hey, i love aventinus and ive been in love with it since i first tasted it a long time ago.
i dont want A weizenbock recipe, and googling aventinus clone recipes results in suggestions all over the board.
there is just such a powerful malty, deep-dark fruity complexity to it while it coasts so-carefully along the edge of balance and liveliness.
imho it is one of the great underrated classics that blows all other weizenbocks out of the water.
im less concerned with authentic brewery recipe coping than with hitting the same tasting results. candi-sugar, dextrose? what crystal/cara-munich malts? grists?? i have some ideas, but i want to hear your opinions.
The most popular homebrew clones seem to have no crystal malts or sugars but some contain smoked malt which is most likely not used in the commercial beer.
Having said that I would probably start with:
55% Dark Wheat Malt
25% Munich Malt II
15% Vienna Malt
5% Chocolate Malt (320-400L)
If anything the Vienna could be replaced by Pilsner or Pale - OR - left out completely and the amount of Munich and chocolate malt increased to make up the difference.
High wheat content grain bills can give lautering issues so rice hulls and a step mash are necessary or perhaps BIAB.
A decoction would be appropriate if you have the equipment.
Temperature steps would be along the lines of:
95F - 15 min
113F - 10 min
122F - 10 min
147F - 30 min
162F - 20 min
172F - 10 min
checking that page, lol there are a lot of variations in proposed recipes. i feel like munich is involved but i prefer to keep munich malt low, and i just dont see a roasted malt in it beyond 1-2% for colour. there is a reminder of melanoidin malt in it, that is a real consideration. the most raisiny beer i ever made hade a huge amount of cara aroma and melanoidin malt in it, and thinking of that reminds me of that kind of raisin/pure dark fruit character i want in it.
ill probably formulate something and post it up here sometime soon for critique
i have had bad experiences with step mashes before, but the past few months i have been considering benefits of a ferulic acid rest since i want a lot of clove
If you’re looking for raisin/dark fruit specifically rather than a specifically authentic clone recipe, then D90 Candi Syrup is my top pick to bring that character out in beer. Second choice is Simpson’s Extra Dark crystal malt. Special B gives it too. I get what you’re saying about Melanoiden, but I’ve only gotten that character from Melanoiden or Aromatic Malt when I overused it. In those cases, there was this lingering savory flavor that came along with the dried fruit that I just didn’t like. YMMV, obviously.
It’s been a while since I’ve had Aventinus, and I don’t have a good flavor recall for it, so I don’t know if I could recommend a specific amount to use of the D90 and Extra Dark Crystal.
Never tried it, but looking at the simple ingredients/grain bill, it looks to be pretty consistent with and result in what I have experienced with the real stuff.
Good luck in chasing your unicorn. Just keep it fun.
that is looking in the ballpark grist-wise, very small dark roasted ~>450L malt for colour and subtle notes, good chunk of intense crystal then pilsner/munich and wheat to varying degrees.
im going to do it and add d90 and lol that is right about melanoidin, i remember it has always been pretty unpopular generally, with a small minority saying they like it in very VERY small doses.
heres my recipe
30% pilsner
42% wheat
17% munich 2
3% crystal 120 (i use it a fair bit)
1% black malt
