By Greig McGill
When Gladfield approached me to try using Gladfields’ new Crystal Wheat malt, I was intrigued by the possibilities. Crystal malts seem to have been something of the red-headed step-child, if we’re still allowed to say that, in the world of lean and clean malt profiles. Residual sweetness? Never! Well, unless it’s a hazy, and honestly, aren’t we all bored withthose yet?
Anyway, I received the malt, ripped open the sack, and had a bit of a chew. Obviously a little darker than your typical malted wheat due to the “crystallisation” process, my first thought was that this would add a little more colour than I had considered. As I chewed, the initial delicious ANZAC cookie-like toffee/golden syrup character started to come through. There was a residual impression of freshly toasted vienna loaf straight from the oven also. This is a breakfast malt - pour some milk on it if you’ve any left over! It sparked a certain beer memory for me also… the residual sweetness of a classic Kiwi lager.
So, when everyone uses every new ingredient out there to make a hazy, what is one to do? Make a lager, of course! And not just any lager. This is the beer that mainstream kiwi lager really wants to be when it grows up. Export Crystal Math!
Starting with a beer like Export Gold, the thinking was: what if we made it a little more malty rather than just “sweet and bland”? What if we replaced that slight caramel note with toasted vienna loaf notes? What if instead of getting the malty sweetness from under-attenuation, we ferment it dry but use the crystal wheat malt for both residual sweetness and a nice fluffy head? What if we get a bit more sweetness and body from a slightly boozier 5.8% abv. What if it had just enough bitterness so a grown-up might enjoy it too? What if we left it completely unfiltered?
If Export Gold tasted like this, I’d never have bothered brewing my own beer! I think it’s a keeper.
Export Crystal Math Recipe:
Style: Lager - Experimental
Colour: 15 EBC
OG: 1.053 SG
FG: 1.009 SG
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 36 (Calculated)
Water: We target a pale, balanced profile.
Ca: 71 ppm
Mg: 24 ppm
Na: 18 ppm
Sulfate: 104 ppm
Chloride: 120 ppm
Bicarbonate: 48 ppm
Grist:
80% Gladfield Pilsner
20% Gladfield Crystal Wheat
Mash/Sparge/Boil:
60 minutes single infusion mash at 66C, acidified to 5.35 pH using lactic acid.
90 minutes sparge/run-off to kettle
90 minute boil
Hops:
6 IBU of European bittering hop for 90 minutes - I used Hallertau Herkules 2020 at 17.9% AA.
30 IBU of Hallertau Mittelfrüh (2021 - 5% AA) for 5 minutes*
* Our whirlpool is flame-out, but no cooling for around 15 minutes, so it approximates a 5 minute addition, once time to knock out is taken into account in terms of alpha acid isomerisation, confirmed with lab analysis of calculated IBU vs. actual. For guidance, we want just a hint of hop aroma, and some spicy flavour from this addition - adjust for your brewhouse accordingly.
Fermentation:
Wort was run to FV at 13C, Oxygenated at 6L/min for the 20 minute knock out. Pitched rehydrated Lallemand Diamond Lager yeast at 100g/hL. Allowed fermentation to rise naturally to 15C. Held until complete. VDK rest at 16C for 48 hours. Step cooling 1C per day down to 2C - 14 days step cooling, 21 days lagering at 2C. Transferred to Brite, no filtration or fining. Carbonated to 2.5 volumes. Packaged to keg.