West Coast Lager?

[shazapple]

A friend of mine asked me to brew a "west coast lager"... I don't know what that is...

From his description and from looking around the internet its a golden lager, somewhat malty, and citrus hops. I'm guessing a SRM of 10 and hops around 35 IBU.

2-Row          74.4%
Munich Light   9.3%
Crystal 40L    11.6%
Victory            4.7%

Anyone with experience with this type of beer? I actually based the recipe off of a California common but with citrusy hops. 

[feldmann]

I've only had a few but this was probably the only one that I enjoyed.

The beers that I've had in this style were very crisp and clean with almost no malt presence. They have medium to low bitterness and its all citrusy hops. I'd probably aim for a lower SRM of 3-5 and 35-50 IBU.

If theres any one piece of advice I'd offer above all else I'd cut out the crystal or at the least dramatically cut it down. You could probably just go 100% 2-row but a 15% munich/victory mix would be alright. Add just enough hops at the start of the boil to get the IBU you want and then add a crap ton of cascade at the end of the boil and dry-hop.

I would go with a clean american lager strain and use one of the fast lager methods.

[pliny]

Great topic. It's a great time of year to brew this. I've brewed a couple of lagers recently (and will a few more) because my basement is like 10C right now. Doesn't look like it'll change much anytime soon.

Your malt bill looks good. I've seen some recipes with 90% Pilsner 10% Carahell (10L)
You could still use Saaz hops and it would still give you some hop. The Classic American Pilsner is not necessarily charged with Cascade. I'm sure you're not looking to make a session IPA here. There's also some FWH to smooth it out.
As far as yeast, S-23 performs. Those Mangrove Jacks ones are not bad either. Of course you could get liquid.

Do I have experience with a West Coast Lager? No. Because that's usually my intention. I know, I'm not really answering your question here.
There's something to be said about a nice craft lager.

[shazapple]

The beers that I've had in this style were very crisp and clean with almost no malt presence. They have medium to low bitterness and its all citrusy hops. I'd probably aim for a lower SRM of 3-5 and 35-50 IBU.

This was somewhat the reason for my asking. There seemed to be a big variance in what a "west coast lager" consisted of.

If theres any one piece of advice I'd offer above all else I'd cut out the crystal or at the least dramatically cut it down. You could probably just go 100% 2-row but a 15% munich/victory mix would be alright. Add just enough hops at the start of the boil to get the IBU you want and then add a crap ton of cascade at the end of the boil and dry-hop.

I would go with a clean american lager strain and use one of the fast lager methods.

Thanks, I probably will reduce the Crystal as I don't think i need the colour or sweetness. I'll probably brew 11 gallons so I might dry hop hald with cascade to see what it's like.

As for lagering, I don't have a ferm chamber so I'll probably use the pliny method (sticking it in my basement for a week). This will actually be my first lager.