I’m planning on brewing a dunkel next week. It’s one of my favorite styles and I’ve been looking for the perfect recipe for years. I’ve tried my own and a few other people’s but I have yet to make one that’s crisp without malty being sweet. Since I only brew lagers when the weather is cold enough to ferment outdoors, I only get one or 2 chances a year to work on it. If you’ve got a dunkel recipe you love, I’d like to see it! I have Wyeast Hellabock and Staro Prague slurries available. I’ve got a smack pack of 2206, too, but I won’t have time to get a starter of that built by next week.
This recipe is a bit dated using the DWC maltings & was inspired by the Czechs vs. Germans, but it’s still one of the best homebrewed Dunkles I’ve ever had. 
Doubravka Dunkel
http://alemakers.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.37
I don’t think the recipe matters much. Dunkels tend to be large amounts of Munich, sometimes a significant amount of Pils and possibly a small amount of specialty malts for additional character and color.
The chrispness is not so much a result of the recipe as it is a result of fermentation. You want the yeast to consume as much fermentable sugars as possible. I.e you want to get to the terminal gravity of the beer and for that you’ll have to do a fast ferment test. Based on my own experience I would not assume that this happens automatically if you pitch the right amount of healthy yeast. Melanoidens affect the yeast and slow down fermentation. I actually have yet to brew a Dunkel where the attenuation to attenuation limit is less than 3%.
Some pils in the grist also helps in getting a more fermentable wort. Dark Munich can be tricky and lead to rather unfermentable worts unless you make sure you account for its low enzymatic power in the mash.
Kai
this earned me a gold and an MCAB slot last Sept:
I think the key to having it crisp, malty yet not sweet is the inclusion of pils malt in the grist - the addition of pils malt helped me get there.
[quote]BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Blatz Munich Dunkel
Brewer: Paul Blatz
Asst Brewer:
Style: Munich Dunkel
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 12.00 gal
Boil Size: 14.20 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 19.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Ingredients:
Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (8.3 SRM) Grain 50.00 %
6.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (1.8 SRM) Grain 25.00 %
4.00 lb Munich Malt - 20L (16.0 SRM) Grain 16.67 %
1.00 lb Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.17 %
0.75 lb Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 3.13 %
0.25 lb Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.04 %
2.50 oz Tettnang [4.90 %] (60 min) Hops 16.5 IBU
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.90 %] (20 min) Hops 4.0 IBU
1 Pkgs German Lager (White Labs #WLP830) Yeast-Lager
Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 24.00 lb
Single Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 43.00 qt of water at 160.1 F 152.0 F
[/quote]
Hope that helps.
I used all Munich with a dash of Carafa II in my last one
Used a 20 minute 133 protein rest and then mashed at 153 for 45 minutes
OG was 1.057 (a little high) FG wound up at 1.015 going into lagering but I fully expect that to drop at least one more point by the time its ready for serving.
It tasted GREAT going into the lagering fridge
Thanks for the recipes and advice. Each year when I make this, I go back and forth between adding crystal/cara type malts for more of a Czech dunkel and leaving them out for a more German version. I’ve got a bag od Best Munich calling me, so since Ayinger dunkel is my Holy Grail I think I’ll be going in a more German direction this year.
Mine is Augustiner, but I’m going to wait until I can get some of their famous house yeast before I make another attempt.
Denny - Andy (Wingstall) over at the B3 forum gave me this recipe after he sampled one of my Dunkles. He said that he felt mine was a little “over the top” and I assumed he meant it was too sweet and not crisp enough, as you are mentioning, and since he had just got back from Germany the style was still fresh on his mind. In the beer I sent him the recipe used all Munich (a blend of type I and type II leaning heavily on the type II) with some CaraMunich, maybe a little Carafa, no pils. I admit - I thought it was pretty good (or I wouldn’t have sent it ) but I can see where it needed lightened up. I think the pils is important to the crispness, as was mentioned elsewhere in this thread. I also thought it was interesting that the Bavarian Brewmaster mentioned ading the pils malt “for the enzymes”, as you will see below.
Here’s the malt bill he said he copied straight from a Bavarian brewmaster while attending brewing school in Germany a couple years ago. I have not brewed it yet but I have a helles going right now that I was planning on using the yeast for this recipe next. One thing I am going to probably change is a little less CaraMunich (probably around 5%) when I make it, but I think CaraMunich is essential to this style.
70% Munich Malt (Cat. I, 17 EBC)
19% Pale/Pilsner Malt (for enzymes)
10% CaraMunich
1% Roasted Malt (0.5%-1.5%)
When I was at a German brewpub last year I was taking a closer look at their brew system and saw that the brewmaster left the brew log lying around. So I took a picture of it. It was for a Dunkel and the grist contained Munich, Pils and a Carafa type malt. I’ll have to check tonight which proportions exactly. But the beer wasn’t that great and I contribute that to the lack of clarity and suboptimal fermentation/aging.
Many here reported that Pils is important for crispness. I wonder if that is the result of better fermentability through increased enzymatic strength or just the result of less munich malt.
Kai
Thanks a bunch, guys. I think I’m going with about 70% Best Munich (about 10L), 25% pils, 2% CaraMunich, and 1% carafa. We’ll see how this year’s batch turns out!
Is this the dark or the light kind?
My experience with the dark kind has been that it produces rather unfermentable worts when used on it’s own. But you are using 25% Pils with it which should fix the problem.
I found a similar problem with Fraco Belges light Munich which caused my recent batches of Alt to be less fermentable than planned. Even after I took corrective action on the 2nd batch. I never experienced these problems with Weyermann Munich malts which is why I plan to to back to that source.
Kai
They call it dark and list it as 9-12 SRM. The light they list as 6-8 SRM. I have a bag of Durst Munich also, but I’ve never used the Best so I thought I’d give it a try. I really considered just going with the dunkel grist you list on your site, Kai, but I finally decided to change it up a but. OTOH, I haven’t ground the grain yet, so we’ll see what I finally do!
I do plan to brew 2 batches of Dunkel soon. So far I’m not committed to what I want to change between them. My initial thought was fermentation temperature but that could also be evaluated with another batch. Brewing one with and the other w/o Pilsner malt seems interesting since this is a pretty substantial difference that brewers tend to debate. Traditionalists will say that a Dunkel should not be brewed with Pils while others will argue that using Pils makes a better Dunkel.
My favorite is Paulaner’s Dunkel. I was told hat it is only brewed with dark malt (i.e. no Pils). Judging by its color Paulaner must use more than just dark Munich for it. Maybe some carafa or even some dark crystal. It doesn’t have any prominent crystal character though. Neither does it show roast character, yet it appeared darker then the Dunkel I make with 99% dark Munich and 1% Carafa.
Based on the brewery’s description, Ayinger’s Dunkel seems to be a bit more complex. It uses 5 different malts which I find unusual for German brewing. They are definitely mixing up some base malts and adding some specialty malts. It is also characterized as an Export which means it’s brewed a bit stronger and better attenuated than a typical Dunkel. A starting gravity of 12.8 Plato and 5.0% v/v alcohol however indicate a final gravity of about 3 Plato which is more than the typical German beer FG of 2-2.5 Plato. If this beer seems dry it must be the result of fairly complete fermentation.
BTW, don’t get confused by the “double fermentation process” that is mentioned on Ayinger’s site. The German version refers to double decoction, which makes more sense to me.
Kai
interesting - thanks for that info kai - I swear I learn something new just about every time I read one of your posts.
very helpful
Cheers!
No kidding…as I said, Ayinger is my personal “Holy Grail”. Guess I’d better look at the website!
I just checked the results with this calculator
12.8% starting extract is 1.0518 sg
to get 5.0% abv I need an FG of 3.47% or 1.0136 sg
This is an attenuation of only 73% which is surprisingly low for an Export.
Paulaner Dunkel has a starting gravity of 12.4% and an ABV of 5.3%
The attenuation is 80% and the final extract is 2.5% (1.010).
This is quite surprising since Denny considers Ayinger Dunkel drier. I haven’t had the Ayiner Dunkel in a long time. Looks like I have to get a bottle and see for myself.
Kai
I can’t recall if I’ve ever had a Paulaner dunkel…guess it’s time for a trip to the local good beer store!
+1
I just had a bottle of their Celebrator Dopplebock… the one with the little charm hanging from the neck… An outstanding beer.
I would like to brew a Dunkel someday. Here’s what Michael Jasckson had to say about Ayinger’s Altbairish Dark.
“Beer International, the Ayinger Dunkel Altbairisch aptly as follows:” A good example of its kind, almost impenetrable dark brown with gold shimmer, if it holds up against the light, and with warm aroma, malty flavor and reminiscent of coffee aftertaste. Gebraut wird es aus fünferlei Malzen – zwei davon dunkel gedarrt - und es wird nur leicht gehopft.“ Hergestellt wird es im traditionellen Zwei-Maisch-Verfahren. It is brewed from five kinds of malts - two of them gedarrt dark - and it is only lightly hopped. "It is produced in the traditional two-mash process.
I’m going to see if I can pick up a bottle of this beer.
I just brew Kai’s Dunkel recipe.
It is in fermenter now.
I used Globe Dark Munich 12L.
By the way Wayermann does not have 15L Munich malt any more.
Where did you see that. Their website still lists Munich type I and II. Type II is the dark one.
Kai