Lager beer stretches far beyond what comes in 30-can cases at your local package store. The cold-fermenting family of beers covers an array of flavors and is as diverse as its warmer-fermenting sibling, ale.
We’ve compiled 10 lager recipes, from award-winning American lagers to eccentric, professionally brewed craft beer examples. You’ll find a lager style for every type of beer drinker!
Find many more lager and other beer, mead, and cider recipes in our homebrew recipes archive.
1. Victory Brewing Co. Prima Pils
German Pilsner
Victory Brewing Company’s Prima Pils is a light and crisp German-style Pilsner with loads of hops hiding underneath the frothy head.
Thirst quenching and flavorful, you can taste the German subtleties lingering beneath the long, dry finish of this classy beer.
2. John’s “World Famous” Dark Lager
Dark American Lager
Don’t let the color fool you! This dark lager has a subtle malt aroma, mild sweetness, and subdued hop flavor akin to lighter-colored lagers.
De-husked specialty malts create the near-black color without adding the bitterness often associated with roasted malts.
View this dark American lager recipe >
3. Chrysanthemum Flower Tea Kölsch
Kölsch with Tea
Chrysanthemum tea has been enjoyed in east Asia for hundreds of years, making it no surprise that this Kölsch-style recipe originates in Bangkok, Thailand. What may be surprising, though, is that this “Kölsch”—normally a cool-fermented ale—uses a bona fide lager strain!
Loose leaf tea is added late in boil, infusing its earthy and floral qualities into the light-bodied Kölsch. Learn more about brewing in Thailand.
4. Jekyll Brewing Seven Bridges
Oktoberfest/Märzen/Festbier
Break out the dirndls and lederhosen, and enjoy Oktoberfest year-round with this Seven Bridges clone recipe from Jekyll Brewing of Alpharetta, Ga.
Malty sweetness is paired with German Tettnang hops added at the beginning and end of the boil, making a perfectly balanced Oktoberfest.
5. Phil’s Award-winning Lager
American Lager
Sometimes simplicity is the key to a great beer, and this award-winning American lager recipe proves just that.
Weighing in at 4% ABV, Pilsner and crystal malts are paired with a single hop addition making for the perfect thirst quencher after a hot day mowing the lawn.
View this American lager recipe >
6. Continental-style Baltic Porter
Baltic Porter
Porter is traditionally fermented with ale yeast. But as the popular style of working-class London was exported, countries in the frigid Baltic region decided to make their own spin.
Ale yeast was replaced with lager yeast, which prospers in the cold. The result is a dark, robust porter with the smoothness of a clean-fermented lager.
View this Baltic porter recipe >
7. Free State Brewing Co. Garden Party Lager
American Lager with Herbs and Spices
This specialty American lager from Free State Brewing Company in Kansas lives up to its name!
The light and fresh lager features three unique ingredients: English cucumber, Genovese basil, and juniper berry. These three ingredients are added after fermentation, creating a unique combination of earthy and herbal notes.
View this spice/herb/vegetable lager recipe >
8. Chickity Czech Yourself
Bohemian/Czech Pilsener
This Bohemian Pilsener is what you’d call a SMaSH (single malt and single hop) beer, where the brewer uses just one malt and one hop variety to create an outstanding beer.
Using Pilsner malt and three additions of Saaz hops, this Bohemian Pilsner recipe won gold in the 2017 National Homebrew Competition.
View this Czech Pilsener recipe >
9. Gordon Biersch Brewery Winter Bock
Doppelbock
When Old Man Winter comes knocking at the door, it helps to have a warming, malty doppelbock beer in hand!
Doppelbocks are strong, dark beers that 11th-century Bavarian monks consumed for sustenance during winter fasts. This example from Gordon Biersch is deceptively drinkable despite its 9% ABV.
10. Rocky Raccoon’s Honey Lager
Premium American Lager with Honey & Jasmine
This honey lager is one of AHA founder Charlie Papazian’s most popular homebrew recipes. “Hundreds of homebrewers have won awards in competitions for their renditions of this beer,” he notes.
Named after a Beatles song, this homebrew recipe calls for a hefty dose of honey to add perfume-like qualities and increase the strength. If you desire more floral notes, dry hop with jasmine flowers!
View this honey lager recipe >
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