My Oktoberfest/Marzen Lager

Hey All -
This is my first all custom recipe, and was shooting for a Bavarian Lager somewhere between a true Helles and a Marzen/Oktoberfest. My LHBS didn't have the exact items in my bill, so some subs were made as shown below.

I'd love to hear any feedback or comments, especially on the hops & bitterness range.

WEBECK Helles V2
Oktoberfest/Marzen

Type: All Grain
Date: 5/24/2009
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer: Edward
Boil Size: 6.42 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Ed's 3 Stage AG
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 71.79 %
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (8.0 SRM) Grain 15.38 %
1.00 lb Munich 10L (Briess) (5.0 SRM) Grain 10.26 %
0.25 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 2.56 %
0.42 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (40 min) Hops 10.7 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] (30 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
0.29 oz Select Spalt [4.75 %] (10 min) Hops 1.8 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.10 %] (2 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
2 Pkgs Bavarian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2206) Yeast-Lager

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.064 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.64 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.53 %
Bitterness: 18.0 IBU Calories: 288 cal/pint
Est Color: 6.7 SRM Color:COLOR

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Edward's New Helles Decoction Mash, Triple, Lager Total Grain Weight: 9.75 lb
Sparge Water: 5.79 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 78.0 F
Mash PH: 5.2 PH

Edward's New Helles Decoction Mash, Triple, Lager Step Time Name Description Step Temp
30 min Acid Rest Add 8.00 qt of water at 142.9 F 130.0 F
30 min Beta Sacch Decoct 2.16 qt of mash and boil it 146.0 F
15 min Alpha Sacch Decoct 1.51 qt of mash and boil it 155.0 F
5 min Mash Out - Half Mash Decoction Decoct 2.91 qt of mash and boil it 170.0 F

Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Volumes of CO2: 2.4
Pressure/Weight: 9.7 PSI Carbonation Used: -
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 37.0 F Age for: 42.0 days
Storage Temperature: 37.0 F

I had trouble hitting the 170 F at the end (as usual) but everything went really well, and it's fermenting away at 50 F now. Krausen took a day to form @ 55F then dropped slowly to 50F. Will do a D rest to 62F for 2-3 days once done in primary.

Cheers

I can see having trouble finding the Mittfrueh hops, but either of CCBC in Culver City and that other joint over the hill in adult video country (home of the Maltose Falcons) should have had all those grains.

Both worth a stop if you find yourself on that side of town.

Actually my LHBS is the home of the MF's. They weren't really missing grains but did not have the specific ones I had spec'd out from Breiss & W. So I had to adjust for the color. Hops are rarely a problem there, and I have all those.

1.064 from less than 10lb of grain? I don't know whether to call shenanigans or congratulate you.

I would probably want more like 25-30 IBUs in a beer that big.

Yeah - my last four batches I've had to re-read the hydro because I thought I had it wrong. I may be off by 1-2 points due to temp diff from calibration, but I was around 66F when I took it and took two samples to be sure. The Est. OG was calculated at 1.057, so it really wasn't much difference and I had the efficiency calculated at 75-80%. I think I'm getting much higher than that...

I've been lagering this puppy for so long I forgot I posted this... SWMBO & I tasted this over the weekend and it is great. Very malty, flowery nose and light on the hoppiness... I'm loving it - maybe a tad malty/sweet but it's still young and is scheduled for official drinking in a month...

Did you use a starter? I am in the midst of lagering my O-fest and mine is a much lower at 1.046 if I remember correctly, but I used a 1 gallon starter.

How long did you lager?

No starter for this one. I used 2 packs of Wyeast Liquid and (2206) straight in.

It's been lagering for over 6-7 weeks now... I had to rethink that, since I began the temp reduction back in late June.

I plan to lager for 4 weeks since the reduced OG. Thanks.

Here's a pic - we just started drinking it and it's great. Nice and Malty, refreshing, and addicting...