No Drums Jack Black Lager
Brewed: 3/26/2023 Kegged: 4/2/2023
In winter / spring of 2023, I had been thinking a lot about renewing my BJCP Goal with the 2021 guidelines.

I had also played around some with Pressure Fermentation.
One of the styles I came across that combined those two interests was International Dark Lager.
A darker, richer, and somewhat sweeter version of international pale lager with a little more body and flavor, but equally restrained in bitterness. The low bitterness leaves the malt as the primary flavor element, and the low hop levels provide very little in the way of balance.
One of the Commercial Examples of the style is "Shiner Bock", and I decided to search the internet for clones of that beer.
As it turns out, BYO's site has a Shiner Bock clone, and that recipe calls for grits. Having never used grits in a beer recipe, that was another thing that interested me.

So ... I came up with an International Dark Lager recipe that uses grits.
I wanted my beer darker than the BYO recipe, so I added quite a bit more black malt.
The name comes from a scene from one of the Muppets movies that I thought was funny. My favorite Muppet Animal was in an anger management class and was not allowed to play drums because it was a "trigger" for him.
The other Muppets kept trying to get him to play and at one point he said "No Drums! No Drums! Jack Black said No Drums!"
Trust me, it was funny. You probably had to be there.
So, I've been waiting for quite awhile to call a beer "No Drums". And now this recipe is the perfect opportunity "No Drums Jack Black Lager".
I brewed the beer with an overnight mash and pressure fermented at room temperature.
We'll see how it turns out.
On untappd: No Drums Jack Black Lager
For more about this beer, see Sheppy's Blog: Jack Black Lager
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No Drums Jack Black Lager --- Batch 1 |
Style | International Dark Lager | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 6.60 gal | |||
Brewhouse Efficiency | 68.00 | Boil Time | 60 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Gravity | 1.046 SG | Estimated FG | 1.009 SG | ||||
Recipe Bitterness | 13.0 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 4.8 % | ||||
BU : GU | 0.284 | ||||||
Recipe Color | 27.6 SRM |
|
|||||
Measured OG: | 1.046 | Measured FG: | 1.010 | ||||
ADF: | 77.6 | Measured ABV: | 4.7 |
Ingredients
Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU | Volume |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
7.85 gal | Denver, Colorado | Water | 1 | - | - |
8.00 g | Calcium Chloride (Mash) | Water Agent | 2 | - | - |
1 lbs 8.0 oz | Grits (1.0 SRM) | Adjunct | 3 | 14.6 % | 0.13 gal |
6 lbs 8.0 oz | Base Malt 2 Row (Proximity) (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 4 | 63.4 % | 0.51 gal |
1 lbs | Vienna (Proximity) (3.5 SRM) | Grain | 5 | 9.8 % | 0.08 gal |
12.0 oz | Blackprinz (500.0 SRM) | Grain | 6 | 7.3 % | 0.06 gal |
8.0 oz | Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) | Grain | 7 | 4.9 % | 0.04 gal |
1.000 oz | Talus (HBC 692) [6.20 %] - Boil 30.0 min | Hop | 8 | 13.0 IBUs | - |
1.00 Items | Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) | Fining | 9 | - | - |
1.0 pkg | Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70) [50.28 ml] | Yeast | 10 | - | - |
0.50 tsp | Gelatin (Bottling 1.0 days) | Fining | 11 | - | - |
Mash Profile
Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
---|---|---|---|
Saccharification | Add 31.40 qt of water at 155.9 F | 150.0 F | 45 min |
Heat | Heat to 156.0 F over 10 min | 156.0 F | 20 min |
If steeping, remove grains,
and prepare to boil wort
Make yeast starter before brew day.
Water profile assumes BeerSmith Denver profile start
Final: Ca=107; Mg=9; Na=21; SO=51; Cl=157; HCO3=104;
Prepare grits in cereal mash to get gelantenous. Add this to the rest of the mash about .5 hour into it.
Mash / boil as directed on recipe.
Chill as close to 50 degrees as possible. Ferment cold for one week, let the temperature rise 1 or 2 degrees a day until in the 60's.
After a week, let the fermentation finish off at room temperature.
Keg. Once the keg has chilled for 24 hours, add geletin to 3/4 cup 150F water, and add to keg.
Carbonate.
Drink and enjoy.
Brewing Record
Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | |||||
Mash Temps: | ||||||
Pre-boil OG | (1.042 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (6.60 gal) | |||
Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | |||||
Fermentation | ||||||
Day 1: | ||||||
Day ... | ||||||
Day ... |
Brewing Notes
3/12/2023 Bought ingredients yesterday while at 6 and 40. Not sure when I'll brew.
3/26/2023 Brew Day today. Overnight mash, starting draining and heating at 5am. Preboil volume around 7.25 gallons. SG 1.041. Added a little sugar to bring up to 1.043.
3/26/2023 Rest of brew day went well. OG right on plan. Pitched at about 55 degrees and pressured to around 19 psi.
3/27/2023 Tilt says 1.044 at 59 degrees. Pressure fell to around 11psi. Seeing the very start of fermentation signs. Tighten spunding a touch.
3/28/2023 Tilt battery might have died. Really nice thick kraussen. PSI just tough over 20. Released some psi to get down below 20.
3/30/2023 Kraussen pretty much gone and now I can connect to the tilt again. 1.010 at 67. Spunding at 17psi. Beer really starting to clear up.
3/31/2023 Tilt at the same as yesterday. The psi is at 20. I actually think I could keg this anytime.
4/4/2023 Kegged Sunday. So far I'm 0 for 2 on this whole pressure transfer thing. Not sure what was going on ... but liquid would not go through the floating dip tube. The PSI was close to 20, so even if there was a clog, it should have had enough to get through. I ended up using my auto-siphon to get the beer out. Releasing the pressure caused the trub to come up into solution and as a result, I got a bunch of sludge into the keg. Between Sunday and now, I've probably wasted a 6 pack getting down to clear beer, but I think we're finally there. Kegerator set at 15 psi, and still carbonating.
4/8/2023 Well ... after getting past the sludge ... this is a nice beer. I think I can actually taste the grits. Nice "light dark" beer. Easy to drink. Might not last real long.
4/22/2023 Yummy beer. Nice coco flavor. The grits add an interesting corn flavor and aroma. Light body. Clean beer. Nicely balanced.
5/10/2023 Took to Big Brew Day. Was a hit. Power like this beer. They didn't even think the grits were weird 😎
5/18/2023 Shared with the in-laws. My mother-in-law REALLY likes this beer. Can't blame her really.
6/4/2023 Still going but close to kicking. Great light dark lager.
6/8/2023 Killed the keg. Lots of sludge at the bottom of this one. Absolutely going to have to try this as a proper lager. Also need to try other beer recipes with grits.
3/12/2023 Bought ingredients yesterday while at 6 and 40. Not sure when I'll brew.
3/26/2023 Brew Day today. Overnight mash, starting draining and heating at 5am. Preboil volume around 7.25 gallons. SG 1.041. Added a little sugar to bring up to 1.043.
3/26/2023 Rest of brew day went well. OG right on plan. Pitched at about 55 degrees and pressured to around 19 psi.
3/27/2023 Tilt says 1.044 at 59 degrees. Pressure fell to around 11psi. Seeing the very start of fermentation signs. Tighten spunding a touch.
3/28/2023 Tilt battery might have died. Really nice thick kraussen. PSI just tough over 20. Released some psi to get down below 20.
3/30/2023 Kraussen pretty much gone and now I can connect to the tilt again. 1.010 at 67. Spunding at 17psi. Beer really starting to clear up.
3/31/2023 Tilt at the same as yesterday. The psi is at 20. I actually think I could keg this anytime.
4/4/2023 Kegged Sunday. So far I'm 0 for 2 on this whole pressure transfer thing. Not sure what was going on ... but liquid would not go through the floating dip tube. The PSI was close to 20, so even if there was a clog, it should have had enough to get through. I ended up using my auto-siphon to get the beer out. Releasing the pressure caused the trub to come up into solution and as a result, I got a bunch of sludge into the keg. Between Sunday and now, I've probably wasted a 6 pack getting down to clear beer, but I think we're finally there. Kegerator set at 15 psi, and still carbonating.
4/8/2023 Well ... after getting past the sludge ... this is a nice beer. I think I can actually taste the grits. Nice "light dark" beer. Easy to drink. Might not last real long.
4/22/2023 Yummy beer. Nice coco flavor. The grits add an interesting corn flavor and aroma. Light body. Clean beer. Nicely balanced.
5/10/2023 Took to Big Brew Day. Was a hit. Power like this beer. They didn't even think the grits were weird 😎
5/18/2023 Shared with the in-laws. My mother-in-law REALLY likes this beer. Can't blame her really.
6/4/2023 Still going but close to kicking. Great light dark lager.
6/8/2023 Killed the keg. Lots of sludge at the bottom of this one. Absolutely going to have to try this as a proper lager. Also need to try other beer recipes with grits.