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Brooklyn Lager is one of the great American craft lager clones, a Vienna-style amber lager that Steve Hindy and Tom Potter revived in 1988, bringing pre-Prohibition New York lager tradition back to life. It has more malt character and hop aroma than virtually any mainstream lager, and cloning it is a project where the decoction-derived melanoidin character and the dry-hop addition (unusual for a lager) are the two key differentiating techniques. I’ve brewed this clone extensively and it’s one of the most satisfying craft lager results.
Brooklyn Lager clone recipe (5 gallon / 19L batch)
Target stats: OG 1.054, FG 1.012, ABV ~5.5%, IBU 30, SRM 12–14, clear amber. Grain bill: 7 lbs (3.18 kg) Vienna malt, Brooklyn Lager’s amber-toasty malt character comes from Vienna malt as the primary base, consistent with its pre-Prohibition Vienna lager heritage. 1.5 lbs (680g) Munich malt, additional toasty, bready malt depth on top of the Vienna base. 0.5 lb (227g) Crystal 40L, caramel sweetness. 0.25 lb (113g) Carapils, head retention for the lagered beer. Hops, the dry-hopped lager approach: Bittering (60 min): 0.75 oz Hallertau (60 min), 16 IBU. 0.5 oz Cascade (60 min), 10 IBU. Flavor (15 min): 0.5 oz Hallertau. Dry hop (added at start of lagering, 2 weeks): 0.5 oz Cascade. Brooklyn Lager is dry-hopped during lagering, unusual for the lager category. The Cascade dry hop during cold conditioning adds a delicate citrus/floral aroma that lifts the amber malt character without making the beer taste like an IPA. Total IBU: approximately 28–32. Yeast: Wyeast 2035 American Lager or White Labs WLP820 Oktoberfest Lager Yeast, both produce a clean, slightly fuller lager fermentation appropriate for Vienna/amber lager style. Ferment at 10°C (50°F). Water: Moderate mineral profile, calcium 100 ppm, sulfate 80 ppm, chloride 100 ppm. Brooklyn’s New York City water is moderately mineralized. Process: Step mash or single decoction: 52°C (126°F) for 15 minutes (protein rest), then single decoction to raise to 66°C (151°F) for 45 minutes (the decoction adds melanoidin richness to the Vienna/Munich malt base), 72°C (162°F) for 15 minutes, mash out at 76°C (169°F). If no decoction: add 0.25 lb melanoidin malt to the grain bill to approximate the melanoidin contribution. 90-minute boil. Ferment at 10°C (50°F) for 2 weeks. Diacetyl rest at 17°C (63°F) for 48 hours. Add Cascade dry hop at start of lagering. Lager at 2°C (35°F) for 6–8 weeks with dry hops present for the first 2 weeks, then remove. Carbonate to 2.5 volumes CO2.
Common Questions
What makes Brooklyn Lager different from other craft amber lagers?
Brooklyn Lager’s combination of Vienna/Munich malt base, moderately high hopping (30 IBU versus most mainstream lagers’ 10–15 IBU), and Cascade dry-hopping during lagering creates a profile that’s genuinely distinct from other craft amber lagers. The dry hop in a cold-conditioned lager is the most unusual element, at 2°C (35°F), hop aroma compounds extract more slowly and selectively, producing a subtler, more refined hop aroma than dry hopping at ale temperatures. The cold extraction emphasizes linalool (floral) and geraniol (citrus) compounds while leaving behind harsh polyphenols that warm dry hopping can co-extract. The result is a lager with hop presence that reads as elegant rather than forward, it complements the toasty Vienna malt rather than competing with it. Samuel Adams Boston Lager uses a similar Noble hop late addition approach (Hallertau and Tettnang) without the dry hop step; Brooklyn Lager’s Cascade dry hop gives it a fresher, more citrus-forward note that puts it closer to American craft ale aesthetics while maintaining lager cleanliness. For homebrewing: the decoction step and the cold dry hop are the two techniques that most distinguish this clone from a generic amber lager. Even a simple single decoction (15 minutes of mash boiling) adds significant malt complexity, if you’ve never done any decoction, Brooklyn Lager is an excellent beginner’s decoction project because the malt character improvement is immediately perceptible in the finished beer.
