Bierstadt Lagerhaus ★ 4.5
Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver is the RiNo German-lager specialist in the Rackhouse, a decoction-mashed brewery with one of the country's best Slow Pour.
History
Ashleigh Carter and Bill Eye founded Bierstadt Lagerhaus in RiNo in 2016, importing a traditional German Lukr side-pull tap system to brew Helles and German Pilsner. The Slow Pour Pils, served only via the 4-to-5-minute side-pull tap, became a national craft-beer reference and helped popularise the slow-pour ritual at American taprooms.
Common allergens: Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 4.2kg German Pilsner malt (Best Malz or Weyermann)
- 200g Vienna malt
- 100g CaraPils malt
- Bittering hops: 30g Hallertau Mittelfruh at 60 minutes
- Flavour: 30g Tettnang at 30 minutes
- Aroma: 30g Hallertau Mittelfruh at flame-out, plus a 20-minute steep
- Yeast: Saflager W-34/70 or Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager
- Soft water with low calcium and very low bicarbonate (typical Pilsen profile)
Method
- Mash crushed malts at 64C for 45 minutes (light body), then ramp to 73C for 15 minutes. Sparge with 75C water to collect 25 litres of wort.
- Boil 90 minutes (German tradition); add Hallertau at the start, Tettnang at 30 minutes left, final Hallertau at flame-out.
- Steep 20 minutes for aroma extraction, then chill rapidly to 10C.
- Pitch yeast at 10C and ferment at 11C for 14 days until gravity is stable.
- Cold-crash to 1C and lager for 4 to 6 weeks; this slow conditioning is non-negotiable for proper German Pilsner.
- Package in kegs with carbonation at 2.6 vol CO2.
- For the slow pour: open the side-pull tap fully, hold the glass tilted under the spout, fill with a violent agitated pour to two-thirds. Set the glass down for 90 seconds.
- Top up slowly two more times over 4 to 5 minutes, building a thick stiff head. The completed pour should have a 3cm crown that stands tall and stiff.
Tip from the editors. Without a Lukr side-pull tap the slow-pour technique is impossible to replicate; standard taps deliver too much CO2 to the pour. The lagering time (4 to 6 weeks at 1C) is the second non-negotiable.
Where to eat bierstadt slow-pour pils
Bierstadt Slow-Pour Pils in Denver
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