First alt recipe feedback!

I want to brew an alt for a few reasons: I have never brewed one before, I really like long trail's double bag which is brewed with Mt Hood and have never brewed with Mt. hood before. So I have pieced together this recipe and need some feedback, especially when it comes to the hop schedule and temperature and time of fermentation.

OG 1.074

11 # Marris Otter
1 # c20
.5 # c60
.5 # wheat
.2 # Chocolate Malt

I want around 30 IBU's, give or take.

60 min .75 oz Northern Brewer
15 min .75 oz Mt. Hood
2 min 1.25 oz Mt. Hood

Wyeast 1007 German Ale Yeast

Thanks in advance!

Double Bag is one of my favorites! Unfortunately, I'm not really able to critique your recipe, but I'd love to know if it turns out anything like Double Bag. If it does I'll be giving this recipe a go too!

A few things. Replace the Marris Otter with Munich. Your OG is really high for an Alt. I've had high gravity Alt that tasted great, but you're going to want to up the IBU's if you go that route. And, it's a style that doesn't need the late hop additions. I'd also cut the crystal by 0.5 lb's, and go with 1 lb caramunich instead of the c20/c60 mix, cut the wheat, and swap the chocolate for maybe 0.13 lbs of carafa II.

As for the temp, ferment on the lower end of the yeast's range. 1007 takes it's time floculating, but ferments like a beast. You want a blowoff tube for this one. Give it a month of lagering if you can.

I've never had Double Bag and therefore can't comment on how close your recipe is to that. But I would definitely not use Maris Otter if you're going for an authentic Alt. Your base malt should be some blend of pilsner and/or Munich malt. There's a lot of flexibility in what specialty grains you use -- your proposed combination of crystal, wheat, and chocolate malts might get you there, but I would decrease the overall amount of crystal and maybe swap out the chocolate with either some Carafa or black malt.

That said, your proposed recipe will probably make a damn fine beer! Just not an alt. If it's an authentic alt you're after, there's some good information on Kaiser's site:
http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Kaiser_Alt

A few things. Replace the Marris Otter with Munich. Your OG is really high for an Alt. I've had high gravity Alt that tasted great, but you're going to want to up the IBU's if you go that route. And, it's a style that doesn't need the late hop additions. I'd also cut the crystal by 0.5 lb's, and go with 1 lb caramunich instead of the c20/c60 mix, cut the wheat, and swap the chocolate for maybe 0.13 lbs of carafa II.

As for the temp, ferment on the lower end of the yeast's range. 1007 takes it's time floculating, but ferments like a beast. You want a blowoff tube for this one. Give it a month of lagering if you can.

Click to expand...

The long trail double bag clone I am going for should have an OG around 1.072-1.074 so it is not a authentic alt, they actually just call it a strong ale. the only reason I want to use MO is because I have a good deal of it already, do you think it will make a big impact if i don't sub it with Munich? They also say there IBU's are around 30 which I like in their brew, but what would you recommend as far as IBU's and timing ofhop additions for a high og alt like this?
Are you saying swap all the crystal with caramunich or cut the c20 to .5 pounds, cut the c60 and add the caramunich? I'm unclear on your phrasing there. Also, what is a good sub for caramunich, I know my LHBS doesn't have any?
Thank you for all the advice, I hope I can improve what I already have!

CBMbrewer said:

The long trail double bag clone I am going for should have an OG around 1.072-1.074 so it is not a authentic alt, they actually just call it a strong ale. the only reason I want to use MO is because I have a good deal of it already, do you think it will make a big impact if i don't sub it with Munich?

Click to expand...

You'll end up with tasty beer either way, but you'll have a different beer. If you're going for an Alt, I'd use Munich.

They also say there IBU's are around 30 which I like in their brew, but what would you recommend as far as IBU's and timing ofhop additions for a high og alt like this?

Click to expand...

I shoot for about 30 IBU's at 1.050, so at 1.070 I'd probably up it to about 45 and go all bittering without flavor or aroma.

Are you saying swap all the crystal with caramunich or cut the c20 to .5 pounds, cut the c60 and add the caramunich? I'm unclear on your phrasing there. Also, what is a good sub for caramunich, I know my LHBS doesn't have any?
Thank you for all the advice, I hope I can improve what I already have!

Click to expand...

Sorry for not being clear. I was saying to cut out all the crystal/chocolate/wheat, and add a pound of Caramunich, and the Carafa II. Since you can't get Caramunich (There's no real substitute for it as far as I know), I did a quick search and some have suggested a blend of maybe 0.5 lb C60 and 0.5 lb aromatic. My LHBS was out of Caramunich on my last alt and I subbed in some Melanoiden, and a hint more carafa II. Haven't kegged it yet. Hops were 1 oz Hallertauer at 60 and 1 oz Saaz at 30. OG 1.051 and 32 IBU's.

I've used the 1007 recently, the krausen took a really long time to drop out. I almost panicked because I thought it was contaminated. It's since dropped (two weeks after pitching). Give this strain patience and time

Thanks for all the tips Mongrel!

agree with the comments about munich/pils for base. 1007 is a beast of a yeast, too. keep it fermenting cool if you don't want fruity notes in it, and yeah it does take a while to drop out of suspension; it's pretty powdery. heavier hops on the bittering, and less at the 2 minute would also fit the style nicely. I've never had the brew you're trying to clone. FWIW, my altbier is 20L crystal, 60L crystal, dark munich, black malt and roasted barley, finished with a dash of maltodextrine with hersbrucker and tettnanger hops.

I did an alt not too long ago and I used a little roasted barley (4oz I think) and that really made for a nice color and flavor. I cut my original C40/C60 evenly to allow for the roasted barley. Just a suggestion for consideration. I used WLP029 which is a fantastic strain for the style.