Larry Irons' Beer and Homebrew Page

Larry has been a homebrewer since 1971. His love of beer goes back farther than that, because he grew up in a family environment having a strong German influence. Beer was as much a part of the meal as was the meat and potatoes. He grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the corn grows tall and so do the football players.

Larry bought a book called Treatise on Lager Beers by Fred Eckhart. He immediately started making German-style lager beers. His first batch of beer was a great success. After moving to Colorado in 1979, he continued to brew lager beer. After spending a few years in Texas, he came back to Colorado and discovered the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) . He decided to work hard at perfecting his recipes and try to win some awards and then try to start a brewery. Well, Larry won a few regional and national honors in the lager beer styles (they still hang above his mantle).

Larry decided to start a brewery and was the sole founder of Irons Brewing Company in 1990. Larry considers himself to be an expert in the categories of German style beers, having been to Germany to sample the many styles there. He also claims to be an expert in european-style Pilsners.

Beer Recipes

The following are some of Larry's favorite lager recipes.

Czech-style Pilsner

This pilsner is reminiscent of Pilsner Urquell or Staropramen

• 8 lbs 2-row lager malted barley
• 1 lb German light crystal
• 10 - 11 HBUs noble hop, boil 1/2 for 60 mins and the remaining 1/2 for 30 mins
• 2 oz Saaz hops, boil for 10 mins
• Use Wyeast 2007 Pilsen yeast and ferment at 45 deg F until complete. Age 2 - 3 weeks in secondary. Bottle or keg. Serve in a pilsner glass.

European-style Pilsner

This pilsner is similar to Budweiser Budvar.

• 8 lbs 2-row lager malted barley
• 1 lb Munich malt
• 1/2 lb Carapils (Dextrine) Malt
• 10 - 11 HBUs noble hop, boil 1/2 for 60 mins and the remaining 1/2 for 30 mins
• 2 oz Saaz hops, boil for 10 mins

• Use Wyeast 2206 Bavarian yeast and ferment at 45 deg F until complete. Age 2 - 3 weeks in secondary. Bottle or keg. Serve in a Budweiser Budvar lager glass.

Vienna-style Lager Beer

This beer tastes similar to a Bavarian Oktoberfest. You must use quality 2-row malts for this beer.

• 8 lbs 2-row Vienna malted barley
• 3 lbs 2-row lager malt
• 1 lb Munich Dark
• 1/4 lb German Light Crystal
• 1/4 lb German Dark Crystal
• 10 - 12 HBUs noble hop, boil 1/2 for 60 mins and the remaining 1/2 for 30 mins
• 1/2 oz Saaz hops, boil for 10 mins
• Use Wyeast 2206 Bavarian yeast and ferment at 45 deg F until complete. Age 2 - 3 weeks in secondary. Bottle or keg. Serve in a Budweiser Budvar lager glass.

Koelsch Recipe

If you can't make lager beer, try making Koelsch. Koelsch is a golden colored ale from the city of Cologne (Koeln in German). It has a slight musty, winey aroma that is unusual, but not unpleasant. Of course to make Koelsch, you must ferment it with Koelsch yeast. Koelsch yeast stays in suspension in the beer a little longer than other beer yeasts (low flocculation) and the commercial breweries filter the beer prior to packaging.

• 7 lbs 2-row pilsner/lager malt
• 1/2 lb carapils
• 1/4 lb German light crystal malt
• 1/2 lb munich dark malt
• 10 HBUs noble hops, boil 1/2 for 60 mins and the remaining 1/2 for 30 mins
• 1 oz Saaz hops for 10 mins (very important to get correct aroma in finished beer)

BTW - if Koelsch is made in Bonn, then its called Boennsch. If it is made in Duesseldorf, then its called Alt.

Some other links to web sites where Larry has interests are:

• American Homebrewers Association
• Austrian Beer Author, Conrad Seidl's Home Page