Oktoberfest Recipe

Knowlse11 · 07-09-2008, 08:56 PM

I went to my local brew store (The Frugal Homebrewer) and asked for an Oktoberfest recipe. This guy does not sell pre-made kits - you tell him what you'd like to make and he will make the recipe for you.

How does this look?

Grains
1/2# Munich Malt
1/4# Cara-Munich
1/4# Aromatic Malt

Malt Syrup
7# Malt Syrup

1/2 ounce tett (50 minutes) bittering hops
1/2 ounce tett (15 minutes) flavor hops
1 ounce tett (while chilling the wort, steeped)

Yeast
YEAST STRAIN: 1007 | German Ale™ Wyeast

My fermentation will be around 64 degrees.

Boerderij_Kabouter · 07-09-2008, 09:11 PM

Looks like an OK Fest ale to me. You should know it will not likely be like your favorite Oktoberfest beer. Those are lagers, and though this recipe will get you a similar beer, there is no way around using a lager yeast and lagering the beer for extended periods of time.

Where in Wisconsin are you?

Knowlse11 · 07-09-2008, 09:17 PM

Around the Milwaukee area. I'm not sure if you have ever tried a Summit (St. Paul brewery), but I absolutely love their Oktoberfest beer. I assume using 1.5 pounds of extra malt i'd get a nice malty oktoberfest beer?

Desert_Sky · 07-09-2008, 09:17 PM

Im going to try one with a kolsch yeast and see how it turns out

Boerderij_Kabouter · 07-09-2008, 09:26 PM

If you have already bought the stuff go with that recipe! I am sure it will be good! Otherwise, I would suggest you try Edworts Oktoberfast ale, I have heard it is a winner.

You were not by any chance in attendance of the Lake Country Beer and Music Festival were you? I met a guy their who was looking to get more into brewing and I steered him here.

The Frugal Brewer is kind of a crazy guy. He seems to have a fair amount of knowledge, but runs a pretty shady business in my opinion and does not offer superior prices as he would have you believe. I am not bashing him at all, because I do purchase things from him every now and again, but I much prefer the Pantry/Homebrew Depot. Their link is in my sig. Brad the owner is a cool and relaxed dude who runs a very nice shop. Also, Bitter Creek just opened and is run by HBTer Superior Brew. It is in Slinger I think and looks awesome!

Knowlse11 · 07-09-2008, 10:00 PM

No, I was not able to go to the Lake Country Beer and Music Festival this year.

I tried to find Edwort's Oktoberfest beer, but I did not see it on the recipe list? The Summit Oktoberfest is a Marzen style beer; any idea if the recipe above is a Marzen style?

Taken from Summit's Website:

25 Bittering Units
7.4% alcohol by volume
Malts: 2-Row Harrington, Caramel, Munich
Hops: Northern Brewer, Tettenanger, Saaz

*edit* I'll check out the Homebrew Depot this weekend. Thanks!

Boerderij_Kabouter · 07-09-2008, 10:04 PM

Here is Ed's recipe

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/bee-cave-brewery-oktoberfest-ale-38880/

Marzen and Oktoberfest are generally the same thing.

From BeerAdvocate.com

Quote:

Before refrigeration, it was nearly impossible to brew beer in the summer due to the hot weather and bacterial infections. Brewing ended with the coming of spring, and began again in the fall. Most were brewed in March (Märzen). These brews were kept in cold storage over the spring and summer months, or brewed at a higher gravity, so they’d keep. Märzenbier is full-bodied, rich, toasty, typically dark copper in color with a medium to high alcohol content.

The common Munich Oktoberfest beer served at Wies'n (the location at which Munich celebrates its Oktoberfest) contains roughly 5.0-6.0% alcohol by volume, is dark/copper in color, has a mild hop profile and is typically labeled as a Bavarian Märzenbier in style.

Knowlse11 · 07-09-2008, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Here is Ed's recipe

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=38880

Ah, that is an all-grain batch. I'd like to try and start making AG batches in the future, but I don't think I have the money to buy the necessary equipment just yet.

Thanks for the link though!

-Mike

Boerderij_Kabouter · 07-09-2008, 10:23 PM

Whoop, I am dumb! Sorry

BigEd · 07-09-2008, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knowlse11

I went to my local brew store (The Frugal Homebrewer) and asked for an Oktoberfest recipe. This guy does not sell pre-made kits - you tell him what you'd like to make and he will make the recipe for you.

How does this look?

Grains
1/2# Munich Malt
1/4# Cara-Munich
1/4# Aromatic Malt

Malt Syrup
7# Malt Syrup

1/2 ounce tett (50 minutes) bittering hops
1/2 ounce tett (15 minutes) flavor hops
1 ounce tett (while chilling the wort, steeped)

Yeast
YEAST STRAIN: 1007 | German Ale™ Wyeast

My fermentation will be around 64 degrees.

It looks like a typical "Mocktoberfest" extract recipe. That doesn't mean it's bad, it's not and should make a good beer but it isn't an Oktoberfest. As has already been posted Oktoberfest is a lager and you are brewing an ale. I've made ale versions of this style myself and they can be very good but an ale is never going to taste quite like a lager. Also the beer is based on Munich and Vienna malt. Flavoring generic malt extract with some grains will get you in the ball park but flavor of the base extract is going to be the majority of the beer's flavor. To make the next step you can search for extract made from Munich and Vienna malt. Some of the big online guys like NB and B3 might have it or perhaps your local guy would order it for you. The next step after that is to go all grain so you can mash yourself up a big tun of Munich and Vienna.