Windhoek Lager Help

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Windhoek Lager Help

Postby mikel » Saturday Nov 08, 2008 6:54 pm

I have not brewed much beer since getting to Australia but want to start again
I have a recipe but cannot find some of the ingredients locally, perhaps you could suggest some similar alternatives.
Windhoek is a beer brewed in Namibia by a German brewery. It has a light dry taste with a with an over riding hops flavour. (My opinion) The recipe is

1. 2,0Kg Superfine Malt ------------------------------------------ ???
2. 40g Halletau Hop Pellets -------------------------------------- Can get this here
4. 20g Southern Brewer Hop Pellets ---------------------------- I have heard Southern cross might be the same or similar
5. 1 Lager Yeast
6. 1 Beer Yeast Nutrient
7. 1 Beer Brewing Salts
8. 1 Beer Finings
10. Golding Hop Pellets, in the last 5 minutes of boiling -------- I have been told Gold Hops is similar or same

Any body know what I can replace these ingredients with that are obtainable here
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Re: Windhoek Lager Help

Postby Biernut » Saturday Nov 08, 2008 8:40 pm

Welcome to the forum Mikel. I have drank Windhoek Lager quite some time ago in New Zealand when Nimibia was part of South Africa along with Roodeburg and Nederburg wines. Unless you have the exact recipe for a clone of this lager you might be up the creek without a paddle as it is not a well known beer. I may be wrong and someone on the forum may have a recipe hidden away. You need to state whether you intend making this lager with extract or grain. Also you need to be more precise with the choice of hops otherwise you won't even get close to the style that you are trying to emulate. As for yeast, Saflager S-23 is a good reliable all rounder. By and large and some will disagree, German style lagers don't vary a great deal and if you can't come up with a clone then perhaps you should play around with this style. There are a wide range of ingredients available in the Australian brew shops and by talking to brew savvy people in this environment may answer your questions. With the Australian summer just around the corner you may find the temperatures a bit warm for lager brewing as temperature requirements for lager are around 10-12C for best results.

Cheers
Last edited by Biernut on Thursday Jan 22, 2009 1:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Windhoek Lager Help

Postby longbody » Sunday Nov 09, 2008 6:23 pm

Recipe for Windhoek Special - Namibia Breweries Ltd - from Szamatulski's "Clone Brews":

170 gm 2.5L German light crystal malt, steeped @ 65C for 20 min and sparge into brew pot.

2.8 kg M&F extra-light DME
Make up to 9 litres
Boil 60 min with

57 gm German Hallertau Hersbrucker (2.5% AA) @ 60 min

7 gm Czech Saaz @ 15 min
7 gm German Hallertau Hersbrucker @ 15 min
5 ml Irish moss @ 15 min

7 gm Czech Saaz @ 2 min
7 gm German Hallertau Hersbrucker @ 2 min

Strain into fermenter, make up to 19 litres

Pitch yeast:
1st choice Wyeast 2007 Pilsen lager yeast
2nd choice Wyeast 2035 American lager yeast

Ferment @ 6C - 11C
When fermentation is finished, bottle, priming with 300ml M&F extra-light DME

Not sure if thats the one you actually want, but it should be pretty close, and all the ingredients (or equivalent) Should be available at your local home brew shop.
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Re: Windhoek Lager Help

Postby mikel » Friday Dec 26, 2008 11:20 am

Thanks guys

Internet was not available for a while as we moved house. PC in a box :!:
Biernut
I know the heat will be an issue, when I was in Mackay, I was told to put the brewing barrel in a bucket, put some water and fill with ice cubes. Then cover with a thick towel. This worked well but I used lots of ice.
The recipe I have gave a great result when I tried it.

Thanks for the help I will look around and pehaps try the version you have longbody

I have managed to buy Windhoek in Australia in Mackay at Dan Murphy. They have an importer in WA. I will get some orignal to try when I make so I can compare. I offered to bring some to a brew shop for them to taste and give me some thoughts. I got the blank look
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Re: Windhoek Lager Help

Postby RadialSA » Wednesday Mar 20, 2013 3:11 pm

I would really like to try your recipe Mikel. It looks simple enough. The only question I have is: what is super fine malt? Does it perhaps refer to dry malt extract powder?
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Re: Windhoek Lager Help

Postby emnpaul » Wednesday Mar 20, 2013 7:39 pm

G'day Ridal and welcome to the forum mate.

Sorry I can't be more helpful but I'd speculatively suggest that it does indeed refer to powdered malt extract. A.K.A. Light dry malt, spray malt light dry malt. Without wanting to start a debate about which is better (the Coopers is best but also cost most) I'd say provided you get light dried malt you'll be fine.

P.S. Could this be the best thread resurrection of all time??? :shock:

Windhoek Lager

ORIGIN: Namibia
STYLE: Pilsner
ALC/VOL: 4.0%
REVIEWED: 31.3.01
COMMENTS: A lovely, malty beer. Brewed to the German purity law - only malt, yeast, water and hops can be used - and it shows. A magnificent beer. The Dutch influence is obvious and it is very much like Heineken.

RATING:

ON THE WEB: Yes


Assuming that refers to Heineken prior to the advent of BUL it sounds like my kind of beer. :)~
2000 light beers from home.
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Re: Windhoek Lager Help

Postby RadialSA » Thursday Mar 21, 2013 12:14 am

Thanks emnpaul.
My brewing buddy almost exclusively drinks Windhoek lager. I suppose it has something to do with him being born in Namibia. We'll definitely try this as soon as we have a fermentation fridge. Unfortunately I cannot comment on the Heineken reference but the original description by mikel sounds 'bout right.
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Re: Windhoek Lager Help

Postby emnpaul » Saturday Mar 23, 2013 6:18 pm

Ah ha. I now realise my mistake. For some reason when I read your username I assumed the SA stood for South Australia. I should have known it was South Africa since you were asking about Windhoek.

I'm not sure if you can get Coopers Light dry malt in SA but any light dry malt will suffice.

In regards to the Heineken reference there has been a fair bit made on this forum of the decline in quality since it started being brewed under licence in Australia. It was a much better beer when it was imported. I actually scoffed out loud when I watched a documentary on Heineken and they showed a panel of expert tasters 'sampling Heineken from around the world to ensure taste and consistency'. What crap.

Anyway, good luck with your Windhoek. I hope it turns out much nicer than a BUL Heineken.
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Re: Windhoek Lager Help

Postby RadialSA » Monday May 20, 2013 4:38 am

It has been almost 2 months since the last post, and we've finally got the windhoek going. We're using an STC-1000 temp controller to control the fridge @ 13.5C (middle of recommended range) until the fermentation is done. After this lagering will take place for 3-4 weeks @ 9C. We're using fermentis saflager W-34/70 yeast. I'm sure to let you know how it turns out.

As I side note: It appears that Namibia breweries brews the Heineken found here in South Africa and it's quite good.
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