Festbier World's Best Oktoberfest

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Looking at this recipe to brew for my first Oktoberfest this year. Is a Diacetly rest needed with this beer during the 21 day primary fermentation?

I have used 2124 before, but will 34/70 work just fine?

Yeah, I do recommend a diacetyl rest once fermentation slows down. 34/70 will work great, just use two rehydrated packs.
 
Has anyone done it without a decoction mash?

I have, and it was fantastic!

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Single infusion, mashed at 154F I think. I made it without changes to the grain bill or hops. I used WLP802 Czech Budejovice Lager Yeast. It's one of my favorite beers of all time, commercial or homebrewed. I have ingredients for a 10 gallon batch, just have to replace my dead freezer first.
 
I brewed this last year and it turned out pretty amazing. Problem I'm having is my decoction was very sloppy and I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to replicate it again. I'm looking for some tips and tricks on decoctions from someone who's done a lot being this is only my third. I'm looking for initial mash in around 145-148 for 15-20mins then bring it up to 155-158 for 40-45 mins. How to do you manage getting your grains boiled for 30mins and say on schedule? I'm thinking with the average time to bring the grains to a boil and then keeping that going for at least 30 mins I'm looking at 40-50 mins per decoction? So is it just not possible to do such a short rest? My understanding is most conversion happens within the first 30 minutes so is that second rest fruitless at that point? Any ideas? What do you guys do?
 
I brewed this last year and it turned out pretty amazing. Problem I'm having is my decoction was very sloppy and I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to replicate it again. I'm looking for some tips and tricks on decoctions from someone who's done a lot being this is only my third. I'm looking for initial mash in around 145-148 for 15-20mins then bring it up to 155-158 for 40-45 mins. How to do you manage getting your grains boiled for 30mins and say on schedule? I'm thinking with the average time to bring the grains to a boil and then keeping that going for at least 30 mins I'm looking at 40-50 mins per decoction? So is it just not possible to do such a short rest? My understanding is most conversion happens within the first 30 minutes so is that second rest fruitless at that point? Any ideas? What do you guys do?

I did something similar to you, going from protein rest to alpha & then beta sacc rest.

I ended up with the thin mash resting for 60 @ 140 & 60 @ 152.

Pulled the thin mash liquid for mash out.

Youre right. By the time I had pulled the decoction & boiled it, each thin mash rest ended up waiting for me for around 60 min each.

It was a German pilsner that scored 42/50 And lost to the eventual best in show.
 
If you sit that long in beta-amylase will you have any starch left to covert into alpha-amylase? The thinner the mash quicker the enzymes do their thing. So is the purpose of the decoction mainlyis just to get that maillard goodness? I'm thinking of just mashing in at 145 pull my grains and keep those boiling on the side and treat the left over mash as its own, and just use propane to bring it to the next step instead of the grain. Then after the grain has been boiling for hour or so use that to bring my mash up to mash out temp?
 
I honestly don't understand the variables well enough to answer that but I do agree that boiling the thickest part of the mash is what makes the beer distinctive.
 
I made this two years ago and it was amazing!! Single infusion mash and used Oktoberfest lager yeast were the only changes. Last year had issues with a different yeast and not so good. About to brew it up this weekend with O fest yeast again. I love oktoberfests! Can't wait
 
Not at all! I'm envious!



The basic schedule is above in the bolded part at the top of the recipe. It really depends on your particular circumstances though. I leave it at 50 until it is somewhere between 1.020-1.025, at which point I raised it to 58 for the diacetyl rest. Left it at 58 until the gravity stopped dropping, typically 3-4 days. Then I started slowly ramping it back down to 50. Once it had been at 50 for a couple days, I racked to secondary, and began slowly ramping down to 38. Once at 38, leave it for 2 months to lager. But it gets even better if after that, you keg it and leave the keg at 38-50 degrees for several more months!
That's not gonna happen
 
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