Hi all. I was just curious if anyone had any info on doing an Oktoberfest style of beer for someone who does not have ability to lager. and if someone has that info, for a 5-gallon batch… Thanks much!
Sure, just make it and don’t lager…although if you’re gonna make it as a lager you’ll need to ferment cold, too. Without lagering, you’ll lose a lot of the crispness that’s a hallmark of the style. Whether or not that matters is up to you.
You can always lager in the bottles after they’re carbonated. How cool can you maintain your fermentation temps?
For alternative lagering methods, try a swamp cooler with rotating ice bottles a couple times a day or use a big cooler sitting on end with ice bottles rotated in the same manner.
I have a friend who does this, it works pretty well. Perhaps not ideal, but it still produces pretty good lagers.
Regardless or what you brew, you are going to probably need the ability to keep some reasonable fermentation temperatures.
If you are going for an “oktoberfest-like” beer, I would maybe suggest brewing an Alt… it is a german style, malty beer that you could scale the hops back on just a bit and it would get you that “type” of beer. It is fermented with ale yeast which gives you a bit more flexibility on temperature. (German Ale Yeast is a good one for this)
Another option is to brew a “mocktoberfest”… basically a festbier/oktoberfest grainbill, but use something like german ale yeast, or a kolsch ale yeast. Again - not a “true” oktoberfest, but will get you in the ballpark.
That said, these beers/yeasts are still going to benefit from cooler fermentation temps (lower 60’s) and both beers are going to benefit from some conditioning at cooler temps after they are not done - but, a bit more forgiving and flexible than a lager.
For some recipe ideas - check out these recipes - NHC Gold Medal Winners. Look at categories 3A, 3B, 7A, 7C.
http://www.alternativecommutepueblo.com/2011/10/ahanhc-gold-medal-winning-recipes-for.html
Basically, check those out for grainbill/hops/water/tips/etc… and then select a different yeast - german ale, kolsch would be two possibilities…but you could probably go a variety of ways and others may have some better yeast ideas.
I tried the whole oktoberfest with ale yeast thing once upon a time. Beer tasted very similar but lacked that crispness and that unmistakable lager mouthfeel that one gets in a lager.
If you can use the swamp cooler method or some other method to get into the low to mid 50s for a couple weeks then you could ferment with a lager strain and after bottling lager the beer in the bottle in your fridge. If you can only get into the 60s then ferment with a very clean ale strain and lager the bottles after carbonation.
I think you’re much better off using a lager strain that tolerates warmer temps than using an ale strain. WY2124 or Saflager 34/70 will get you closer than any ale strain, even pushing the low 60s for fermentation temps. The yeast character is distinctly different between an Alt, Koelsch or lager strain.
I made a few Ofests before getting a fridge/temp controller using a tub of cool water, 2124, and swapping out frozen water bottles 2 or 3 times a day. 2124 as mentioned stays clean at warmer temps than most lager strains. If you devote the time to monitoring the tub water temp and swapping out bottles , you can make a nice beer that way.
I disagree. I made much better pseudoests with WY1007 than 2124. Much cleaner.
I guess fermentation temps and personal preference are the deciding factor here. As clean as it may be, WY1007 still produces a characteristic fermentation profile that tastes more like an Alt than a lager to me. To me, that lager yeast fermentation character is more important.
I can’t claim to have used 2124 above maybe 57 or 58F back then - depending on the time of year I could keep the water in the tub from low 50s (cooler months) to upper 50s in the hot part of the year by rotating frozen bottles regularly. Today I would ferment it @ 48F, but all in all, I got pretty good results especially when I could keep temps under 55F obviously. Gotta say I do love 1007 though -just never used it in an ‘ale-toberfest’.
I like 1007 for a Mocktoberfest unless the reason for your inability to lager is lack of time, which is often the case for me. I say that because in my experience that yeast takes forever to clear. I suppose you could filter or fine your way around that problem.
The best balance of clean character and clarity for me has been 1056. That said, I don’t think it brings out the malt the way 2124 does.
Good call. If you have the option, do this. That strain is clean into the mid 60’s, very versatile.
I did a quick search on “Mocktoberfest” and there are some really good ideas in threads past.
WY1007 is extremely clean and edges in on lager territory, but the key is to ferment it at 54. My opinion is that Chico is cleaner than Wy1007 in temps in the 60s.
+1 I’m a big fan of 2124. Besides being clean at ale temps, it’s incredibly easy to work with and forgiving. One of the best beers I ever made was a black lager fermented with 2124 at low ale temps (forgot exactly what, but I think it was around 16C) and no starter. It came out super clean and super awesome.
My last 2 beers were also with 2124. The first was a more traditional German-ish lager fermented at 11C, then I scraped the fermenter and added it to a session APA-like-thing at about 18C. I just tasted it last night and it’s really clean and malty. I think if I upped the malt and mellowed the hops, I could call it a reasonable effort Octoberfest. Or something.
Did someone say 2124? Love that yeast.
It’s dry equivalent, Saflager 34/70, is fantastic as well.