Munich Dunkel Gavin's Majestic Munich Dunkel

I've been making quite a few lagers lately and this dark lager turned out very well. I was trying to incorporate some traditional methods for this one and am glad I did. This is one delicious beer. Big fat foamy persistent head. Malty flavor with slight caramel notes. Similar aroma. Dark ruby color. Smooth creamy mouthfeel. What I want in a Munich Dunkel. More brews of this beer are planned.

Grain Bill (78% Brewhouse Efficiency)


NB: The acid malt is needed in my setup as I utilize full-volume mashes. No sparging. Thinner mashes may need some form of additional acid. I use acidulated malt for this reason in calculated amounts and subtract them from the originally planned base malt to keep the OG unchanged. If acid malt is not needed in your setup simply delete it and substitute it with Munich or Pilsner malt.

Hops


Yeast
A starter size targeting a lager pitch-rate was prepared in my usual way. WLP 833.

Water Profile


Mash Profile

The mash involved a short protein rest (this is not needed), an infusion to Beta rest, a single decoction to Alpha rest and directly heating the tun to reach mash-out rest. If interested, you can read more about the step mashing process here.

An alternate approach would be to do a single infusion mash at 150°F.

Decoction and Mash pH 5.29


Mash pH was a little lower than planned. (5.4 was the planned pH) This lower pH is possibly as a result of the decoction.

Fermentation Profile


NB: Despite the titles which I use to enable me to enter the differing temperatures with ease in Beersmith, all fermentation is done in the primary. No racking other than to the keg after cold crashing and gelatin fining. Changes to the temperature are dictated by visual clues and measuring the gravity.

OG and FG


Carbonation and Lagering
Force-carbonated to ~2.8 volumes. This beer was kegged 16 days after pitching the yeast. The beer was lagered at ~34F for about four weeks while carbonating and was good at this point but definitely got better over time. 6 weeks after pitching yeast it is good but this beer had an additional 2 weeks of lagering in the keg prior to me bottling some for competition. (8 weeks total).

Judging
This beer scored a 42.5 and a second place (Dark lager category) in the recent Palmetto State Brewers Open. The judges seem to have liked it. This is a very enjoyable and full-flavored lager in my very biased opinion.



Mmmmmm Munich Dunkel



I'm very happy with this beer. If you like dark lagers, give this one a try.

Prost!

WOW! What a killer recipe post! Man you nailed it!

Cheers
Jay

Jaybird said:

WOW! What a killer recipe post! Man you nailed it!

Cheers
Jay

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Thanks Jay. Much appreciated.

Have you tried this without the decoction?

What yeast did you use?

jekeane said:

Have you tried this without the decoction?

What yeast did you use?

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No. Just made it the once. Decoction mash.

WLP833

hmm I Have a slurry of 833 from a vienna I did last week may need to give it a go. Probably will skip the decoction do to time constraints with 2 littles running around.

jekeane said:

hmm I Have a slurry of 833 from a vienna I did last week may need to give it a go. Probably will skip the decoction do to time constraints with 2 littles running around.

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Sounds like a great plan. I've a Vienna on tap at the moment that I also used WLP833 in. I think the decoction made this lager a touch darker than planned. One thing it got dinged on in competition.

You've probably said before, but what is your fermentation control setup? Fridge, glycol conical, etc

Mer-man said:

You've probably said before, but what is your fermentation control setup? Fridge, glycol conical, etc

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I use a chest freezer and STC 1000. It gets the job done.

Nice. I have an stc but won't have a dedicated fridge until I move next year :-/

Just had my first Dunkel from a local brewery. It was a change of pace for me but I enjoyed it in a good way. Not something I would drink often but may brew a one gallon batch and use some of it in cooking. Cooking a chuck roast and using this as a braising liquid would be killer.

brew703 said:

Just had my first Dunkel from a local brewery. It was a change of pace for me but I enjoyed it in a good way. Not something I would drink often but may brew a one gallon batch and use some of it in cooking. Cooking a chuck roast and using this as a braising liquid would be killer.

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I'd advise trying some Bavarian examples. It seems to be a very under appreciated style or at least not a very popular one if the small number of dark lager recipes and views of same are anything to go by.

Hoffbrau Dunkel is a great example of the style and readily available.

A lot of work for a gallon batch to cook with but to each their own.

I brewed this 16 days ago, and now that it's been sitting around 32° for two days I'm ready to keg tonight.

This is my first lager, so I'm curious about the wait time before consumption. With ales I've brewed, I usually like to drink them quite young. I'll usually keg after 3 or 4 weeks and then start drinking them immediately. There is occasionally some "homebrewey" flavor during the first week but I kind of enjoy it.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but with lagers I think the fermentation time is often longer, but since this is a low gravity beer it fermented out in about a week. I brought it to 68° slowly for the diacetyl rest and then crashed it at 32°. In my mind, the beer should be drinkable at this point after kegging and carbonation, right? I imagine the longer I lager the beer in the keg for, the cleaner it will taste...but is it necessary for the style or just for taste preference?

tloveland said:

In my mind, the beer should be drinkable at this point after kegging and carbonation, right? I imagine the longer I lager the beer in the keg for, the cleaner it will taste...but is it necessary for the style or just for taste preference?

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Just depends on what you want from your beer. What are your objectives?

If to-style is of concern then a lagering period is likely needed to allow time for suspended yeast and aggregated polyphenols to settle out.

Lagering will also allow mellowing of flavors which is to the benefit of many a lager and darker beer.

Both of these factors will impact, clarity, flavor and the overall perception of the beer, a highly subjective area for sure.

Hope it turns out well for you.

Gavin C said:

Just depends on what you want from your beer. What are your objectives?

If to-style is of concern then a lagering period is likely needed to allow time for suspended yeast and aggregated polyphenols to settle out.

Lagering will also allow mellowing of flavors which is to the benefit of many a lager and darker beer.

Both of these factors will impact, clarity, flavor and the overall perception of the beer, a highly subjective area for sure.

Hope it turns out well for you.

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Hey Gavin,

Thanks for the quick reply! Being my first lager, my primary goal was to get my feet wet with the lager fermentation process using a dual-stage temp controller and produce a decent tasting beer. I have no intentions of entering it into any competitions or sharing it with anyone who is an expert in lagers... so I guess I sort of answered my own question! I'll probably try it shortly after kegging and then continue to age it to see how it improves.

Thanks!
Ted