Johnny McClure Rainier Lager
In summer of 2025, my wife (aka The SheppyBrew Beer Model) and I visited the Seattle, Washington, which got me thinking about living in Washington as a child.
I never drank back then, but I remember Rainier Beer being around.
I decided to pick up some from my local liquor store and give it a try.
Then, I thought I'd see if I could figure out what sort of hops they used or other hints on their recipe. I didn't really find anything definitive. ChatGPT told me that Rainier beer hops are not disclosed, but "based on style, region, and brewing history, here’s what we can reasonably infer:"
Likely Hop Profile for Rainier Lager
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Type: American adjunct lager
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Flavor profile: Light, crisp, mildly bitter, slightly floral or grassy
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Likely hop varieties:
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Cluster – one of the oldest American hop varieties; earthy, spicy, and slightly floral. Common in classic American lagers.
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Willamette – mild and floral, often used in traditional Northwest beers.
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Cascade – possibly in trace amounts for aroma; more citrusy, though likely toned down here.
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Nugget or Mt. Hood – sometimes used in macro lager bittering for clean, neutral bitterness.
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I let ChatGPT try to make me a recipe, and then I pretty much ingored it, although I did sort of follow the types of grains and hops.
The resulting recipe is below. I'm sure this will NOT be Rainier-Lager-like. The malt bill may be close, but I decided to hop it up quite a bit.
"Johnny McClure" is a kid I knew back when I lived in the Bremerton area. He was a year or two older than me, lived just down the road, and was the closest to a bully I ever remember having. As far as bullies go, he was not bad at all, but there were times that I certainly was not a fan of Johnny McClure.
I actually think I found his facebook page. Based on his public profile it appears that he may be an educator (he works for a school district). Many of his posts indicate that he is a God-fearing Christrian.
So, it looks like he turned into a fine adult, and I'd probably enjoy drinking Rainier beers with him in a local Port-Orchard dive-bar.
I'll probably enjoy drinking my beer on my back patio by myself even more.
If you want to read more about this beer, check out Sheppy's Blog: McClure
| Jonny McClure Rainier Lager --- Batch 1 (380) |
| Style | American Lager | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 6.60 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 68.00 | Boil Time | 60 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.045 SG | Estimated FG | 1.009 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 16.5 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 4.7 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.368 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 3.4 SRM |
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| Measured OG: | 1.045 | Measured FG: | 1.009 | ||||
| ADF: | 80 | Measured ABV: | 4.9 |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.83 gal | Denver, Colorado | Water | 1 | - | - |
| 5.00 g | Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) | Water Agent | 2 | - | - |
| 3.00 g | Calcium Chloride (Mash) | Water Agent | 3 | - | - |
| 1.50 tsp | Lactic Acid (Mash) | Water Agent | 4 | - | - |
| 7 lbs 8.0 oz | Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 5 | 75.0 % | 0.59 gal |
| 2 lbs 4.0 oz | Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) | Grain | 6 | 22.5 % | 0.18 gal |
| 4.0 oz | Cara-Hell (8.0 SRM) | Grain | 7 | 2.5 % | 0.02 gal |
| 0.500 oz | Cluster [7.40 %] - Boil 30.0 min | Hop | 8 | 7.7 IBUs | - |
| 0.250 oz | Willamette [4.40 %] - Boil 15.0 min | Hop | 9 | 1.2 IBUs | - |
| 1.000 oz | Mt. Hood [4.10 %] - Boil 5.0 min | Hop | 10 | 2.8 IBUs | - |
| 0.750 oz | Willamette [4.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min | Hop | 11 | 2.3 IBUs | - |
| 0.500 oz | Cluster [7.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min | Hop | 12 | 2.5 IBUs | - |
| 1.0 pkg | Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70) [50.28 ml] | Yeast | 13 | - | - |
| 0.50 tsp | Gelatin (Bottling 2.0 days) | Fining | 14 | - | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharification | Add 31.33 qt of water at 155.8 F | 150.0 F | 45 min |
| Heat | Heat to 156.0 F over 10 min | 156.0 F | 20 min |
If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Recipe Notes
From Denver water, salts puts water profile at
Ca=98,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=145,Cl=72,HCO3=104
Acid to bring water pH to around 5.4
Boil as directed.
Chill water to as close to 50F as possible.
Pitch yeast and ferment in 50's for first 2 days.
After main fermentation is done let temperature rise to room temp. Let total fermentation go a total of 2 weeks.
Chill and add gelatin after a couple days in the fridge.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | |||||
| Mash Temps: | ||||||
| Pre-boil OG | (1.041 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (6.60 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | |||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
8/17/2025 Bought ingredients today. Will probably brew next weekend.
8/25/2025 Brew day yesterday. Got started after church. Short bike ride during mash. Everything went pretty well. OG 1.045 as planned. Tilt says 1.041 at 55 this morning. No bubbles yet.
8/26/2025 Still waiting for fermentation to take off. Tilt says 1.040 at 57. I bumped up the controller temp a little. Hopefully it will start today. I really need to take the time to do proper starters for my harvested yeasts.
8/27/2025 Fermentation was going around noon yesterday. Next time I do a lager I really need to get that proper starter going before brew day. Tilt now says 1.029 at 57 degrees. The temp controller is set at 56. My schedule says I'll start "warm fermentation" tomorrow. I might just bump up a degree a day for the next couple until I get up to 60.
8/28/2025 Still going. The "calendar" says to start "warm" fermentation today, but since it took awhile to get started, I have the controller set to 58. I'll probably bump it up a degree or two tomorrow before turning it off. Tilt says 1.016 at 59 degrees.
8/29/2025 Still bubbling some. Set temp to 60. Tilt says 1.010 at 60 degrees. I have a couple of open kegs and a spot in the kegerator, but I don't know when I'll be kegging this.
8/30/2025 Forgot to switch ice and by the time I caught it, Tilt was at 65. Unplugged the pump
9/4/2025 Turning off the Tilt. Read 1.001 at 69 degrees. If Tilt was accurate this would indicate a 5.28% ABV beer, but obviously it isn't. Will keg sometime before the end of the weekend.
9/7/2025 Kegged today. FG right at 1.009, which is right on plan. Racked 1519 Barker right onto the yeast cake. Sample tastes pretty much as I was expecting. Chilling on right side of kegerator.