Special thanks to Charlie Papazian for sharing this recipe with us! Charlie created this recipe shortly after Briess introduced Cherry Wood Smoked Malt in 2009. He named his recipe after the late Roger Briess, and it appeared in the Sept/Oct 2009 issue of Zymurgy Magazine. "He was truly a friend and fan of American homebrewers from the beginning of our hobby's foundation," Charlie wrote. "There's always a good reason to celebrate Roger's enthusiasm. For now it's with Rogerfest Cherrywood Lager." More than 60% of the grist is Cherry Wood Smoked Malt, after Charlie read that recommended usage is limited to 60 percent of the grist. "Holy moly!" he continued. "Is that a dare or isn't it? There it was, confronting my homebrew sensibilities, saying to me, 'I dare you to use more than 60 percent!' So I did." This beer is designed with sweetness, body and floral-honey-like hop aroma and Charlie says it was a 'grand slam!'. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients

6.5 lbs - Smoked Malt, Cherry Wood
2.0 lbs - Bonlander® Munich Malt
12 oz - Aromatic Munich Malt
4 oz - Sour Malt
12 oz - Honey Malt
8 oz - Caramel Munich Malt 60L
0.75 oz - Mt. Hood Hops (5% AA) - 60 minute boil
1.0 oz - German Hallertauer Hops (4.3% AA) - 20 minute boil
.5 oz - French Strisselspalt Hop Pellets - 1 minute steep
.5 oz - Mt. Hood hop pellets - 1 minute
.25 oz - Crystal hop pellets - Dry Hop
.25 oz - French Strisselspalt Hop Pellets - Dry Hop
.25 oz - Powdered Irish Moss
- Cry Havoc lager yeast
.75 cup - Corn Sugar for priming bottles - or

Directions

Step infusion mash. Add 11 quarts of 140ºF water to the crushed grain. Stir, stabilize and hold the temperature at 132ºF for 30 minutes. Add 5.5 quarts boiling water and bring up to 155ºF for about 30 minutes. Raise temperature to 167ºF, lauter and sparge with 3.5 gallons of 170ºF water. Collect about 6 gallons of runoff.
Add 60-minute hops and bring to a full, vigorous boil. Total boil time is 60 minutes. When 20 minutes remain, add the 20-minute hops. When 10 minutes remain, add the Irish Moss. When 1 minute remains, add the 1-minute hops.
After a total wort boil of 60 minutes, off the heat and place the covered pot in a running cold-water bath for 30 minutes.
Strain and sparge the wort into a sanitized fermenter. Bring the total volume to 5.5 gallons with additional cold water if necessary.
Aerate the wort very well. Pitch the yeast when the wort is about 70ºF.