Description
Catalog: BBXRGL – REGAL Lager Yeast Blend
Brewing Info*:
- Type: Blend of Lager Yeast; Saccharomyces cultures (non-STA1)
- Pitching Rate: Directly pitchable into 5 gallons of 1.050 or lower wort
- Estimated Attenuation: 80-87%;
- Estimated Final pH: 4.2-4.5
- Flavor/Aroma Profile: Clean, rich maltiness
- Flocculation: Medium
- Recommended Fermentation Temperature:
- Recommended Fermentation Temperature: 50F-95F (10C-35C). Pitch and ferment between 50-55F (10-13C) for 72 hours and then ramp to 85-95F (29-35C) for 48-72 hours. Cooler temperatures for more prolonged periods will increase fermentation time. Pitching warmer may increase sulfur production.
* Performance information subject to change due to ongoing testing.
Joe D. (verified owner) –
Followed the temp instructions, came out perfect. 52° for 72 hours, then ramped up to 85°, OG 1.042 FG 1.005, crystal clear sample out of the fermenter at 85°. This stuff is awesome, super clean, never using oslo kveik again for a faux lager.
Barry B. (verified owner) –
Pitched at about 52F, SG 1.047. It sat there for 3 days without even a bubble. Tested the SG and it was the same. Figured it was dead and headed to the homebrew supply store to pick up a packet of WLP800. BTW – this was my first lager. Read the directions on the WLP800 and it suggested pitching at a warmer temp and letting it get started and then drop to 50-55F. So, I warmed the wort a bit (around 60F) and it took off. Held it at 52-53F for 3 days and then boosted to 85F for 3 more. FG 1.008, clean flavors, not particularly clear but I doubt anyone will be say no to another pint of this one. I’ll have about 2 weeks invested in it even with the initial screwing around. Pretty fast turnaround for a lager.
Erratic Fermentations –
I threw a 4K starter of three pitches(excessive, I know, but we wanted to keep harvesting this successfully without killing ourselves) in a 10-gallon batch of a smoked lager with a bit of a darker presence to fit that smoked realm. So far this strain has done nothing but compliment the grain and what more could you ask for in a lager? Thanks for pushing this out to the public.
Aaron C. (verified owner) –
I concur with another review above. This yeast won’t get going unless it’s pitched slightly warm. I pitched mine at 53 degrees and after 2 days of no fermentation activity, i let the beer rise to 58 or so, and i started seeing activity. Dropped it back down to 52 and it’s still going. I’ll give it a couple more days before i begin the ramp up to the 80s.
Nick (verified owner) –
I used this to brew a sprecher amber clone (Amber Lager). I am really impressed with the yeast as a whole. very fast and very clean. My brew notes are below.
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.011
Fermentation held between 50-55* for 72 hours, mostly 53-54*.
Started ramping heating after 72 hours in 5* increments.
after around 12 hours ferm temp reached 85*. Held around 85 for 72 hours. Krausen dropped and fermentation slowed after 48 hours, but still bubbling in the airlock.
After 72 hour heating final gravity was 1.009 @ 80*. Let fall back to room temp and sit for a week. Kegged on 2/6/21. Tapped the keg of 2/27/21.
Beer turned out excellent. I usually lager for longer, but this turned out very well in three weeks. It does not taste green at all. Grain bill was 86% pilsner, 6% caramel, 5% munich, 2% caravienne, 1% acid.
I am planning on making a Munich Rye Lager in the coming month. I will re-use the saved yeast from the previous batch. Keep this strain available!!!
Craig Hairrell (verified owner) –
I brewed a Fastenbier, which is a modestly-smoked Märzen-style lager brewed for the Lenten season. I made a starter because I hadn’t used my pack and it was about 10 weeks old. On brew day, I used a small amount of cooled wort to create a 4-hour vitality starter with the decanted starter. I pitched at 52F and held it there for three days. Unlike a couple of other reviewers, I was quite amazed at the rapid start and fermentation at 52F, dropping from 1.054 to 1.031 in 72 hours. I had some difficulty actually getting my Spike conical heating pad to warm my beer to the prescribed 85F+ temperature due to an integrated thermostat, so the remainder of the fermentation occurred at 77F. Apparent attenuation was lower than Bootleg Biology’s 80-87% estimate at 76%, but the beer has appropriate flavor and body and cleared rapidly. 76% is not unusual for many lager strains, so I view this as an unexpected, but not a negative result. I really liked the beer this yeast produced. I felt like this yeast rapidly produced a German-style lager in a fraction of the time of other lager yeasts with little, if any, flavor compromise. The one caveat would be that a smoked beer doesn’t let the year character shine through quite as much, so I would be curious to use this to brew a Helles.
I hope Bootleg Biology makes this blend a permanent addition to their lineup. I had planned to buy another pack, but it is now out of stock. I’m glad that I harvested some yeast, though. According to Bootleg Biology, harvesting and repitching this blend should be fine.
Aaron C. (verified owner) –
Just kegged the czech pilsner using this yeast. Pitched with a starter @ 50 degrees. Took a little while to get going so i ramped the temps up to the high 50’s. Once signs of fermentation started, i dropped back down to 50-52 and held for about 3 days (50% attenuation). I then ramped up to 85, and held for 3-4 days, until FG was reached. Noticed zero hints of off flavors or diacetyl. Dry hopped, then cold crashed for 3-4 days. From grain to glass in about 2 weeks. Very clean and crisp lager. No diacetyl or any farmhouse/sulpher i get from some kviek blends. I’ll definitely be using this again!
Nicholas Turner (verified owner) –
Pitched warm 74* because my ground water is warm. Put in a cooler with ice & cold water. Got it down to mid 50s in 8hrs. Took 2 days to see AL activity. Let it sit in ice bath & cold garage for 4 days post pitch. Took it inside with heat pads & got it to mid 80s. Kept it like that for a week. Fined with gelly after cold crash 24hrs. Still not as clear as I want a month in the kezzer, but it’s crisp af
Vienna style lager
OG 1.051
FG 1.013 (mashed 152)
Vienna malt with a touch of midnight wheat
Dave (verified owner) –
Awesome blend. I’ve used many lager yeasts and this is my new favorite. I brewed a German Pils (slightly out of style) and fermented a touch warm to try to coax out some mild sulfur. Beer was done very quickly. I lagered it 2 weeks and it’s clear as a bell despite a small dry hop. No off flavors and exactly what I wanted. I hope this becomes a regular release as I will buy it for every German Pils I brew.
Timothy M Powers (verified owner) –
pre-pro pils 80% Montana High Country Pils – 20% Flaked Maize…. 62′ for three days… 72 for 4 days… secondary at 72 for a week… kegged… @ 37′ for 5 days… excellent… clear no off flavors nice malty pre-pro pils… great stuff keep it coming!
Aaron C. (verified owner) –
I’ve now used Regal lager 3 times, all for pilsners and it’s fantastic. The last batch, I pitched hot at 85 degrees (wasn’t paying attention) and began cold crashing to 54. Due to the hot pitch, I had a very fast start to fermentation and had a blowoff. Once at 54 I let it ride for 3-4 days then ramped up to 78 for another 4 days or so. Cold crashed, fined with gelatin, and kegged. Grain to glass in 2 weeks and it may be may favorite clean beer I make. Excellent yeast makes excellent beer!
And this yeast can tolerate varying swings in temp with no off flavors.
Kyle Heon (verified owner) –
I used Regal to brew a simple Munich Helles and based on the reviews above, I first started at 58, after activity began, dropped to 52 for 3 days, then ramped up to 95 (hot in the garage here in the Northeast this summer) and I am very happy with how well this turned out. It was kegged about a month ago and it’s almost gone. Crystal clear into the keg (I did use some Silafine, as part of my process when cold crashing). I really hope this yeast becomes available again soon so I can brew this recipe again.
Craig H. (verified owner) –
Second review for this strain for me, since I couldn’t edit my first one. I see I’m not alone! Regal Lager Blend is now officially my favorite lager yeast. My second batch is just as great as my first, this time a Toasted Hickory Bark Vienna, which was 100% Best Malz Vienna malt. Fast, clean, and crisp. Unlike most of the German strains, this one attenuates enough for a really nice crisp beer. I can’t wait to try it for a Mexican Lager or a Pils. I had purchased a pack way back in April and just brewed with it a few weeks ago. Of course, I built it back up with a few rounds of starters before using it. There was a strong sulfur aroma from the pouch which I don’t remember from my first batch, but after creating the starters, the sulfur was much, much lower. I like that there’s a touch of sulfur in this, signaling that I’m not brewing a wretched kveik pseudo lager. Hope i didn’t offend anyone, but you can’t slip a pseudo lager past me. Blech. This blend makes legit lagers. Attenuation for me has been around 79% — better for my taste than the 72-74% I get from the Ayinger strain. I’d say Weihenstephaner (34/70) is somewhere in the middle. It would be a travesty if this strain doesn’t get promoted to your permanent production.
Davro –
Impressive yeast. Hits all the notes that get missed by pseudo lagers usually, nice touch of sulphur trace of almond crisp finish trace of acidity.
Pitched a pack that’s made it all the way to the Highlands of Scotland into about ten ltrs of wort took at least 30 hrs to get going at 13c dropped to 11 for 3 days then up to 35. It’s now been lagering at 1c for a few days and is clearing up will probably be nicely cleared in a week.
I suggest keeping this one on, seems like a great yeast. Should note I seem to have mashed too high as the rest of the batch stalled early and so I added a drop of amylo300 So it’s not a perfect experiment, but it finished exactly where I wanted it at about .009
Francisco Balderas W (verified owner) –
I tried Regal Lager for the first time and I’m impressed by how clean and close to style (and even better than other brands) this strain is when homebrewing a Czech lager. The grist was: 90% Pilsner (Niagara Malt, NY, USA), 7% Dextrin malt and 3% Acidulated malt.
The OG was 1.052 and I pitched a 1L starter and fermented at 54°F, the lag phase took 32 hours, then after the third day I increased the temp to 68°F for 12 more days.
After 4 weeks of lagering at 38°F, it had improved substantially into a very clean fermentation, medium high grainy-sweet, honey-like flavor and aroma, and in general a flavorful beer. After 6 weeks, the beer was even better, so tasty.
Next time I’ll pitch and ferment just a bit warmer in order to get a touch of sulfur.
Regal has become my favorite strain for lagers, I recommend it 100%.