A perfectly poured pint can be a thing of simple joy. But what is a perfectly poured pint? In many parts of the world it looks like a beer with two fingers of foam sitting on top. Poured into a clean, style-appropriate glassware, the beer with a beautiful crown of foam on top is a thing of beauty.

There may be no place in the world where beer presentation is more appreciated, critiqued, and talked about than the Czech Republic. Here, there are three primary (and at least two more, less common) types of pours, each resulting in a different amount of foam atop the glass and resulting in differing flavors when the same beer is poured each way. 

The key to pouring beer with varying and exacting levels of wet foam is the uniquely designed side-pull faucet. We will discuss the faucets more later, but the so-called “wet foam” is much more dense/frothy than traditional draft foam and looks like a steamed milk. In addition to creating a silky clean surface on top of the beer, the foam serves to keep the beer fresher for longer, protecting it from oxygen and keeping the CO₂ in the beer. The pours are one of the key pillars of Czech beer culture.

Before we get into the specific beer pouring types, we should consider what beer foam is and why it matters. Carbon dioxide gas (CO₂) is dissolved within the beer. The dissolved gas in the liquid beer is carbonic acid, and its low pH provides the bite and twang within all carbonated beverages. Flat beer tastes sweet because the acidic backbone that balances the malt sweetness is missing. Beer foam is CO₂ gas that has made a temporary stop between being dissolved in liquid and being released into atmosphere. As the gas bubbles explode in the nose and on the tongue, we experience some of this acidity. Quality malt, quality brewing technique, and a little bit of protein and hop acid structure help to retain a tight foam. Brewers using low-quality ingredients can add foam stabilizers, but nobody is fooled. Let’s get on to these unique Czech pours:

Hladinka (smooth)

Roughly one-third foam and two-thirds beer. The foam is produced first, and the clear beer follows, being poured beneath the foam by submerging the extended faucet below the foam to the bottom of the glass. Foam floats and this sequence makes sense. It is said that the creamy head balances the bitterness and sweetness of the beer. This beer pour is essentially a typical North American pour, only with much more foam.

Šnyt (split)

Similar to the Hladinka but more foam — anywhere from half to two-thirds of the glass is foam (it’s split between beer and foam, hence the name). That’s a lot of foam. Czechs like this style as a less filling drink.

Mliko (milk)

Mliko is the word for milk in Czech, so you can see where this one goes. All foam, tight and intended to be consumed quickly. Sometimes as a dessert beer (because we are in the Czech Republic). This pour is so striking that it defies expectations and is worth the effort. Because the beer-to-foam ratio is slight, one serving is quite slim on actual liquid beer. This is not the worst thing after a long evening of indulgence. 

Čochtan (neat)

Beer with no foam. No fun. The Czechs don’t particularly care for it either. 

Nadvakrát (twice)

Similar to the Hladinka, only a short pause between the first foam pour and the subsequent beer pour. The pause is intended to let some of the gas escape, making for a less carbonated beverage and a little easier digestion. A niche within a niche, but a distinction with merit. 

Side-Pull Faucets

OK, how do you produce these wonderful Czech-style pours at home? You’ll need the special Czech side-pull beer faucet on your home draft system. Bottle-conditioned beer or a normal faucet can’t be substituted, unfortunately. 

There are some options for side-pull faucets. LUKR (all caps) is the go-to. This faucet has the specialized mechanism that allows for a forced, thick, creamy head. It works a bit like a dimmer switch and makes some spectacular wet foam, with an extended spout that gets to the bottom of the glass, allowing beer to be poured beneath the foam. It does come with a very steep $400 price, and homebrewers (or anyone using these faucets) must keep in mind that the cool side-pull handle demands a lot of real estate (though they do have an option that is designed to take up less space). The Euro-to-domestic shank adapter that puts an already long faucet towards 1976 Elvis Cadillac length will also demand a drip tray upgrade.

Beyond LUKR, other routes to go are a CBS Beverage or a Micromatic clone. Not quite as cool. Not quite authentic. But all the performance, with a domestic threaded shank, for about $300 less. 

The Czech Republic produces lager beer almost exclusively, and it’s most often of the pale (světlé ležák) variety. That said, there is nothing stopping us homebrewers from experimenting with a variety of styles here, and I expect as more beer bars offer Czech pours, we will start to see the techniques applied to different styles. 

So how do you perfect these pours? There are numerous videos online, but this is the part that you, the homebrewer, gets to discover. Open the faucet just so, control the flow exactly as needed to get the foam you’re looking for, and then adjust the faucet so the beer flows, raising the foam to the top of the glass. Get to be the resident expert, and then impart that wisdom to the next brewer in your circle. Enjoy the magic of homebrewed beer, personally served to friends and family. 

European brewers immigrating to the United States in the 1800s received a bit of a rude awakening when it came to the qualities of available brewing ingredients. The most common brewing malt then was made from 6-row barley, which is noted for its higher protein content and grainier flavor. The indigenous hops were often Cluster, most charitably described as robust and distinctive, or perhaps foxy, catty, pungent, or like black currants by those more critical.

The high-protein malt created problems with clarity, color, excessive foam, and coarse flavors, as well as increased difficulty in lautering. The ultimate solution involved diluting the protein with starchy adjuncts from available grains, such as corn and rice. The 6-row malt had very high diastatic power (available enzymes to convert starches to sugars), so was also able to convert the starches from the enzyme-free adjuncts to sugar in the mash. 

However, the starches in those adjuncts were not readily available in the mash. The starches first needed to undergo gelatinization (swell with water until they burst) and liquefaction (become soluble with water) before saccharification (conversion to sugar) can occur. But the gelatinization temperature for adjuncts like corn and especially rice is considerably higher than for barley. Traditional brewing methods could not be used because the necessary enzymes would be destroyed before they could do their job.

The solution to the adjunct conversion was found in a new technique, the double mash. Using a separate vessel called a cereal cooker, the adjuncts were cooked along with a small portion of the barley malt until the starches were liberated. The cereal mash was remixed with the main mash and brewing continued with an upward infusion mash schedule. This process reminds me of decoction in general, although the separated fraction of the mash is treated differently, and it is done for different purposes.

Large, industrial American lager breweries continue to use this method, as it allows a more economical use of ingredients. These brewers normally use ground corn and/or rice, known as grits. They are simply broken into smaller pieces through crushing or other mechanical action, and thus have more surface area available. Some breweries may add liquid enzymes to accelerate the process.

Homebrewers and smaller breweries can opt for simpler methods of using adjuncts that are available today. Corn and rice are both available in flaked form (as are many other grains like barley, wheat, rye, and oats) that has been pre-gelatinized. This means that they can be added directly to the mash without using a cereal cooker. Rice and corn are also available in liquid forms that may be appealing to extract brewers, and rice can also be found as rice syrup solids, a powdered form that can be added to the boil.

Adjunct Beer Styles

I like to think of American adjunct beer styles as a large, branching family with many options. This may not be how they are judged in competition, but understanding how they are derived helps with recipe formulation. Methods, techniques, and ingredients will be similar in most styles, often with only minor adjustments. Understanding how to make a few key members of this family will unlock other paths. We are basically considering pale American-origin beers made with adjuncts and that have less than moderate bitterness levels. Higher levels of bitterness start moving us into the Pilsner family, which we would generally like to avoid.

American lager (Beer Judge Certification Program/BJCP Style 1B) is the modern form of the classic industrial adjunct lager found in the United States and elsewhere. It is a very pale, highly-carbonated, well-attenuated lager with a very neutral flavor profile and low bitterness. This is a standard-strength beer of about 5% alcohol.

Variations of this style include: American light lager (BJCP Style 1A), a lower alcohol and calorie version of American Lager; international pale lager (BJCP Style 2A), when brewed with adjuncts could also be called a premium American lager; and international dark lager (BJCP Style 2C), when brewed with adjuncts could be thought of as dark American lager. Pre-Prohibition lager (BJCP Style 27) is what American lager was before it was reduced in strength and bitterness by the Prohibition-era and World War II. I also appreciate international variants like Mexican lager (American/international lager with corn, uses a distinctive yeast), Japanese rice lager (American/international lager with rice), and hop lager (American/international lager with increased late hops).

Cream ale (BJCP Style 1C) is an ale adaptation of American lager that has a bit more character (and sometimes strength) but often serves the same purpose in the market. It was regionally significant in the Northeastern U.S. A historical darker version of this style is known as Kentucky common (BJCP Style 27). A significantly stronger version of this style is often called malt liquor (not a BJCP Style, best entered as BJCP Style 34B).

There are other adjunct styles that I think are interesting, but those tend to be higher bitterness beers with different balances. I would certainly mention cold IPA as a style that blends the best parts of American lager with American IPA, and some West Coast Pilsner-type beers are also sometimes using adjuncts. These are more recent craft era styles emerging and developing in the last five years or so. An observation I have about these emerging styles is that they are less classified by the yeast used, and more about the adjunct quality and how it influences overall drinkability and balance.

Brewing Variables

There are many similarities to these American adjunct beers, so it makes sense to discuss these options independent of the recipes. The most important choices are the base malts, the adjuncts, and the yeast, with the mashing techniques somewhat dictated by the adjuncts selected.

The base malts in these beers are typically something quite pale, and without big flavors. I’d say the most common today is 2-row brewer’s malt (sometimes called 2-row, pale malt, lager malt, or Pilsner malt of North American origin), with common maltsters being Rahr, Briess, and Great Western. The original base malt for these beers was 6-row brewer’s malt, which is still available and can be used, of course. I find that it has a grainier, coarser character, but is certainly acceptable. 

Continental Pilsner malt from Germany, Belgium, or other countries can also be used, but be careful about using malt with too much flavor like heirloom or floor-malted varieties. Avoid pale ale malt, or anything toasty, biscuity, or too bready because these attributes typically accompany malts with lower enzymatic power that are diluted to levels too low for normal conversion. Malts can be blended for additional variations, but shoot for using malts to yield a color of 2 SRM or less. I sometimes blend continental Pils malt with American 2-row for additional complexity.

It is possible to add a very small amount (less than 5%) of character malt such as Vienna, CaraHell^®, and the like. However, these risk bringing too much flavor. They will add some color, but color can also be adjusted darker using a touch of black malt (debittered is safest) or a commercial colorant.

The main adjuncts to use when making these beers are corn, rice, and sugar (corn sugar, typically). Corn and rice are the traditional ones used, but sugar is also common in some styles to increase alcohol and lighten the flavors. The form of corn and rice can be either whole/ground (grits), flaked (pre-gelatinized and rolled), or sometimes syrups and powders (such as rice syrup or rice syrup solids).

The techniques for using these adjuncts vary. Liquids and solids can be added directly to the boil, and so are suitable for extract brewers (or all-grain brewers looking to save time). The flaked form is probably most familiar to all-grain homebrewers. These can be added directly to the mash without any additional processing, similar to how other flaked grains (oats, rye, barley) are used. The grits form, however, requires some additional work to make the starches available for conversion to sugars.

The gelatinization temperature for corn and rice is higher than barley, so adding grits to the mash will not convert their starches since they will not be soluble in water. A double mash schedule uses a portion of the barley malt (perhaps 10–20%) along with all the adjuncts in a cereal cooker that uses higher temperatures than the main mash. The Practical Brewer (Master Brewers Association of America) recommends mashing in the malt at 100–122 °F (37–50 °C) for 15 to 30 minutes, adding the adjuncts with enough water to keep it liquid, then heating to boil while mixing. Boiling is recommended for 15–45 minutes, with more time being used with rice. The mashes are mixed together for conversion, before continuing with the recipe.

In addition to double mashing, some highly attenuated styles can use added enzymes to facilitate conversion. I find these to be generally unnecessary with modern malts, but specialized recipes may call for them.

Hop choices are often quite simple. Most classic noble hop varieties (such as Hallertauer, Tettnanger, or Saaz) are appropriate, especially for any late hopping. Noble hops are actually traditional for American beers, as German hops were imported during the 1800s. Bittering hop additions can use these same noble varieties, a traditional American hop like Cluster, or a clean bittering hop such as Magnum. Experimental styles featuring late hopping could use interesting tropical or New World varieties such as Motueka^TM, Riwaka^TM, Galaxy^®, Wakatu^TM, or Rakau^TM. Mandarina Bavaria also would be interesting. But don’t go overboard; I personally would avoid dank or piney hops, and would go easy on anything overly citrusy.

These styles typically don’t feature late hops of any significance, so a simple bittering charge will usually suffice. A small late aroma/flavor addition often is interesting, but anything moderate intensity or stronger is definitely experimental. If I was to play around with late hopping, I might shift some of the bittering addition to first wort hopping (adding the hops to the kettle before sparging, rather than adding them during the boil), and consider adding whirlpool hops either hot or after cooling below 180 °F (82 °C).

Most styles work with lager yeast, but I would select varieties that are low sulfur-producers. American lager yeast like White Labs WLP840 (American Lager) or Wyeast 2007 (Pilsen Lager), Mexican lager WLP940, Danish lager (WY2042, WLP850), and various German lager yeast such as W-34/70, WLP830, WY2124, or WLP833 would work nicely. I prefer strains that produce maltier results, unless looking for something highly attenuative. I also find higher temperature lager yeast such as the California common type yeast WY2112 or WLP810 also can produce good results for those who cannot ferment at lager temperatures. If making an ale, the reliably clean WY1056/WLP001 Chico strain is a good choice. I have seen some experimenting with tropical-type lagers using thiolized yeast strains like Omega Lunar Crush Lager (OYL-403).

Remember that most American lagers are differentiated by the fermentation profile, so look carefully at the choices. Fermentation temperature can affect the results, with most lager fermentations taking place between 50–55 °F (10–13 °C). Those wanting to ferment warmer could choose the California common yeast strains or a neutral ale yeast, and then fermenting in the 62–64 °F (17–18 °C) range. I honestly don’t mind light esters in a lager, as many commercial examples feature them.

I don’t have much to say about water, except that low-mineral or soft water favors the maltier styles. I use reverse osmosis (RO) water with a light touch of calcium chloride. I don’t think sulfates or carbonates bring much to the table in these styles.

Lagers should be lagered, not just use lager yeast. The cold conditioning phase helps the yeast clean up the fermentation profile and give a smoother finished beer. Those using pressure fermentation will reduce esters, but will not accelerate conditioning. If you like smoothness in your finished beers, please lager near freezing for a few weeks to a few months. Ales fermented at cool temperatures also can benefit from a cold conditioning phase to mature the beer; I favor two weeks at temperatures between 32–50 °F (0–10 °C).

Formulating Recipes

When formulating American adjunct beer recipes, I tend to follow a predictable set of steps. First, understand what techniques you can execute on your system so that you don’t make choices you can’t brew. Once you pick a target style, pick the strength target. Then think about the finishing gravity you want to achieve to hit the desired dryness or crispness profile. This will then let you determine the starting gravity based on these other values. Knowing your system efficiency should then let you understand how much grain and adjuncts you need to hit that gravity based on your batch size.

I then think about base malts and their flavor contributions. Plan on using at least half malt in these with adjuncts constituting the rest. I usually think about neutral American malt and that grainy-sweet German Pils malt, and proportion accordingly. Once the malts are picked, then the adjuncts can be considered. Think about flavor, color, and attenuation — corn contributes more color and flavor while rice is lighter and more neutral. Consider using corn sugar (dextrose) for part of the recipe if you want something drier or more attenuated, or if the color is too dark.

Understanding what mash programs you can execute on your system, select the type of mash you want to perform along with the form of adjunct used. Modify the mash program based on the final gravity desired, with lower temperature conversion rests producing higher attenuation. You may need to swap adjunct types if the form you need to use is unavailable; corn syrup for brewing is often harder to find than rice syrup. You want to use unflavored corn syrup, not something like Karo syrup that has added vanilla. Avoid the highly processed high-fructose corn syrup as well.

Noble hops are the default if you don’t have reason to use something else. If you are using any late hops, select those first so that you know their IBU contributions. Then pick the bittering hops to hit your IBU target.

Finally, set the final parameters. Pick the yeast you want to use and the fermentation temperature. I like something relatively malty and neutral, with low sulfur production. I enjoy the Mexican lager strains (of which most yeast labs have available) even if I’m not making a Mexican lager. Maltier German strains also are appealing to me, and if using dry yeast you can’t go wrong with SafLager’s W-34/70 strain. Pick your water based on any effects desired; I normally go with RO water with a light touch of calcium chloride in the mash. I ferment cool and lager for longer times; if I want to produce something faster, I tend to use the high-temperature lager strains or neutral ale yeast, but I still cold condition my beers for a few weeks to help them mature.

Final Thoughts

In the early days of craft brewing, adjunct beers got a bad rap. Often dismissed as “fizzy yellow lagers,” anything that wasn’t a flavorful all-malt beer was trash talked. Boy, have times changed. Adjuncts are found in many beers today, and some of the hottest innovative beer styles include them. An increased focus on drinkability has led to a new generation of brewers appreciating adjuncts as a viable brewing ingredient and not an opportunity for mockery. The English and Belgians have long used brewing sugars to enhance their beers, so this isn’t really something new.

Adjuncts can allow for a stripped-down malt experience that can showcase hops or yeast character. Even in beers with lower bitterness, interesting variations are possible that generate excitement for the brewer. Learning how to properly use adjuncts as part of your standard brewing process should remove any lingering doubts about their usefulness, and the newer forms of adjuncts also make them available to brewers of any skill level or experience.

One of life’s simple joys is enjoying a cold, refreshing beer after mowing the lawn in the summer. I call these adjunct beers “lawnmower beers” with pride, not derision. Whether you feel the connection with your father and his father or not, you can certainly relish their thirst-quenching qualities. 

Recipes

The American Lager recipe can be used as a starting point for many variations. Scale down the alcohol to 3.5% and reduce the bitterness to 10 IBUs to have an American light lager. Add SINAMAR® to make a dark American lager. Reduce the percentage of adjuncts from 20% to 10% and increase the bitterness to 20 IBUs to get a premium American lager. Use either all rice or all corn as adjuncts. Use all corn as adjuncts, increase the alcohol to 5.8% and the bitterness to 30 IBUs of Cluster to get a classic American Pilsner (pre-Prohibition lager). Add some tropical or New Zealand late hops to make a hop lager. Switch the yeast to Danish Lager, American Lager, or a malty German variety for a different fermentation profile.

The Cream Ale can be easily adapted to become a Kentucky common by either adding SINAMAR® or some mid-range crystal malt and black malt. It can also be made at a higher strength to give a decent approximation of a malt liquor.

The Malt Liquor recipe can be adjusted to a different alcohol level, if desired. Just add or remove corn sugar first.

These beers are lower on flavor and complexity than many craft brews, but that doesn’t mean they are easy to brew. Two award-winning brewers share advice for the perfect summer thirst-quenching beer.

Sam Tomaszczuk is the Brewhouse Manger at Wiseacre Brewing in Memphis, Tennessee

I  think the reason you hear a lot of brewers say light lagers are so difficult to brew is due to the fragile nature of these styles of beer. Delicate flavors and aromas are typically the goal when we set out to brew them, and so the slightest imperfections tend to be magnified to a much greater degree than perhaps they would in other styles. We’re not trying, as brewers of American light-style lagers, to impress you with a boatload of boutique hops, a cornucopia of malty flavors, or even some dominating yeast character. The goal, instead, is to wow you with a harmony of subtlety and modesty, which sounds like a preposterous idea. 

We use yellow corn grits at close to 30% in Sky Dog (winner of the gold medal in the American-Style Light Lager category at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival). The rest of the grain bill is North American 2-row, with a modest amount of acidulated malt for pH adjustment. Due to the corn grits addition, we do utilize a cereal mash as part of our mashing regimen with this beer, mashing the initial cereal mash in at 158 °F (70 °C) before boiling. For hop additions we use Saaz for flavor and aroma additions towards the end of the boil as well as in the whirlpool. We also bitter with the concentrated hop product, FLEX®. In brewing these styles, just keep in mind to use all things in moderation.

Doing this style well comes down to zeroing in on the process to make sure we aren’t getting any unintended flavor pickup during production. We’ve done a great deal of work on the hot-side to make sure we’re performing our mash regimen and our lautering steps to the highest standard our equipment can achieve. On the cold-side, we’re regularly monitoring throughout fermentation to make sure we’re hitting our desired specs. Outside of that, we’re using good malt, quality hops, healthy yeast (we use an Augustiner strain, similar to White Labs WLP860 or Imperial Yeast L17), and really damn good water — Memphis, Tennessee, has some incredibly soft water, similar in profile to Pilsen. Sulfate and chloride are both naturally below 10 ppm and calcium is usually between 10–15 ppm. We add a very modest amount of calcium chloride for flavor and mouthfeel, and adjust pH with acidulated malt.

Does all of this sound overly simplified and obvious? That’s because this style of brewing really tests your knowledge of the basics. 

I think what macro beer does, it does incredibly well. They reliably make a consistent product day after day that appeals to a very large consumer base. With that said, on the craft side we are targeting a slightly different audience that affords us the ability to make a more noticeably flavorful beer, while simultaneously maintaining a relatively fine-drawn flavor profile. Mass-produced lagers are just driven by a different ethos altogether, one that sacrifices certain process and ingredient choices in favor of production efficiencies. At the end of the day, I think we invest more in the quality of the liquid we make more than anything else, which enables us to be more discerning with our ingredients and more meticulous with our production processes. As a homebrewer looking to make your own, you have the same flexibility and these same decisions to make when crafting light lagers.

Matt Westfall is the Owner of Connecticut’s Counter Weight Brewing Co.

Pale lager recipes, flavor, and aroma are very subtle and nuanced, leaving little to no room for even small mistakes. That narrow window is a fun challenge. 

Like all good beer, pale lager starts with high-quality ingredients and healthy yeast coupled with sound fundamental brewing practices. Since American lagers are direct descendants of European continental lager beers, we essentially start with a rough German helles concept, lighten it with corn, lower the terminal gravity, and aim for less bitterness units. I don’t necessarily think of softer, more integrated flavors as less interesting. In fact, when simple beers are very harmonious in their characteristics and have well-defined flavor, they tend to be some very interesting beers. The main difference is they end up being a part of the conversation instead of the conversation itself. 

Like most craft American lager producers, the dials on the malt character and hops are nudged up ever so slightly to make for a more flavorful beer while still falling within style guidelines.

For Modern Classic (2024 GABF silver medalist), our grist consists of 20% flaked corn and very pale German Pilsner malt. The Pilsner malt has a very soft, subdued honey note that is further softened by the addition of the corn. When supported by a delicate hopping and a super clean fermentation, the malt and corn are relatively neutral but add just enough malt flavor to make the beer flavorful and interesting to drink. 

We mash at 146 °F (63 °C) for one hour and step up to 168 °F (76 °C) before transferring to lauter for vorlauf and run off. We use Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops and aim to achieve a calculated 13 IBU beer with one early boil bittering charge and one 10-minute addition. We’re looking to add just a touch of that classic noble floral and spice to help with overall balance.

We lager this beer for four weeks. Temperature control is always the most difficult thing when making lagers at home. As a homebrewer, look for the best ways to control fermentation temperature in your setup. It will make a big difference in the finished beer.

Brewing a well-made Helles is the ultimate test of skill. The recipe may be simple but the execution is challenging with no place to hide any flaws. But that end result of a great Helles is why it is the pride of Munich and among the best-loved beers in the world. Learn the keys to brewing a great Helles with Brew Your Own Magazine’s Technical Editor and Mr. Wizard Columnist Ashton Lewis.