Bock Help

nothreat · 08-29-2009, 01:08 PM

My sons best friend is getting married in January and they asked me me to brew his favorite beer for the wedding - a bock. I have never brewed an AG bock before and did some searching on the Internet for a recipe. I found a simple recipe and tweaked it a bit. Does this sound like a decent bock? I am fermenting it with US05 and will "lager" it in my fridge for 2 months in the keg.

Batch size: 5.0 gallons
Grain Bill
85% 11 12 Munich Malt - 10L
7% 1 0 Pilsner (2 Row) Ger
7% 1 0 Crystal 120L
1% 0 2 Chocolate Malt

OG
1.064
FG
1.016
Color
24° SRM
(Brown to Dark Brown)

Mash Efficiency
67%

hops
60 mins 1.0 Tradition pellet 5.3
15 mins 1.0 Saaz pellet 3.3
15 mins 1.0 Hallertauer pellet 3.0

Bitterness
5.3 HBU
20.3 IBU

Yeast
American Ale - US05 (Should I use 2 - 11.5 gram packets?)

Alcohol
6.4% A.B.V.

Thanks for your help.

**Malticulous** · 08-29-2009, 02:55 PM

It looks like a good ale. Might be a little bit much Crystal 120L. I'd cut it with some Caramunich II, 8 oz of each. You don't need the chocolate malt or the late hops. I'd just use 1/2 oz of Hallertauer at 30 min to get the IBUs in the low 20's.

Don't take too much of what I say--I've haven't made a bock yet. It all comes from looking at recipes and the BJCP guidelines.

winstonofbeer · 08-29-2009, 03:27 PM

Last bock i made, I used tradition for 60min and 10min boil.
Came out really well.
I agreee with conroe, cut out the crystal 120. If you are stuck on it, go down to crystal 10 or 15. For the chocolate malt. I use a little bit, Mostly for color but it gives it a little bit of flavor.

Havent tried it yet, But i was thinking about adding a 1lb of wheat to my next shot to get a better mouthfeel and keep the foam going on the beer

Hope this helps a little bit...
If you have beersmith, Play around with it a bit.
Just remember, No matter what. It wants to be beer.

**Bernie Brewer** · 08-30-2009, 04:08 AM

True bocks only use Hallertauer hops, and are lagers. If you have the ability to lager it, why are you using ale yeast? I mean, it's for the guy's wedding; you should get it as close to style as you can. What you have is closer to a nut brown than a bock.
And if you really want to make it a good one, decoct it.

Here is my bock recipe from the HBT database. I make it every year, have shared it with several HBT members with great reviews, and it has been brewed by several HBT members, also with excellent reviews.

nothreat · 08-30-2009, 12:44 PM

The original recipe I found said the the ale yeast would result in a good beer without the lagering. But you have my interested piqued. I planned on lagering by putting it in a keg and leaving it in my fridge (42 degrees) for two months. Should I put a blanket of CO2 on it or leave it alone? Also, I read up on decoction mashing. It seems easy enough, but what does it do to the beer? What difference would I be able to detect? I mostly brew pale ales and porters so this is new ground for me.

**Bernie Brewer** · 08-30-2009, 03:01 PM

Well, I'm not going to pretend to know the science behind it; I'm not that smart. But I can tell you from personal experience that even just doing a simple decoction will improve your bock, or any German lager, a great deal.

As far as using lager yeast, the first thing you are going to need is some kind of temperature control for fermentation. You need to ferment between 45*-55* F. You are either going to need a temp controller for your kegging fridge, or you need to devise some other way of controlling temps. Then when fermentation is done, (usually 4-6 weeks) you can lager in the keg in your fridge at regular temps (35*-40*) for a couple months.

Be sure to taste your hydrometer samples, because if you taste any buttery flavor, you need to do a diacetyl rest before lagering to clean that up.