Goldfinger Smoke Two Lagers

The smoke on this beer is much more subtle than on a typical rauchbier, which helps to not distract from the pleasant malt sweetness and gentle Noble-hop character throughout. Using two different woods—oak and beech—as the source for smoke provides a multidimensional smoke character.

ALL-GRAIN 
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters) 
Brewhouse efficiency: 72% 
OG: 1.048 
FG: 1.010 
IBUs: 17 
ABV: 5% 

MALT/GRAIN BILL 
7.1 lb (3.2 kg) German pilsner 
1 lb (454 g) beechwood-smoked malt 
11 oz (312 g) oak-smoked wheat malt 
3 oz (85 g) acidulated malt (or as needed to adjust pH) 

HOPS SCHEDULE 
0.5 oz (14 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh at 60 minutes [8 IBUs] 
0.75 oz (21 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh at 15 minutes [6 IBUs] 
0.75 oz (21 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh at 5 minutes [3 IBUs] 

YEAST 
Fermentis SafLager W-34/70, Omega OYL-106 German Lager I, or similar 

DIRECTIONS 
Mill the grains and mash at 144°F (62°C) for 45 minutes; raise to 154°F (68°C) and rest 15 minutes; then raise to 162°F (72°F), rest 15 minutes, and mash out. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, then allow 20 minutes to settle. Chill to 50°F (10°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 50°F (10°C) for 10 days to clear diacetyl. Crash to 32°F (0°C), package, and carbonate to 2.5–2.6 volumes of CO. 
BREWER’S NOTES 
Mash: We aim for a mash pH of 5.3; adjust the acidulated malt as needed. (We also aim for a wort pH of 5.1.) If you can’t do a step mash, a single infusion at 149°F (65°C) for 60 minutes is fine. 
Smoke: The original version of this beer had 10 percent of the grist as beechwood-smoked malt, but it got added smoke character from the re-pitched yeast of our Grodziskie (made with 100 percent oak-smoked wheat malt). If you find the oak-smoked malt too sharp, you can dial it back and add more of the gentler beechwood-smoked. The goal here is to not be strongly smoky, but for the smoke to provide an interesting dimension to an otherwise delicious helles.