Altbier Norther German Altbier (Best In Show)

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greencoat

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2009
Messages
517
Reaction score
19
Location
Dayton, OH
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WLP029
Yeast Starter
Nope
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.048
Final Gravity
1.012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
37
Color
14L
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 @ ~67F
Tasting Notes
Very well balanced between sweet malts and crisp hop character. Judges loved this one
10.7 lbs of grain in the mash:

9 lb Pilsen
1 lb Munich Dark
0.5 lb Crystal 60L
0.2 lb Roasted Barley

Strike your mash with 4 gallons @ 161F and rest for 75 min. Target mash temp is 150F.

Vorlauf and collect first runnings.

Sparge with 5.1 gallons @ 177F.

Collect second runnings and prepare to boil.

Boil is 90 mins.

1 oz Hallertauer (4.7%aa) @ 90 min for 15 IBUs
3 oz Saaz (3.3%aa) 30 min for 22 IBUs

Cool to ~63F and pitch a vial of WLP029 - German Ale/Kölsch yeast.

I didn't do a starter for my batch and it seemed to work fine at such a low starting gravity.

This worked out to be 4.7%ABV and makes for a very tasty session beer, and it scored me a gold metal and first in show. Cheers!
 
what competition did this win a medal in? Looks like an awesome recipe and one I may have to toss on my wlp029 cake
 
It took first in my club's hosted comp, and secured me an invite to nationals :D

I've just about cashed the keg, but I think it may become my house beer. It's easy to throw a bunch back and still be coherent.
 
nice...i feel hints of jealousy. Grain ordered for this one but I'm gonna add pineapple and well see how it turns out :) Thanks
 
What was the batch size after boil? Also what was your starting and finishing gravity?

As shown at the top of the page -

Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.048
Final Gravity: 1.012

YOUR post-boil batch size will depend on your system - your pre-boil volume and how much break\trub\hop debris you leave behind. YOUR SG and FG will depend on your efficiency and how well your yeast attenuates and how well you maintain 150 degrees in your mash tun.
 
just thought I'd leave a little update, I brewed a variation of this one about 2 weeks after I had previously posted. I followed this grain bill but used Kaiser's mash procedure and hop schedule. This beer turned out wonderful and received a great deal of praise from everyone I shared with. I was very disappointed when the keg finally gave out last week. I will definitely make this one again, next time I'll follow greencoat's hop schedule so I can compare.
It stayed right at 67 the whole primary, I did get some slightly fruity ester tones so next time I will probably aim for lower 60's. However, I do recall listening to Jamil discuss how he prefers Alts with the slightly fruity tones an I think I can totally relate. great job on this one greencoat
 
I brewed this sucker a couple months ago and it's killer. Many compliments from homebrew pals and casual drinkers. Easy brewing, great color for the style and malty deliciousness. Great for when you want something full of malt flavor w/o being heavy or ending up loopy. Well done!
 
Thanks for the recipe Greencoat!

I've brewed this half a dozen times now. One of my favorites. I used Wyeast 2565 but otherwise followed the recipe. Turns out great every time. I have a tap on the kegorator dedicated to it now.

To think I was unaware of Altbiere for years makes me sad. My Dad was born and raised in Northern Germany but wasn't old enough to drink the local brew before he emigrated. Great to be able to serve him a beer from the Fatherland, as commercial examples are almost non-existent around here. He loves this recipe too BTW...

Cheers!
 
Thanks for the recipe. I brewed this July 11th, put it in my lager fridge on the 29th, and kegged it up the other night after a month in the cold. I'm drinking my first brew off the tap as I write this. Tastes great. Easy drinker with enough flavor to satisfy.

Cheers :mug:
 
3rd day fermenting, started at 65-66 degrees for 2 days, now it's at 70-72. Used Wyeast 1007 with a starter, also threw a Whirfloc tablet in there. My OG was around 1.058-1.060. Can't wait to try this beer!

image-4230372667.jpg
 
Thanks for the recipe! This was my first attempt at brewing anything. Decided to jump straight into all grain and kegging and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I didn't exactly hit the OG with my efficiency but have since figured out what I was doing wrong with the batch sparge. Regardless, this is one tasty session brew!

wp_20140213_002-62185.jpg
 
This will be the first AG brew I try. We have a local brewery that makes an alt that is fantastic and I'm looking forward to trying this one out. Thanks for the recipe!
 
What was your water chemistry on this brew?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
10.7 lbs of grain in the mash:

9 lb Pilsen
1 lb Munich Dark
0.5 lb Crystal 60L
0.2 lb Roasted Barley

Strike your mash with 4 gallons @ 161F and rest for 75 min. Target mash temp is 150F.

Vorlauf and collect first runnings.

Sparge with 5.1 gallons @ 177F.

Collect second runnings and prepare to boil.

Boil is 90 mins.

1 oz Hallertauer (4.7%aa) @ 90 min for 15 IBUs
3 oz Saaz (3.3%aa) 30 min for 22 IBUs

Cool to ~63F and pitch a vial of WLP029 - German Ale/Kölsch yeast.

I didn't do a starter for my batch and it seemed to work fine at such a low starting gravity.

This worked out to be 4.7%ABV and makes for a very tasty session beer, and it scored me a gold metal and first in show. Cheers!

I was trying my own version of this recipe with ingregients readily available to me. For hops I used Perle and replaced the pils malt with canadian 2 row but used the same of everything else. The yeast worked for a couple of days (I used a starter) and then it just stopped. I took a reading on Wednesday and it was 1.22 and I took another reading today (friday) and it was the same. Should I add some more yeast?
 
I want to try this recipe with a couple modifications and I'd like to get some feedback on my mods before I try them.

So I'm doing BIAB and here is what I plan to do, my changes are in bold

10.7 lbs of grain in the mash:

9 lb Pilsen
1 lb Munich Dark
0.4 lb Crystal 60L
0.3 lb Roasted Barley (this is to help lower mash pH because I'm doing full volume mash and have pretty alkaline water)

Strike my mash with 7 gallons @ 158F and rest for 90 min. Target mash temp is 150F.

pull the bag and squeeze like hell

Boil 90 mins.

1 oz Hallertauer (4.7%aa) @ 90 min for 15 IBUs

1 oz Saaz (Czech) pellet (3.3%aa) 45 min for 18 IBUs
2 oz Saaz (Czech) pellet (3.3% aa) @ flame out for more hop nose

Cool to ~63F and pitch a big healthy starter of Wyeast 2565 - Kölsch yeast.

I plan to use a large starter and a 10-20% overpitch for a slightly cleaner drier ferment to try to give this altbier a slightly more "Oktoberfest Lager" quality since I don't have the ability to actually lager it.

Am I about to do anything terribly wrong here as far as you recipe gurus are concerned? I'm a bit worried about a destructively explosive fermentation with that strain and an overpitch.
 
Followed the grain and hop bill, but used US-05 instead of WLP029 because they didn't have any at the homebrew shop, turned out really good after 2 weeks of fermentation and 2 weeks in bottle. This recipe is a keeper.
 
Just made a 10gal batch of this last night, I doubled the grain bill and ended up at 1.049 OG with 14 gal post boil. And what was coming out of the mash tun was still about 1.04. Since I hadn't planned on so much volume I threw another oz of Amarillo in at 30 min to go on the boil to keep the ibu on target. As a result of the extra volume I definitely underpitched the yeast, but at 1.049 it's just a big starter anyway.
 
Did you lager this beer in secondary or keep it at 67? Any specifics on the temps would be greatly appreciated!
 
First post:

Just cracked one open last night after a minimum 2 weeks fermenting + 2 weeks bottle, it tasted great. My 2nd brew I have ever done. Jumped into all grain using an Anvil Foundry

I pitched at 63 F then fermented in a turned off fridge in my garage that was probably fluctuating between 58-60 F for one week (I always assume the fermenter is at least 5 degrees more than that) then took it indoors the 2nd week at 70 F. Hit your gravity numbers exactly. Thanks for the great recipe
 

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