Mexican Lager - All Grain Recipe

For reasons we don't fully understand, Mexican Lagers seem to be going through a bit of a trending/hype phase right now, with most craft breweries now offering their own take on the classic cerveza.

Recipe Rationale

Given the sudden explosion in popularity of Mexican lagers, and the success we had with our most recently brewed lager, a Munich Helles, we figured we'd try our hand again at a slightly different style. It's a pretty basic and simple recipe, which we have based on The Homebrew Network's YouTube video - El Zombi Cervesa. We never would have thought to have used instant polenta, but it's an interesting alternative to flaked maize which is also derived from corn.

It's also another opportunity to use NovaLager yeast, which we've only used once before in a Japanese Lager Fresh Wort Kit (FWK) - with great results.

All Grain Recipe

Vitals

• Batch Volume: 23L 
• Boil Time: 60 minutes
• Brewhouse Efficiency: 75%
• Original Gravity: 1.042
• Final Gravity: 1.007
• IBU (Tinseth): 14
• BU/GU: 0.34
• Colour: 5.9 EBC
• Expected ABV: 4.6%

Mash

• Temperature: 65°C - 60 minutes
• Mash Out: 75°C - 10 minutes

Malts

• 3.5 kg - Gladfield German Pilsener Malt (83%)
• 0.5 kg - Instant Polenta (corn) (12%)
• 0.2 kg - Gladfield Chit Barley Malt (5%)

Hops

• 60 mins - Hallertau Tradition - 11 IBU
• 10 mins - Hallertau Tradition - 3 IBU

Yeast

• Lallemand (Lalbrew) NovaLager - 1 packet

Fermentation

• 18°C - 12 days

Carbonation

• 2.4 CO2-vol

Water Profile

• Brewfather's American Lager profile
• Ca2+ (Calcium): 13
• Mg2+ (Magnesium): 6
• Na+ (Sodium): 35
• Cl- (Chloride): 57
• SO42- (Sulfate): 25
• HCO3- (Bicarbonate): 35

Brewfather Recipe Link

https://share.brewfather.app/xt8SbYvJkcevFr

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