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July 5, 2019
Last updated

Funky Mexican Lager

Owner of Clawhammer Supply

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mexican Lager Homebrew

This beer turned out to be a happy accident. It was intended to be a pretty straightforward lager with a full body and some limey tasting hops, but a surprise wild bacteria infection added some orange funk. This is perhaps one of those rare occasions where it was a welcome addition and the beer actually tastes better, or at least more interesting, because of it. Here's how and why we made the beer the way we did.

Full Mexican Lager Recipe and Brew Day Video

We're brewing 10 gallons (37.9 liters) of beer on Clawhammer's new 20 gallon (75.7 liter), electric, brew in a basket system. We started with 14.25 gallons (53.9 liters) of water and didn't do any water chemistry adjustments. We added the following to the mash:

  • 14lbs (6kg 350.3g) of pale malt,
  • 7 pounds (3kg 175.1g) of malted corn (flaked maize will be fine)
  • and 9.6oz (272.2g) of Munich malt.

pouring grains in grinder

We finely crushed all of our grain before mashing with it

mashing in

Mashing in

We mashed for 60 minutes and checked pH about 10 minutes in. It naturally landed at a pH of 5.48 and we didn't feel like messing with it at that point, so we let it ride.

ph at 5.48 - just right

After the mash we pulled the grains to drain and cranked up the heat. At the top of our 60 minute boil we added 2oz (56.7g) of Hallertau hops. With 15 minutes left in the boil we added 1 whirlfloc tablet (we probably should have added two) and 4 ounces (113.4g) of Motueka hops. We wanted this to be a slightly hoppy lager.

adding hops to the hop basket

Adding hops to the hop basket

After cooling the wort down to pitching temp, we transferred into fermentation buckets and added 2 packages of white labs wlp800 yeast to each fermenter. The beer was fermented for 20 days then lagered for a few weeks.

pitching yeast

Pitching yeast

As mentioned above, this beer turned out great. It's light and refreshing but has a peppery "wild" finish with a lot of lime and some orange too. It's perfect for summer. We highly recommend brewing it.

drinking the finished beer

Kyle said, "It's really good, it turned out well."

Kyle Brown is the owner of Clawhammer Supply, a small scale distillation and brewing equipment company which he founded in 2009. His passion is teaching people about the many uses of distillation equipment as well as how to make beer at home. When he isn't brewing beer or writing about it, you can find him at his local gym or on the running trail.

  • Hey guys, Love your recipes and content! Just wanted to bring attention to the fact that you added your final hop addition in the video with 5 minutes left in the boil. In your article here it says you added the whirlfloc and the 4oz of motueka with 15 min left in the boil. Probably just a simple mistake but could lead the finished beer to be more bitter than intended. Thanks for the awesome video and keep it up!

    Posted by Cody on March 15, 2023
  • First off – love your videos. Hands down the best (and funniest) beer recipe videos on youtube.

    Secondly, my lhbs doesn’t have motueka. Can I replace it with something from the list on here: https://beermaverick.com/hop/motueka/ ? Maybe Saaz? Any other suggestions to get close to the flavor/aroma?

    Thanks for your time!

    Posted by Chris on July 28, 2020
  • Did you make water chemistry adjustments? If yes what adjustment did you make. I’m in Wahalla, SC and we have 4-6 calcium/2 magnesium, 15 total alkalinity and 7 silica all PPM. Not sure on the chlorides and Sulfates. Should be very similar to AVL.

    Posted by SEan ISrael on June 05, 2020
  • did you ferment this at a normal temp of around 68-70 then lager at a cooler temp? What did your abv end at?

    Posted by jake on April 28, 2020
  • Hello, I am new to all grain brewing what would be the appropriate measurements of ingredients for 1.5-gallon batch? Also is 14.25 gallons the amount of water you used for the mash and the boil size was 12.6? Also, you didn’t need to sparge?

    Thanks,
    Eric

    Posted by Eric DRAPER on July 16, 2019
  • Hello, I am new to all grain brewing what would be the appropriate measurements of ingredients for 1.5-gallon batch? Also is 14.25 gallons the amount of water you used for the mash and the boil size was 12.6? Also, you didn’t need to sparge?

    Thanks,
    Eric

    Posted by Eric DRAPER on July 16, 2019
  • Is there any way to get the bugs that were used in the log beer/this happy accident? I love funky beers and I’m always looking to get my hands on some new bugs. Thanks!

    Posted by Jamison on July 08, 2019

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