, this prize was an amazi

Stemmed glass of strong beer. recipe

Gordon Strong’s Strong Scotch Ale

This wee heavy strikes a good compromise between strength and drinkability. It uses homebrew techniques like kettle caramelization, but othe

Glass of Brewing Lair BLT beer. recipe

The Brewing Lair’s BLT clone

A hoppy Belgian tripel brewed with Mosaic® hops added at the end of the boil and as dry hops.