a little slice of heaven

has anyone ever tried Imporetd Optimator from Spaten Munich?????? It is the BEST beer I think I have ever had. Thank GOD its avaliable here local or I would have to sell my wife (she is HOT by the way) just to make trips to Europe to get it..... Spaten has been brewing this beer since 1397 and let me say this IMHO Nothing holds a candle to it in its class. If you have tried it what did you think???? My father turned me on to this beer about ten years ago and DAMN I cant get enough. I have wanted to try to brew this beer since I started brewing three+ years ago and havent even come close to getting a grain list let alone a brew schedual. has anyone ever tried to brew it ???? How did you do???
Please post SOME input.
JJ

I can't say anything about actually brewing it, cuz I haven't. But I love drinking it, too. Plus, cool story about the first time I tasted it:

I was in a minor seminary (first step toward the Catholic priesthood) and studying philosophy. It was a regular Saturday afternoon and I was up in the 4th floor library writing a paper and really bored. Then I began to smell some food cooking and thought "Huh? in the middle of the afternoon?" So I went down to the first floor kitchen, and even before I got down the last flight of stairs, I could smell it: a woman. When you live in a big house full of all men, you notice the difference when there is a female in the house. Basically, 99% of all women smell better than us. Anyway, I come down in the refectory and what do I see? A beautiful blonde woman in an apron arranging beer bottles in a tub of ice. I rub my eyes. She looks up, smiles, and asks, in a full on Austrian accent, "would you like a beeya?" I seriously thought this was some kind of joke. No, actually, this thought came into my mind in a very serious way: am I in the right house? I took the Spaten Optimator from her and began to drink it. She stared at me goodnaturedly. Probably because I was staring at her and hadn't yet said anything. And my mouth was hanging open between sips. I thought I was in heaven there in the refectory. Talk about forming a pleasant psychological connection.

oh yeah, and the beer is good

Great story Monk!

Wish that would happen to me while writing philosophy papers...

mmmmm optimator

Nice beer, hands down. I didn't brew Optimator, instead I brewed Salvator which is also double bock kind of style. Turned out grate. Since it's high gravity beer it needs really long lagering time. That's why I postpone my next brew for it till october-november to be able to lager it without taking space in main lagering fridge.

How long do you lager it for? Longer than a month, I take it?

I would love to brew a doppelbock but like you say, it's a big commitment to the lagering fridge.

Never tried the "imported" stuff, but I drank it and other "-ator's" every year for 9 years that I lived in Germany. Mmmm, Bambergator!

Technically speaking my lagering time was only 3 weeks, then I bottled it and did long bottle conditioning combined with taking samples Last bottle was gone by the end of 4th month. I remember I noticed big taste improvement after 1 month.

Could you post your recipe I would love to try it. How did it turn out? and was there anything you would change???
JJ

Sure, the recipe is from Beer Captured book. I did PM. At that time I had only 2.5 gal fermenter, therefore had to recalculate it. But I post for 5 gal:
OG: 1.079-1.081 FG: 1.021-1.022 SRM: 22 IBU: 27 ABV: 7.4%

1 Belgian Cara-Munich
½ oz Chocolate
1.5 lb Munich
4 oz Belgian aromatic
12 oz Pilsner

3.75 lb Mutons Extra Light DME
3.5 lb Bierkeller LME
6 oz Maltodextrin

4.2 HBU Northern Brewer (bittering)
4 HBU Hallertau

Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager
Mash the grains at 150F

The beer turned out to bee too dark (almost like Optimator), I think this is because I tried to do full boil in a smaller pot. It depends on your setup, but you may think about partial boil. Also, this beer style calls for decoction, which I didn’t know how to do back then. Make sure you prepare a good starter for this beer because of a high gravity.

Adin
Is that 1# Cara Munich and how long did you mash for? also what temp for the lagering?
Cheers
JJ

Jaybird,
Yes, it's 1 lb. The book tells to mash for 90 minutes, but I think 45-60 minutes should be enough.

Thanks Adin
Where did you find that recipe??
JJ

I wanted to revive this thread to give my thumbs up to the Optimator. I usually buy a six-pack of it most friday nights on the way home from work and its one of the few store bought beer I keep on-hand anymore (except Natural Light for the brother-in-law... don't get me started).

I just found a kit on Austin Homebrews' website for it and will definitely be giving it a shot here in the near future. I'll post the results when the time comes...

John
Did you ever brew the Optimator kit??
How did it turn out??
JJ