Traditional Korean Pale Lager Beer

Heat 15 liters of brewing water to 72°C in your mash tun. Add the Pilsner malt and flaked rice, stirring well to prevent dough balls. The mash temperature should stabilize around 66-67°C. Maintain this temperature for 60 minutes.

After mashing, recirculate the wort until clear, then begin sparging by slowly rinsing the grain bed with 10 liters of hot water (around 77°C) to collect a total of approximately 23-24 liters of wort into your brew kettle.

Bring the wort to a rolling boil. Once boiling, add the first addition of Saaz hops (28g). After 45 minutes of boiling, add Irish Moss/Whirlfloc and yeast nutrient. At 15 minutes remaining in the boil, add the second Saaz hops addition (22g). Boil for a total of 60 minutes.

Rapidly chill the wort to 10-12°C using an immersion chiller or ice bath. Sanitize your fermenter during this time.

Transfer the chilled wort to your sanitized fermenter. Pitch the lager yeast, ensuring it is properly hydrated or an active starter. Seal the fermenter and place it in a temperature-controlled environment at 10-12°C for primary fermentation, which typically lasts 2-3 weeks.

After primary fermentation, transfer the beer to a secondary fermenter or leave in primary for a diacetyl rest at 18°C for 2-3 days, then gradually reduce the temperature to 0-4°C for lagering (cold conditioning) for 3-5 weeks.

Sanitize your bottles or keg. Dissolve the dextrose in a small amount of hot water, then add it to your bottling bucket or keg. Rack the conditioned beer onto the priming sugar. Bottle or keg the beer, then allow it to carbonate at room temperature for 1-2 weeks before refrigerating and enjoying.