Hey guys,
I'm happy to see this thread going again. I haven't home brewed in a while, but I have been brewing professionally for about 4 years now and taken some courses through Siebel. This is a tricky beer for sure, because it's so simple, but very hard to recreate exactly. I would definitely stay away from the crystal malt. Color in this beer comes from an extended boil (at least 90 minutes). Also, Ayinger is definitely doing a decoction mash schedule, so it's going to pick up a bit of color from that too. I'd stick with 100% Weyermann pils for the grain bill. If you have the ability to step mash go with protein, beta, alpha rests. Boil from 90-100 minutes, hopping at 60 and lightly at flameout (or even the whirlpool if you want to play around). This beer is super clean so ferment the WLP833 at 50* for primary and give it a nice 2 day diacetyl rest at 56* before slowly dropping to your lagering temp (5*/day). One thing I've picked up is slightly over or under pitching to accentuate certain traits. Not so much that it stresses the yeast or makes it lazy, but allows you to get more ester or phenol depending on what you're looking for. Mind you, I haven't tried to clone this yet so I could just be talking out of my ass, but let me know how this comes out. Happy brewing!