Questions about making Bock Beer

Hello,

I was wanting to make a bock style beer, the recipe i looked up is as follows

2 Cans Unhopped Dark Malt Extract
1 Cup Pale Grain
1 Cup Chocolate Grain
1 Cup Crystal Grain
1 OZ Hallertau Hop Pellets
1 OZ Tettnang Hop Pellets
1 Pack Top Fermenting Yeast

I downloaded a trial of of beersmith 2 and when i plugged this recipe in i gave me a reading of an estimated original gravity of 1.049 and a estimated ABV of about 4.9% which according to everything i have read falls well below range for a typical Bock Beer.

Any Suggestions......

First off, I would measure everything by weight, not by volume. Second, if you want to increase your OG and ABV, you'll need to increase the amount of fermentables in your wort - either extract or grain.

I do not know much about bock beers, but this recipe looks suspect. At the very least, much much too generic. Search around the forums here for a better recipe. Also, have you brewed anything before?

In addition to what was previously posted, also note that Bock beers are lagers and should not use a top fermenting yeast. You should use a lager yeast and you will need some way of controlling the temperature while its fermenting. Lagers typically ferment around 45-55 degrees.

I have brewed before I just finished my first batch which is a hefeweiss and it turned out pretty well overall I am still somewhat of a noob, what I was wanting to make was something that was a dark beer with a decent ABV (around 6 - 7%) and that's why I was interested In a bock

Any suggestions or recipes to match what I was looking for.

look in the recipe section. i've brewed a few from there that were great. they usually have comments from other brewers that have brewed them.

Dleone25 said:

I have brewed before I just finished my first batch which is a hefeweiss and it turned out pretty well overall I am still somewhat of a noob, what I was wanting to make was something that was a dark beer with a decent ABV (around 6 - 7%) and that's why I was interested In a bock

Any suggestions or recipes to match what I was looking for.

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I only asked because the recipe you gave was unlike any recipe I had seen before - no weights for the fermentables, no times for the hops, no specific yeast strain. If you do a little more searching you should be able to find a more suitable recipe. And if you a just interested in a dark beer at 6-7% ABV, you could also try an American or Foreign Extra Stout or a Robust Porter. These might be easier as opposed to jumping into a lager like the bock.

I can tell you from experience that doing a lager as a second or thrid brew is very difficult. They are different beers entirely and they need to be cold fermented. I start mine at 50 for 2 days until the yeast starts and drop it down to about 45 with a lagering of about 33 for 1 week for every 10 gravity points. I am going to start my bock this weekend. If you just want a great 6-7% beer, deffinitly go with an ale... apart from the ideas above have you thought about a dunkelweiss or a Belgin blond? How about a stronger Red?

mlg5039 said:

In addition to what was previously posted, also note that Bock beers are lagers and should not use a top fermenting yeast. You should use a lager yeast and you will need some way of controlling the temperature while its fermenting. Lagers typically ferment around 45-55 degrees.

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You will also need to pitch about twice as much yeast as you would for an ale. Check out www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html.

Ehh, you just pitch 2 packets of dry yeast. The Safelager in the yellow packet is awesome yeast, and actually is a bock yeast. But it is so clean that I just use it for almost all of my lager, it's cheap, easy and plentiful. Also it's awesome yeast.

Here's a rough guide for a Traditional Bock

5-5.5 Gallons
9-10 lbs Munich Extract
2 oz Chocolate or CaraSpecial II
2-4 oz Crystal 80 or darker
.5 oz Magnum or 1 oz Hallertau 60 min

Ferment with plenty of your favorite lager yeast.