Beer Style: European Dark Lager
Double-Decocted Czech Dark Lager
This beer is in the style of U Fleků, the best-known Czech example of this style, and uses the mash schedule from that brewery. It is a little different from the common schedules that I use. When pulling decoctions, take about 1⁄3 of the thick part of the mash to heat in your decoction kettle. Maintain the main mash at the current rest temperature until the decoction is finished. The recipe uses a slow, traditional lagering schedule.
The Dark Side of Lager
From Germany and the Czech Republic, to the Baltics and North America, dark lager styles are seeing growing popularity among craft brewers and homebrewers alike. The styles are all different, but also share commonalities in how they are created. Get tips for brewing your own crisp dark lager this winter.
Oakshire Brewing Co.’s Tmavé Pivo clone
Tmavé pivo is the overlying style of Czech dark lager. We use an extensive malt bill to add depth to the final beer while eliminating as much of the roast character as possible. Supremely drinkable and one of our favorites to make!
Oakshire Brewing Co.’s Doggerland Baltic Porter clone
This recipe snagged a silver medal for Oakshire at the 2018 World Beer Cup.
Blue Stallion Brewing Co.’s Dunkel clone
The mainstay of the Blue Stallion Brewing lineup is the extremely popular Dunkel. The 5.5% ABV, 25 IBU lager showcases rich, sweet aromas with bready flavors and a hint of caramel/toffee.
Mamacita’s Dark Kölsch
Mamacita’s Dark Kölsch (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.050 FG = 1.014IBU = 27 SRM = 21 ABV = 4.7% An homage to St. Arnold Brewing’s Santo, which was in the brewery’s
Gordon Strong’s Czech Dark Lager
I prefer maltier versions of this style a touch stronger but this version is on the hoppy side to help distinguish it from its German cousin.
Czech Dark Lager: Prague’s dunkel
When it comes to dark lagers, schwarzbier and Munich dunkels aren’t the only kinds being brewed in Europe. Learn about the differences between those two styles and the Czech version of a dark lager.
Schwarzbier: Germany’s darkest beer
Schwarzbier is a beer style that has recently risen to prominence after its popularity waned in its native region. Learn what makes this beer so unique, fun to brew, and great to drink.
Gordon Strong’s Schwarzbier
This beer is brewed at the 12 °P (1.048 SG) strength, which is typical of standard-strength German beers. For me, the most important parts of this style for the brewer is to use the debittered dark malts, and to properly attenuate the beer so that it isn’t too heavy.
Munich Dunkel: The original brown lager of Bavaria
Munich dunkel captures historical Bavarian brewing in a glass: Munich malt, decoction mashing, and clean, smooth lager character.
Thuringian Schwarzbier
De-husked roasted malts like Carafa® III are an ideal solution to darken the color of schwarzbiers as they don’t have any sharp acrid notes as highly kilned malts do. This makes a surprisingly smooth dark lager.
