Brewing with heritage lager yeast. A German style Pilsner Recipe by Mishicott Brewing.

Heritage Lager is a unique and historic lager experience brewed in collaboration with Jasper Yeast.

Every step of the process was inspired by traditional German brewing techniques. The yeast that fermented this beer was recently rediscovered by German scientists, and then propagated in the laboratory at Jasper Yeast in Northern Virginia. I was extremely lucky to be one of the few select brewers in the world to experiment with this historic yeast.

Heritage Lager pours a radiant straw yellow color with a puffy white head. It is exceptionally clean and bright with iconic German lager qualities from the yeast. German noble hops Hallertau Mittelfrüh and Tettnang provide slightly spicy, earthy, and floral aromas, followed by light crackery malt character from a decocted mash.

Thank you to the team at Jasper Yeast for sponsoring the ingredients for this beer and making it possible to produce a piece of brewing heritage.

JY337 is a very flocculant lager strain originating from a small microbrewery in Germany. Slow but steady in fermentation. Dropping bright, and attenuating well. The strain produces a touch of sweetness without being cloying. Its all yeast character. Very well suited for hop-flavor forward lagers and light lagers that benefit from a touch of sweetness (think Asian-style lager). Flocculates well.

This strain displays some thiolizing activity that comes through when precursors are present, but do not worry: this strain is not genetically modified and the effect is subtle (so no overly sulfurous nose and taste!).

Recipe
80% efficiency
Batch Volume: 5 gal / 18.9L
Boil Time: 60 min
Mash Water: 3.57 gal / 13.5L
Sparge Water: 3.30 gal / 12.5L
Total Water: 6.87gal / 26L
Boil Volume: 6.28 gal / 23.8L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.038
Original Gravity: 1.044 / 11°P
Final Gravity: 1.008
IBU (Tinseth): 37
Color: 2.7 SRM

Mash
Protein — 122 °F / 50 °C — 35 min
Alpha — 145 °F /62.8 °C — 45 min
Beta — 156 °F / 68.9 °C — 45 min
Decoction — 210 °F / 98.9 °C — 10 min
Mashout — 168 °F / 75.6 °C — 10 min

Malt
6 lb 8.8 oz (88.9%) — Pilsner Malt or MCM Bavarian Pilsner Malt
8.8 oz (7.5%) — Acidulated Malt
4.2 oz (3.6%) — Carapils/Carafoam

Hops – 37 IBUs
20.2 IBUs Magnum 12% — First Wort
5.6 IBUs Tettnang 2.20% — 10 min
3.6 IBUs Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 2.5% — 10 min
4.2 IBUs Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 2.5% — 0 min
3.7 IBUs Tettnang 2.20% — 0 min

Yeast
1 pkg — JY337 or WLP830 German Pilsner
Save 5% off your order at Yeast Man by using code “MashMag”.

Fermentation
67°F / 19°C — if fermenting under pressure
Primary — 52 °F / 11.1 °C — 6 days
Diacetyl — 58 °F / 14.4 °C — 10 days
Cold Crash — 38 °F / 3.3 °C — 3 days

Cheers!
By Christian M. Mishicott Brewing

Christian operates his home brewery out of a small garage in Alexandria, VA, where passion and creativity come together in every batch. What started as a hobby has grown into a hands-on pursuit of craft brewing, with his small space serving as both a workshop and a reflection of his dedication to the art of beer making. You can follow along on his journey by following him on his Instagram.