Historical Beers German Dampfbier

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unionrdr

Homebrewer, author & air gun collector
HBT Supporter
Joined
Feb 19, 2011
Messages
39,136
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Location
Sheffield
Recipe Type
Partial Mash
Yeast
Wyeast Bavarian Wheat 3638
Yeast Starter
optional
Batch Size (Gallons)
5 gallons
Original Gravity
1.052
Final Gravity
1.012+/-
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
18.8
Color
6.6 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
24 days @ 74F max
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
none
Additional Fermentation
no
Tasting Notes
Rather clean light malt flavor with some gum-like flavor on the back
**Lake Erie Steam**
3lbs Munich 10L-Weyermann
2lbs, 8ozs Bohemian Pilsner malt-Weyermann
8ozs Carared-Weyermann
3lbs, 2.4ozs Pilsen LME ( no Weyermann, so used Maillard)
1oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh hops 45 minutes
1/2oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh hops 15 minutes
1/2oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh hops 5 minutes
** Recipe Instructions **
This is a partial boil, partial mash biab brew. I use a nylon grain bag that stretches over the lip of my 5 gallon kettle with a floating thermometer in it. Heat just under 2 1/2 gallons of spring water to 154F before stirring in crushed grains. Be sure temp comes back up to 154F for the 1 hour mash. I wrap the MT/BK in my quilted hunting coat to hold temps for the mash. But somehow, it went down to 145F? Didn't hold temp for whatever reason? lift & drain grain bag in main kettle. Sparge with 1 1/2 gallons spring water @ 170F. I dunk sparge in a smaller kettle, like 4 gallon size. This allows me to stir the mash for better efficiency over the 10 minute dunk sparge. Drain the bag again & add sparged wort to main kettle. This should give about 4 gallons boil volume. Bring to a boil on "high" ( electric stove here), being careful to stir down the hot break foam. This one can get messy in a hurry! Let it boil on high a couple minutes, then turn down to 8.8 or so on the dial for an even, gently rolling boil. Then add the 1oz of hops & start timer for 60 minutes (1 hour). Add 1/2 ounce of hops @ 15 minutes. Then last 1/2 ounce @ 5 minutes left in the boil. Add the pilsen LME @ flame out & stir until completely dissolved. Cover & steep a couple minutes to pasteurize while getting the ice bath ready. Since pasteurization happens in seconds @ 160F, this steep will do fine. I like to put 2-2 1/2 gallons of spring water in the fridge a day or two before brew day to get well chilled. Place hot kettle of wort in sink, then fill up sink around kettle with ice. Then top off with cold tap water. Chill wort down to about 75F. Then pour through fine mesh strainer on top of fermenter ( I use buckets & Cooper's micro Brew FV's). This gets all hop & grain gunk out & aerates the wort as well. Then top off to 5 gallon mark on Fv with the chilled spring water. This should get the wort down to around 65F. It can also give a nice cold break. Ferment until a stable FG is reached & it settles out clear or slightly misty.
Dampfbier is traditionally a low-carbonation one. So I carbed to 2.3 volumes Co2. You'll have to use a priming calculator to get the amount of dextrose to use, as I seem to not have included it in my notes. Dammit. So much for drinking while working! Anyway, give it at least 3 weeks in the bottles to carb & condition. You should get about 52-12oz bottles done per recipe. Overall, it tastes like a cross between a saison & a hefe with a touch of toasted breadiness. The German malts are responsible for the toasted-breadiness. The hefe yeast is partly responsible for this as well, as it's the traditional yeast used for this beer. It doesn't use any wheat, but is considered a pour man's wheat ale from the region the hops come from. Also, the German malts give a more authentic color & flavor in my opinion. It also stores rather well, getting more like a hybrid lager over the course of 4 months or so.
 
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I have just bought a bunch of Munich malt and am looking at recipes like this. Is there an all grain recipe for 5 gallons, and something with less pilsner? It looks incredible! Thanks
 
Let me look at my research links, there should be an AG version, as I remember coming up with my own PM recipe from a couple different versions. OK, here's a link to BYO where they discuss it & give grain percentages; http://byo.com/stories/item/530-dampfbier-style-profile
Another interesting article; http://blog.beerviking.net/2013/03/dampfbier-original-steam-beer.html
Some recipes from the AHA site; https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=2736.0
This should give you some averages to come up with an AG recipe for mine.
 
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