Description

Festival Vienna Red Lager

Festival Vienna Red Lager is a high-quality premium 3kg beer kit. Everything you need to brew a superb Red Lager is included in the box (except water).  Festival Vienna Red Lager is a light copper coloured beer with a white fluffy head. It has deep a fruity peach like character, with a cedar wood finish and a hint of sweet herbs. It provides a good malty deep satisfying body with crisp bitterness with a touch of grassiness. This beer is an excellent all-rounder and makes an interesting change from conventional lagers. You can really taste the rich German-style malts that add a background malty complexity to the beer. It is one of our favourites in the range. Give it a try you will not be disappointed.

A sachet of hop pellets is included so that a background hop aroma can be achieved. A 150g sachet of priming sugar is provided to ensure bottles or barrels are properly conditioned.

Hop bitterness of the Vienna Red Lager is 2.5 (on a scale of 1-5). The kit produces a target alcohol content of 5% ABV (approx)

The Festival Vienna Red Lager kit contains high-quality ingredients and easy to follow step-by-step instructions. Each kit makes 40 pints of premium ale

What is Vienna Red Lager?

Named after the city of its origin, a traditional Vienna Lager is brewed using a three-step boiling process. Munich, Pilsner, Vienna, and dextrin malts are used, as well as wheat in some cases. Vienna lager is a reddish-amber coloured, malt-forward beer, that showcases the toasted flavours of Vienna malt. Hop bitterness is just high enough to balance the malt’s sweetness without overshadowing the flavour. The spicy flavor and aroma of European hops may be present but usually at only very low levels. It finishes dry and crisp with lingering toasty malt character and bitterness. American versions can be found and they are often a little stronger, drier, and more bitter, while modern European versions tend to be sweeter. Mexican versions that saved the style have become adjunct-heavy brews more akin to dark American lagers.

In essence, therefore, Vienna Lager range from copper to reddish brown in colour. The beer is characterized by malty aroma and slight malt sweetness. The malt aroma and flavour should have a notable degree of toasted and/or slightly roasted malt character. Hop bitterness is low to medium-low. The style is often overlooked by home craft brewers but in our opinion, those that try it get hooked on the style and keep coming back.

What’s included?

• Premium Liquid Malt Extract, Barley Extract ( contains Gluten)
• 10g Genuine Brewer’s Californian Lager Yeast Sachet
• 50g Hop Pellets Addition: Hallertau, Brewers Gold
• 350g Dextrose Brewing Sugar
• 150g Priming Sugar

            Allergy Advice: May include barley and other cereals, containing gluten

Specifications

• Kit weight: 3.5kg
• Makes: 40 pints / 5 gallons
• ABV Approx: 5.0%
• Target Finishing Gravity: 1.008 (approx)
• Fermentation time: 7 days (approx)
• Conditioning time: 4 weeks

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED?

Basic beer making equipment (5g fermenter, airlock, syphon tube with sediment trap, hydrometer, Suresan sanitiser, bottles or barrel). These are available under the starter kit section on this website.

Food Pairing

In general terms, a light ale goes best with chicken or fish dishes and darker beers for richer dining, red meat or spicy dishes and game. The lightly malty, bready backbone of this red Vienna lager works well with many of the same pairings as Oktoberfest beers. It will pair well with bratwurst sausage, barbequed sausage and burgers, spiced chicken wings, and just about any grilled meat.

TIPS

We strongly recommend using Pure Brew with this kit in order to achieve a commercial quality. Pure Brew is a professional beer enhancer. It feeds the yeast with essential nutrients, which supercharge the fermentation and support yeast development (even in limited oxygen conditions). Additionally, Pure Brew treats brewing water, eliminating problems caused by Chlorine and Chloramine, which can create a medicinal or, as it is sometimes referred to, a “homebrew” taste. Achieving optimum results in brewing critically depends on the condition of brewing water, but this important area is often overlooked. By using Pure Brew, you can effectively and easily condition brewing water, and maximise effective fermentation.

The addition of beer finings will improve the final quality of your beer. Finings such as Harris Beer Brite will help your beer to clear quickly and the sediment will be more likely to stay at the bottom of bottles or barrels. If you are using Corny Kegs then it is important to clear the beer as much as possible before kegging. Beer Finings will promote a faster and more efficient fall out of sediment and haze particles prior to kegging. Harris Starbrite is a highly effective vegan-friendly beer fining, which is rapidly becoming a firm favourite with home brewers.