American Golden Lager
This recipe is assembled from the practices documented across this site — the flagship bitterness architecture and fermentation discipline, the tetra swap, the standard mash — pointed at the most-brewed, most-missed style in America. Is it a clone of anything? We're saying it's built from the documented practices on this site, and we're smiling while we say it.
American Golden Lager
- Protocol
- GFB-R1
- Version
- Recipe v1
- Effective
- August 2026
A 100% sorghum malt golden lager at 10.5°P and 18 IBU — the naked style, assembled from the practices documented across this site. Every flaw in the malt, the mash, or the fermentation walks straight into the glass; that is the experiment.
No cover: There is no hop cover and no roast cover in a 10.5°P golden lager — a buttery, estery, or sulfury fermentation IS the beer, so the fermentation discipline below is not optional. This exact recipe as printed has not been brewed and measured; your batch is the data.
Ingredient bill
| Ingredient | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Pale sorghum malt | ~9 lb The all-sorghum base | Documented |
| Gypsum | ~1 tsp in the grist Grist gypsum at ~0.2% | Documented |
| Brewing water | Calcium ~100 ppm Profile your source first | Documented |
| Hops — German route | Magnum 60 min ~9 IBU; Tettnang 15 + 3 min ~4 IBU The earlier documented hop bill | Documented |
| Hops — American route | CTZ 60 min ~9 IBU; Sterling 15 min ~4 IBU The later documented hop bill | Documented |
| Tetra hop extract | ~5 IBU, post-fermentation The head-retention swap | Documented |
| Whirlfloc + gluten-free-verified yeast nutrient | Per supplier, 45 min into the boil | Documented |
| Yeast | Clean ale strain at 20.5°C — or a true lager strain, cold Ale-cool is the documented practice; true lager is style guidance | Documented |
Stage before brew day
Run the standard — and mean it
- Do
- Run the Reliable Mash at Homebrew Scale, doses scaled to the ~9 lb grist. Collect to hit 10.5°P.
- Add
- Per the Reliable Mash run sheet
- Advance when
- Wort at 10.5°P in the kettle.
- Record
- Efficiency vs the sheet · Gravity collected
Sixty minutes, restrained hands
- Do
- Bittering charge at the start (route of choice, ~9 IBU). Whirlfloc and nutrient at 45 minutes. Character hops late per your route (15 min; the German route adds a 3-minute charge).
- Add
- Bittering hops at start
- Whirlfloc + nutrient at 45 min
- Character hops late
- Advance when
- Knockout at target gravity.
- Record
- Hop route, charges, timings · Post-boil gravity
Where this beer is won
- Do
- Pitch adequately, hold 20.5°C for the ale route (or run your lager strain cold per its spec). Watch gravity.
- Add
- None
- Advance when
- Gravity nears 5°P.
- Record
- Fermentation curve · Temperature log
The diacetyl rest
- Do
- At about 5°P, raise to 22°C. Hold until gravity is stable and diacetyl is gone.
- Add
- None
- Advance when
- Stable gravity, clean sensory check.
- Record
- Rest start/end · Final gravity
Crash, tetra, carbonate
- Do
- Crash cold. Dose tetra extract to ~5 IBU post-fermentation. Carbonate and serve. Lager route: three to four weeks cold first.
- Add
- Tetra extract, ~5 IBU
- Advance when
- Carbonated, holding a head.
- Record
- Tetra dose · Head retention with vs without, if you split
| Step | Action | Target | Add | Advance when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Mash: more detail | Run the Reliable Mash at Homebrew Scale, doses scaled to the ~9 lb grist. Collect to hit 10.5°P. | the Reliable Mash at Homebrew Scale Per the Reliable Mash sheet |
| Wort at 10.5°P in the kettle. |
| 2. Boil: more detail | Bittering charge at the start (route of choice, ~9 IBU). Whirlfloc and nutrient at 45 minutes. Character hops late per your route (15 min; the German route adds a 3-minute charge). | Boiling 60 min |
| Knockout at target gravity. |
| 3. Ferment: more detail | Pitch adequately, hold 20.5°C for the ale route (or run your lager strain cold per its spec). Watch gravity. | 20.5°C (69°F) ale — or lager cold To ~5°P | None | Gravity nears 5°P. |
| 4. D-rest: more detail | At about 5°P, raise to 22°C. Hold until gravity is stable and diacetyl is gone. | Raise to 22°C at ~5°P Until stable and clean | None | Stable gravity, clean sensory check. |
| 5. Finish: more detail | Crash cold. Dose tetra extract to ~5 IBU post-fermentation. Carbonate and serve. Lager route: three to four weeks cold first. | Cold and clear — |
| Carbonated, holding a head. |
Run each step with its checks and context
Use the run sheet during a routine mash. Use these expanded steps when setting up the process, training an operator, documenting a deviation, or diagnosing unexpected behavior.
Run the standard — and mean it
Objective
the Reliable Mash produces a glucose-forward wort, and for once that is the point: this style wants dry, crisp, and fully attenuated.
Operating instruction
Run the Reliable Mash at Homebrew Scale, doses scaled to the ~9 lb grist. Collect to hit 10.5°P.
- Per the Reliable Mash run sheet
What good looks like
Wort at 10.5°P in the kettle.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Efficiency vs the sheet · Gravity collected
Level 3 · Mechanism and evidence the Reliable Mash at Homebrew Scale
Sixty minutes, restrained hands
Objective
Modest bitterness on a base with little malt sweetness to balance — 13 IBU from the kettle, the rest comes later from tetra.
Operating instruction
Bittering charge at the start (route of choice, ~9 IBU). Whirlfloc and nutrient at 45 minutes. Character hops late per your route (15 min; the German route adds a 3-minute charge).
- Bittering hops at start
- Whirlfloc + nutrient at 45 min
- Character hops late
What good looks like
Knockout at target gravity.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Hop route, charges, timings · Post-boil gravity
Where this beer is won
Objective
Clean fermentation with nothing to hide behind.
Operating instruction
Pitch adequately, hold 20.5°C for the ale route (or run your lager strain cold per its spec). Watch gravity.
What good looks like
Gravity nears 5°P.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Fermentation curve · Temperature log
The diacetyl rest
Objective
No hop cover for a buttery lager — the documented rest is the insurance.
Operating instruction
At about 5°P, raise to 22°C. Hold until gravity is stable and diacetyl is gone.
What good looks like
Stable gravity, clean sensory check.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Rest start/end · Final gravity
Crash, tetra, carbonate
Objective
The last five IBU arrive with the foam.
Operating instruction
Crash cold. Dose tetra extract to ~5 IBU post-fermentation. Carbonate and serve. Lager route: three to four weeks cold first.
- Tetra extract, ~5 IBU
What good looks like
Carbonated, holding a head.
Watch for
No additional step-specific warning.
Record
Tetra dose · Head retention with vs without, if you split
Two documented hop routes
Both hop bills are documented practice — pick one, or split a batch and run the comparison (Research Ask #1):
| Route | Bittering | Character |
|---|---|---|
| German | Magnum, 60 min, ~9 IBU | Tettnang, 15 min and 3 min, ~4 IBU |
| American | CTZ, 60 min, ~9 IBU | Sterling, 15 min, ~4 IBU |
Then the tetra swap carries the last ~5 IBU after fermentation — head retention on a sorghum base is the whole reason the rule exists.
Mash
Run the Reliable Mash at Homebrew Scale — and for once, the glucose-forward wort it produces is not a compromise but the point: this style wants a dry, crisp, fully attenuated finish, and glucoamylase-finished wort delivers exactly that. Scale the doses to the ~9 lb grist.
If you're running the methods for comparison, this grist is the cleanest test bed on the site — nothing downstream will mask a mash difference.
Brew day
60-minute boil. Bittering hops at the start; Whirlfloc and a gluten-free-verified yeast nutrient at 45 minutes; character hops per your route.
Fermentation — where this beer is won
The documented discipline, and this style gives you no room to skip it: clean ale strain at 20.5°C (69°F), diacetyl rest when gravity nears 5°P (raise to 22°C), hold until the gravity is stable and the diacetyl is gone, then crash cold. A true lager strain fermented cold and lagered three to four weeks is the style-true route — guidance, and worth it if you have the temperature control.
There is no hop cover and no roast cover in a 10.5°P golden lager. A buttery, estery, or sulfury fermentation is the beer. Budget your patience here.
Nowhere to hide
This is the classic-styles thesis at its sharpest. A raspberry IPA can hide a thin malt base forever; a golden lager can't hide anything for one sip. If a 100% sorghum malt beer can stand naked at 10.5°P and taste like beer — not like an apology — then the grain, the malt, and the process all held. That's the experiment.
Report back
Nobody has published homebrew-scale results for this recipe. Report gravity readings, mash behavior, fermentation curve, head retention with and without the tetra swap, and honest tasting notes — and if you split the hop routes, that's Research Ask #1 answered on the cleanest possible base. Tell us what happened.
Related
- Oktoberfest Amber Lager — the malt-forward sibling
- Sourcing the Ingredients
- The Sugar Bible