Homebrew Recipe: “Faux-kanee” Canadian Lager

Every year, my wife and I make a trip up to Whistler for the annual Telus Festival. This week-long celebration of snow sports features live music, big-air competitions, plenty of swag from the sponsors, and pitchers and pitchers of that golden Canadian nectar Kokanee. After our last visit, I wanted to see if I could make a comparable lager on my own… so I did.

Quite simply, I brewed this beer to make something that my wife would drink. She’s not a big fan of overly-malty or overly-hoppy  beers, and has a pension for sweeter beers that tend not to have a bitter aftertaste.

This full-extract brew was very simple, and will be something that I brew again, as it’s an easy-drinking summer brew.

Fermentables:

• 1 lb Gold DME
• 3 lbs Pilsner DME
• 1/2 lb rice DME

Additions:

• 1 tbsp. gypsum pre-boil
• 1/2 oz. cluster hops @ boil
• 1/4 oz Willamette hops @ 55 min

Yeast: WYEAST 2035 – American Lager

Given that the brew had no grain to steep, I could jump straight to the standard 60-minute boil.

After the initial fermentation, I racked the brew for an additional 3 weeks to improve the clarity.

Cheers, Eh!