I just tried Stoudt’s Smooth Hoperator today and I really liked the combo of malty lager with a nice hoppiness to it. Sort of like the advanced-class version of Sam Boston Lager. It instantly got me thinking of how I’d want to approach that style. I was thinking of doing a Maerzen hopped to roughly the level of an APA and possibly with some dry hopping as well. Does anyone have any experience/recipes for something like this? Would it be as simple as taking a basic Ofest recipe and applying my standard APA hopping regime to it?
Nothing to do but try it and see what happens. Personally, I wouldn’t do it because I like a good Oktoberfestbier. Hops only need balance the malt, for me.
I love a good malty lager as well. I’m thinking more along the lines of adding malty lager characteristics to a pale ale, as opposed to hopping-up an easy-drinking lager.
I ended up taking a stab at this, and I am very happy with the results. I figured I’d share my recipe in case anyone wants to try this out for themselves. The aroma is very hop-forward, but the hops and malt are more balanced on the palate. You can definitely taste that the malt bill is a typical Ofest, but the hops are much more prominent. IBU’s calculate to around 37, but it’s mostly FWH so the bitterness is pretty smooth.
HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: Hoptoberfest
Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: Oktoberfest/Märzen
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons
Boil Size: 4 gallons
Efficiency: 80%
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.061
Final Gravity: 1.016
ABV (standard): 5.91%
IBU (tinseth): 37.36
SRM (morey): 7.49
FERMENTABLES:
3 lb - Pilsner (48%)
2.5 lb - Munich Light (40%)
0.5 lb - Vienna (8%)
0.25 lb - CaraMunich I (4%)
HOPS:
0.2 oz - Amarillo (AA 10.6), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: First Wort
0.2 oz - Columbus (AA 13.9), Type: Pellet, Use: First Wort
0.25 oz - Ultra (AA 9), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: First Wort
0.2 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.2 oz - Amarillo (AA 10.6) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.2 oz - Columbus (AA 13.9) for 0 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.3 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.3 oz - Amarillo (AA 10.6) for 7 days, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop
0.3 oz - Columbus (AA 10.6) for 7 days, Type: Pellet, Use: Dry Hop
0.5 oz - Ultra (AA 9) for 7 days, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop
MASH STEPS:
- Infusion, Temp: 151 F, Time: 90 min, Amount: 18 qt, Sacc Rest
YEAST:
Wyeast - Octoberfest Lager Blend 2633
Ferment at 50F x14 days, then raise to 68F for D-rest/dry hopping
Primed and bottle-conditioned x14 days at room temp, then lagered at 34F for 6 weeks