gonna start my dopple soon need tips

ok so im gonna start my dopplebock soon i am gonna use 12 lbs of amber liquid malt extract im also using special b for steeping i think it should give a good flavor. i need some tips on how to get the yeast to eat it down from about 1.090 to 1.12 ish. i have heard that it is hard to get the yeast to do this. any tips?

What yeast strain are you planning on using? Some lager yeast strains are more attenuative than others. A BIG starter will help, as well as thorough aeration of the wort before pitching the yeast.

i was planing on using an ale yeast safbrew - s33 i think it was

I made the austin homebrew kit, it got down to 1.015. I used german bock yeast, a lager yeast. Fermented at 50F, lagered at 50F too. Would have liked to have gone lower, but didn't have temp control that could go that low at the time. It's carbonating now in the keg, but even before it went into the keg it tasted amazing.

i dont have a way to lager it lowest i can keep it is 66 thats what i did with my marzien but i guess i can use lager yeast and try to keep it at 66 or lower

sgrcltpunk said:

i was planing on using an ale yeast safbrew - s33 i think it was

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Well, strictly speaking of course it won't be a bock. A Belgian yeast is a pretty odd choice for a bock-like beer. Here's some info on that yeast:

Yeast (Dry) - Safale S-33 (10g)
DY27
A great yeast strain for Belgian style beers, such as Belgian wheats and Trappist-style Ales. Provides the characteristic phenolics of beers in Belgium.


Sounds more like you're making a Belgian dubbel?

If you want to post the recipe, I could give you some specific help.

I used SanFrancisco Lager and used a swampcooler to keep it in the low 60's, which will work well at the warmer temps. it only got it to 1.026, so i then pitched a pack of Nottingham which got me to 1.016 (9.7% ABV)

ok recipe is
12 lbs of northern brewers amber lme boil 60 min
1 lb of cracked belgian special b steep 20 min
1 oz of perle hops boil 40 min
1 oz of cascade boil 20 min
and i am still deciding on a yeast
i will probably use 1 tbs of Irish moss

If you want to make a dopplebock-like beer, I'd suggest using a "clean" well attenuating ale yeast, and keep it as cool as you can. For liquid, I'd use Wyeast 1056, or WLP001 and ferment as cool as possible.

If the room temperature is 66, the fermentation temperature could be much higher, giving you some undesirable off flavors in a dry yeast like Nottingham. Nottingham tastes pretty bad if the fermenting beer temperature gets over 70 degrees. If you want to use a dry yeast, you could try S05.

You could try a swamp cooler to lower fermentation temperatures, if you want to make a beer more like a dopplebock.

Arkador said:

I used SanFrancisco Lager and used a swampcooler to keep it in the low 60's, which will work well at the warmer temps. it only got it to 1.026, so i then pitched a pack of Nottingham which got me to 1.016 (9.7% ABV)

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so do you think it would be best to get 2 packs of yeast and pitch a 2nd one later on

A bock beer would seem strange to me to have those cascade hops at 20 minutes, since it's deep and malty without citrusy hops. That seems out of place in my opinion.

You don't need a tablespoon of Irish moss- a teaspoon is plenty for 5 gallons.

sgrcltpunk said:

so do you think it would be best to get 2 packs of yeast and pitch a 2nd one later on

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No, that's not ideal. He pitched the second one because the first one pooped out.

You'll want to pitch the correct amount of yeast at the onset, to avoid off-flavors caused by stressed yeast. Check out this yeast calculator to see if you need two packages: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Most definitely use a starter and aerate the wort before pitching.

Read this entire thread for simple cheap aeration:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/cheap-easy-aeration-gadget-68218/

And of course, MrMalty's Yeast Pitching Calculator (be sure to select Lager):
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Looks like you'll need an approximate 8½ liter starter (2¼ gallons).

EDIT: If using ale yeast you won't need that much as a true lager, sorry for the confusion.

so 6 packs of lager yeast should do if i dont use a starter?

thats alot of money for yeast

YooperBrew said:

A bock beer would seem strange to me to have those cascade hops at 20 minutes, since it's deep and malty without citrusy hops. That seems out of place in my opinion.

You don't need a tablespoon of Irish moss- a teaspoon is plenty for 5 gallons.

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thats why im putting it there i want a unique flavor profile and i think it would be a nice addition to have a little citrus on the back end of the malt

Sorry, didn't notice you were using LME (was thinking DME). OG around 1.086, 6.25 liter starter (or 1.65 gallons).

Mr Malty says 3 11.5 gram packs of dry or 7 packs of 5gram packs.

I wouldn't use lager yeast if you're not fermenting at lager temperatures. You'll get a taste from it that won't be very pleasant. If you're fermenting at ale temperatures, an ale yeast (with a proper starter if liquid) is recommended.

ok so i cant make a starter that big i am not equipped do you think a 1000 or 2000 ml starter should do ok?

YooperBrew said:

I wouldn't use lager yeast if you're not fermenting at lager temperatures. You'll get a taste from it that won't be very pleasant. If you're fermenting at ale temperatures, an ale yeast (with a proper starter if liquid) is recommended.

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ok so what kind of ale yeast should i make a starter with

sgrcltpunk said:

ok so what kind of ale yeast should i make a starter with

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If you wanna use a liquid, there are many ways you can go with this. I'd try Wyeast 1056 or White Labs 001. It's very clean and generally won't impart any added flavors unless you ferment at a much higher temp.

But given this is really an experimental batch and not a true to style DB, use any yeast you want. A Belgian strain or even an English strain would be tasty. In the end, you're gonna make a good brew.

If you use a liquid yeast you definitely want a starter, if you go dry then just pitch the amount MrMalty recommends. No matter what you do, keep us posted, I'd love to hear the results!

ok i bought wyeast 1056 and im making a 1000 ml starter but once the wort is spent in that ill add fresh wort to it so i can make a little more yeast in it i might even add a little extra sugar (just regular sugar) to get it aclimated to a higher og i will keep everyone posted through out ... this should be good my ingredients will be here next week and scheduled brew day is black friday