New Belgium Brewing Company: 1554 Black Lager clone
This unique dark lager uses a recipe that was destroyed by a flood in 1997 and the recreated by the researcher Phil Benstein and New Belgium Brewmaster Peter Bouckaert, based on ancient Belgian beer texts.
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.059 FG = 1.013
IBU = 21 SRM = 35 ABV = 6%
Ingredients
7.5 lbs. (3.4 kg) pale malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) CaraPils® malt
4 lb. (1.8 kg) Munich malt (20 °L)
7 oz. (0.28 kg) chocolate malt
1 oz. (28 g) black malt
5.8 AAU Target hops (60 min.) (0.53 oz./15 g at 11% alpha acids)
0.35 oz. (10 g) licorice root (15 min.)
Wyeast 2124 (Bohemian Lager) or White Labs WLP830 (German Lager) or SafLager W-34/70 yeast
3/4 cup (150 g) dextrose (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash the grains at 154 °F (68 °C) for 60 minutes. Mash out, vorlauf, and then sparge at 170 °F (77 °C) to collect enough wort to result in 5 gallons (19 L) after a 90-minute boil. Boil 90 minutes, adding hops and licorice root at times indicated. Cool, aerate, and pitch yeast. Ferment at 65 °F (18 °C). After fermentation is complete, bottle or keg as usual.
Extract with grains option:
Substitute the pale and Munich malts in the all-grain recipe with 3 lbs. (1.4 kg) light dried malt extract and 3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) Munich liquid malt extract. Steep grains in 3 qts. (2.8 L) of water at 154 °F (68 °C) for 45 minutes. Add water to make 3 gallons (11 L) of wort and bring to a boil. Stir in dried malt extract and boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at times indicated. Add Munich malt extract for final 15 minutes of the boil. Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with cool water. Follow the remaining portion of the all-grain recipe.
