I am happy to introduce our first Hwy 50 lager, a Mexican lager we’re calling Cerveza El Dorado. It’s on tap now, and I hope you’ll give it try—especially if you’re a fan of light crisp Mexican lagers.

I’ve always liked a good lager. When Diane and I go out to other breweries, I order a pilsner most times or some type of lager, because I enjoy the style so much. They have a lower alcohol volume too, so Diane can enjoy whatever beer she wants, and I can drive us home!

I have brewed lagers as a home brewer, but this is my first foray into lagers here at Hwy50 Brewery. It was a challenge for us because we have a traditional brewhouse here that’s designed for making ales. It does a great job at that. But lagers are a whole other world.

In attempting a lager, I knew we’d have to do a two-step infusion mash process on equipment that’s not built for even a modern single-step mash! But after running thousands of barrels of beer through it, I know our beloved brewhouse well. We know what it’ll do, know its hiccups and its strengths. So I had confidence going forward.

A particular challenge is that the brewhouse was built 30 years ago and nothing is automated. It’s all mechanical, meaning we do everything by hand. This causes a lot of work for us. Making a Mexican lager meant it would be just me, a paddle, and a heck of a lot of stirring!

MEXICAN LAGER’S STORY

Lagers originated in the 1800s in, what was then, Czechoslovakia. The most famous of these amazing beers is the first pilsner-style lager, Pilsner Urquell. There were other lagers at that time, but with this one, brewing techniques really started coming together. Brewers were able to get a more controlled and consistent malting process, with lighter and more evenly roasted malts.  With lighter malts they could create these beautiful light beers that we still enjoy today.

Brewing folklore tells us that sometime around the late 1800s, a German monk stole some lager yeast from a Czechoslovakian brewery and brought it back to Germany.

As in any type of industry, Germans typically get things right, and soon they developed their own style of lager—we know them as Bohemian lagers—to compete with the Czechoslovakian pilsners.

The “Mexican” part of the lager story comes during the 1800s and early 1900s when there was a huge wave of German migration into Mexico. With that migration came some of the culture and agricultural techniques and—thank goodness—highly developed brewing techniques.

However making beer in Mexico, German brewers were now free from the so-called “purity law” in Germany known as the Reinheitsgebot. It prohibits adding any adjuncts to beer. You could use only hops, malted barley, water, and yeast. No fruit or spices or grains like wheat, rice, or corn.

If you know Mexican lagers, you know corn is a big factor. It had been cultivated in Mexico for thousands of years before the Germans got there and experimented with it. They discovered that corn lightened the body and color of their beer. Corn also brought a bit of sweetness and distinctive flavor that makes Mexican lager what it is.

I wanted to make a truly authentic Mexican lager, so the addition of corn directly to our mechanical brewhouse was certainly something we had to think through—especially considering the two-step mash process we would need.

DOING THE TWO-STEP

A two-step mash means meeting two temperatures. Typically the Germans did this with a decoction mash where you pull off a portion of the grain and liquid, bring it to a boil and put it back in to raise the temperature of the mash.

These days more often you see a two-stage infusion mash where you set your mash between 118 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit for a few minutes, then add hot water to help get it up to a second temperature. This helps break down the proteins and leads to a clearer beer.

During this second stage, starch—through enzymatic activity—converts to sugar, which is what we want. Sugar feeds the yeast and creates alcohol during fermentation.

Cooler mash temperatures (say between 147 and 148 degrees) create a simpler sugar, higher temperatures (between 150 and 152 degrees) create more complex chains of sugar molecules that are less digestible by yeast and so remain in the finished beer.

UNIQUE YEAST, UNIQUE FERMENTATION

Fermentation is interesting in a lager and is often referred to as bottom fermentation. The fact is fermentation doesn’t take place on the bottom. It’s just that you don’t see as much yeast activity on the top like you do with an ale. None the less, the yeast is in the wort converting those sugars to alcohol and CO2.

As with the mash, fermentation temperatures for a lager are also considerably cooler. Typically with an ale we ferment at around 66 degrees. For our lager we fermented much lower, around 52 degrees.

We chose a very neutral lager yeast for this beer that wouldn’t provide much byproduct flavor so the results would be very clean, letting the other flavors shine. We went with dry yeast instead of liquid—which I know goes against the norms, but it was very stable through the process, and I like the outcome.

Once the yeast got rolling, we raised the temperature of the wort four or five degrees to let it finish. When it was done and the yeast had cleaned up after itself, we dropped the temperature to 38 and then to 34 to let the lager do what lagers do at those temperatures—develop those beautiful lager flavors we look for. At the end, the yeast had dropped out and we had a very clear product without the need to filter.

HOPS, A NOBLE CHOICE

With that malt sweetness and the corn, our lager would need a hint of hop bitterness to provide balance. For authenticity, choosing one of the German Noble hops would be logical.

European Noble hops are beautifully delicate hops that come out of the Germanic regions and Czechoslovakia. Some of the well-known varieties are Tettnang, Hallertauer or Saaz. These are beautifully unique, having floral and spicey characteristics.

But on this beer, we deviated from tradition and used Loral™ hops—which is an American Noble hop. To be honest, there’s a shortage right now of some of the European Noble hops. Bad weather last year has really impacted our ability to get them.

Here in the United States we’ve developed some wonderful strains of those original Noble hops. Loral has characteristics of some of its German noble parentage, but it’s truly a unique American hop. It is mild and delicate and similar to Old-World Noble hops.

I also chose Loral™ for its hint of lemon citrus that—while it’s not wholly traditional—lines up well with that bit of acidity that comes out in this type of lager. Those lemon notes also brighten the flavor coming from the corn.

In choosing an American hop, we strayed from tradition, but that is what craft brewing is all about!

A LAGER FOR LAGER FANS

In our continuing effort to offer new beers at HWY 50 Brewery, this is our first lager. And with my personality which likes to do things right, I actually spent more time preparing to make it than I spent actually making it!

As always, I looked up every piece of information I could find and listened to every podcast on the subject. If brewers who’ve been making great lagers for years are willing to share what they know, I am more than happy to soak it up!

It took a couple months of researching and wrestling with myself to decide what route I wanted to take. Good prepping takes away some of the risk factor in making a beer for the first time. And whatever risk remains is…well that’s the fun of brewing. It needs to be exciting! I love the diversity of styles that comes with craft brewing.

In the brewing industry right now, Mexican lager is big. Many craft brewers are finding it as enjoyable as I do. There’s also a huge beer community out there that prefers light pilsner-style beers and lagers—myself included. We each like what we like, which is why there are so many successful brewing styles today. And I want to stay true to whatever style I’m brewing.

Obviously, there’s a lot of leeway—as craft brewers, we can do whatever we want. But if I call something a Mexican lager, it should be a Mexican lager!

Even though I made a few personal choices, as someone who loves Mexican lagers, I’m satisfied I’ve hit the mark with this one. It has a clear straw/golden color, is light and crisp, and those beautiful complexities from the corn come through—all characteristics people expect to find in a classic Mexican lager. In addition to that, I hope in our Mexican lager, you’ll also find a subtle uniqueness all its own!

Isn’t that what we hope for from an independent craft brewery?