Not too early to start thinking about this years batch (probably some have already brewed theirs ;)). What’s everyone going with this year?
I probably won’t brew mine for another few weeks. Here’s what I’m going with as of right now but I’m sure there will be a good amount of tweaking prior to brew day.
Recipe: Charyou Tree 2011
Brewer: Tygo
Style: Oktoberfest/Marzen
TYPE: All Grain
Recipe Specifications
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 9.01 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 7.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
That looks good. it looks real close to my recipe except I used .5 lb of 80L Crystal in mine. I brewed it in Marzen(March) and it is lagering away at 33F till the 3rd week of Sept.
Yeah, I’ll probably shoot for an earlier brew next year but didn’t have a second chest freezer until recently and didn’t want to tie up the fermentation freezer for that long. So this one will be brewed in May/June and get about 12 weeks of lagering.
Here’s the recipe I made most recently that turned out the best so far. I really like using Vienna as the base malt in this style.
Spangler Oktoberfest 4
Oktoberfest/Marzen
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.62 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 83.72 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt (6.0 SRM) Grain 9.30 %
0.50 lb Caramunich Malt 2 (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.65 %
0.25 lb Caramunich Malt 3 (120.0 SRM) Grain 2.33 %
0.75 oz Hallertauer [3.90 %] (60 min) Hops 8.7 IBU
0.75 oz Spalter [4.10 %] (60 min) Hops 10.2 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer [3.90 %] (20 min) Hops 3.5 IBU
0.50 oz Spalter [4.10 %] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
German Lager (White Labs #WLP830) [Starter 4000 ml] Yeast-Lager
Beer Profile
Measured Original Gravity: 1.054 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.48 %
Bitterness: 24.9 IBU
Est Color: 10.7
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Single Infusion, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 21.00 qt of water at 161.3 F 151.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 13.00 qt of water at 198.0 F 168.0 F
I’m planning to brew mine sometime in May (probably around the 14th) - it’ll be the first lager I’ve ever made. Next year, I’ll have to plan on brewing it a bit earlier.
Does the yeast strain matter? Is there one particular yeast that really defines an Octoberfest or would any lager yeast work?
I just got 4 more carboys and 4 more ball-lock kegs from a friend who used to brew and decided he’s not going to anymore (plus another CO2 tank, lines, manifold etc…all free). So, I have more room to put up something that needs to age a bit longer and this seems like a pretty good idea.
I will need to order ingredients but I expect that the yeast is the key ingredient so please let me know what you’ve used and like.
Thanks
Last year’s recipe was such a hit that I’m going to be doing ~210 gal of it this year. ;D
I’ll need to brew a Helles or something to get enough yeast together, though, so I probably won’t get around to my personal 10 gal batch until sometime in June.
Krasny Oktyabr Mk2
3-B Oktoberfest/Märzen Author: Sean Terrill
Size: 10.5 gal Efficiency: 77.0% Attenuation: 73.6% Calories: 231.55 kcal per 16 fl oz
Ingredients:
10.0 lb Cargill Munich
8.0 lb Cargill Euro Pils
2.0 lb Belgian Caramunich
45.0 g Magnum (12.3%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min
30.0 g Hallertau Tradition (6.4%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
0.0 L WYeast 2206 Bavarian Lager
Schedule: Ambient Air: 10 °C Source Water: 3 °C Elevation: 9320 ft
00:50:16 Mash In - Liquor: 6.4 gal; Strike: 78.26 °C; Target: 68.0 °C
01:50:16 Rest - Rest: 60 min; Final: 67.4 °C
02:05:16 Batch Sparge - Sparge #1: 4.06 gal sparge @ 85.0 °C, 15 min; Total Runoff: 8.2 gal
You don’t need one specific strain but you’ll want to go with a German one that tends to accentuate the malt flavor. I used 2124 in last years batch and liked it. I’ve used 833 in other malty German lagers and liked that in those. Anything along those lines will work.
hah - this is almost exactly the grist i used for my Vienna on Friday (though I used 12L munich) - hope its good!
For my Fest this year, I’m going with BryanH’s suggestion: 70% Weyermann Munich II, 30% Pils, 21-22 ibus Tradition at 60min, 830 yeast. I should be tapping that directly after the Vienna above, so I will be able to save some and sidexside taste.
This year, with an OG of 1.068, I brewed a BOCKTOBERFEST!
6.25 lbs. Best pils malt (Planned on using 5 lbs., but this was the end of a 55 lb. sack, so WTF?)
4 lbs. MFB Special Aromatic
3 lbs. Best Munich light
0.5 lbs. Weyermann CaraRed
0.5 lbs. MFB Caramel Vienna
Mash at 153°F for 2 hours, Batch sparge.
0.5 oz. Magnum 2+ hours (I boiled for 3 hours)
1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 30 min
1 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh 15 min
1 oz. Tettnanger 0 min
WLP833 Ayinger yeast
I brewed this March 27. Will rack to a keg this week.
On a different note. I’ve done multiple blind tastings of various German and American examples and find that there’s a distinct taste difference between the American and the German examples. I can’t quite put my finger on the difference but is there.
I have been trying different ratios of Pils/ Munich/Vienna and find that Vienna as the majority is the winner…as of right now.
Yeast matters some, but isn’t crucial. My favorite thus far is 2206 Bavarian lager. Most other lager yeasts will also get the job done nicely. One word of advice, though, and this is ironic – whatever you do, do NOT use the WLP820 “Oktoberfest” yeast. It is a crap yeast that should not be sold. I’ve had nothing but problems with it underattenuating and crapping out, and it’s just no good. The Wyeast version of the same thing (I don’t recall the number offhand) is just fine. It’s just the 820 that’s bad.
I would avoid the Oktoberfest yeast as well. It throws way too much sulfur for my taste. Didn’t have problem with it finishing. I just didn’t like the resulting flavor profile.
The Ayinger yeast works great. 2206 works well for just about any lager too, but it will attenuate more. Love how clean it is, though. I use the Ayinger (WLP Bock) yeast for that style personally, but I agree that 2206 is fine.
The reason that I seldom buy German beer in the US.
For the others, often German beers here have a “honey” aroma, or the hops bitterness has turned from smooth and delicate to rough and harsh. These defects are not in the beers in Germany, and are signs of oxidation. Man, we have to get back there to see some friends soon!
I’ve debated this effect time and again. I keep going back and forth between aging (which could be an oxidation effect) and the specific varieties of noble hops used to the water profiles. Kai T. had suggested possibly aging the beer on the yeast and the fermenter geometry as a possible effect. Regardless of what it is, the fact is that it is there and it’s distinctive.
The tasting that I did last October was done deliberately to try to eliminate the “stale beer factor” but the “distinct taste” amongst the German varieties was still there.
Mine was brewed the last weekend of March and is in a secondary (corny) right now, will be transferring to the serving keg soon.
Mine was mostly Weyermann Munich Type I with some Global Dark Munich and a little Carafoam. Hallertau hops. WLP833 Bock yeast slurry from previous brew. OG was 1.058 and IIRC the FG was 1.014. I don’t think I decocted but maybe I got frisky that morning.
I like to brew a Maerzen in March to be consumed before Oktoberfest. Then I’ll brew a light colored, slightly hoppier ‘Tent Beer’ to be tapped in September.
