Tasting my first 100% munich APA. I had no idea that it would turn out this malty. The malty aroma completely masks the hop aroma, dry hop additions and the hop bitterness is an afterthought. If I try this again, I will definitely need to push the IBU:OG way up to overcome the maltiness. Tastes like a slightly bitter german beer of some type…
I think my next one grain attempt will be 100% Vienna. I brewed this beer in attempt to showcase Zythos and get a feel for that hop blend but I can kiss that idea goodbye. The beer still needs quite a bit of bottle conditioning but I can’t imagine it will completely change from what it is now. Oh well, you live and you learn. I can use this moving forward…
Never tried all Munich in an APA, but my APA recipe now is usually 80% 2 row, 20% Munich, with a bit of wheat for head retention (honestly, its pretty much superstition). I like how the maltiness works at that level, without the sweetness provided by crystal.
I brewed a hoppy Ofest this fall, and I think it was right at (or just over) the upper limit of how malty you can push a beer before it overtakes the hops. It used 40% Munich/8% Vienna/4% Caramunich with the rest being Pils. The aroma was mainly hops with some maltiness, and the flavor was more balanced but definitely leaning toward the malt side.
It was a great beer, and I’ll definitely brew it again, but I’m rolling the Munich back for most of my hoppy lagers now. Next week’s brew will be 5 lb Floor-malted BoPils with 2 lb (28%) Munich (3 gal batch).
100% Munich and hops…its an D Alt with extra hop aroma and flavor. The problem is that hop flavor and aroma tend to clash with malt when the maltiness is very high, in my opinion. Having that cleaner Pils or Pale malt flavor allows the flavors to balance a little better.
I’ve tried this experiment also, excepting not to 100%. Even at more modest percentage, the effect can be overwhelming. I’ve also made plenty of 100% Munich D Alts and they are wonderful. The real difference is that hop flavor and aroma. Bittering is welcome, hop flavor and aroma…not so much.