help w/a Maibock recipe

I'm feeling the need to get a Maibock going this weekend. This is what I've settled on: any tweaks or WTFs would be appreciated.

Batch size: 5 gallons
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4 lbs. Pilsen Extra Light Dry DME
1 lb. Breiss Sparkling Amber DME
2 lbs. Vienna
1 lb. Pilsner
1 lb. Cara Munich II

Mash 149DF for 60 mins

1 oz. Green Bullet 12.8% AA @ 60 mins
0.5 oz. Motueka 7.2% AA @ 15 mins.
0.5 oz. Motueka 7.2% AA @ 5 mins.

WLP833 (German Bock) - 2 packs, 1 gallon starter (per Mr. Malty)

OG 1.068
FG 1.018
IBU 39.4
SRM 9.29
ABV 6.5%

FYI, I can only mash about 4 lbs. of grains and boil up to 3.5 gallons. I have reservations about using five pounds of DME because it's a pain in the a$$ to add to a boil even in small amounts. But I think LME tends to make beers a little syrupy and I didn't want that for this beer (especially in the quantity that would be required).

Lose the CaraMunich II. Both too much and too dark IMO. If you insist on adding crystal malt try a half pound of CaraHell and add another pound of pils malt for the missing half pound of crystal. I would also throttle back on the IBUs and perhaps use another bittering hop than Green Bullet shooting for 28-30 IBUs with that OG. My choice for bittering would be a German noble type although if you want to go high alpha Magnum is good.

I'd drop the Caramunich entirely. With that amber extract, there will be some unfermentables already in the mix, and another pound of Crystal could put you over the line into cloyingly sweet.

Lose the CaraMunich II. Both too much and too dark IMO. If you insist on adding crystal malt try a half pound of CaraHell and add another pound of pils malt for the missing half pound of crystal. I would also throttle back on the IBUs and perhaps use another bittering hop than Green Bullet shooting for 28-30 IBUs with that OG. My choice for bittering would be a German noble type although if you want to go high alpha Magnum is good.

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I'd drop the Caramunich entirely. With that amber extract, there will be some unfermentables already in the mix, and another pound of Crystal could put you over the line into cloyingly sweet.

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All good advice - Green Bullet out, Hallertau is in. Loves me some Hallertau.

Color-wise I was aiming for medium copper, which I'm used to achieving through extracts and crystals. Carahell is a good suggestion and I liked this very much in a brown ale I just made, but 1/2 a pound of that plus wiping the amber DME and crystal out of the picture puts me at SRM 6.

What other options for imparting color and maltiness without adding sweetness? Is it pretty much just melanoidin or Munich? Any opinions on Gambrinus Dark Munich?

Thanks guys.

soupfist said:

All good advice - Green Bullet out, Hallertau is in. Loves me some Hallertau.

Color-wise I was aiming for medium copper,

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That's fine but medium copper is not the color of a Maibock. Maibocks are golden, not amber or copper.

soupfist said:

Carahell is a good suggestion and I liked this very much in a brown ale I just made, but 1/2 a pound of that plus wiping the amber DME and crystal out of the picture puts me at SRM 6.

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That's actually very close to the Maibock style. You will also find that most if not all of these recipe programs tend to understate the color of the beer. That combined with this being an extract brew tells me the beer will be darker in the end than SRM 6.

soupfist said:

What other options for imparting color and maltiness without adding sweetness? Is it pretty much just melanoidin or Munich? Any opinions on Gambrinus Dark Munich?

Thanks guys.

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Maltiness and sweetness are two different things. A good German Maibock is malty and rich but not sweet like sugar or even crystal malt. Since you are already doing a mini mash here I would eliminate the pound of amber extract and add two more lbs of grain, either one each of pils and Vienna or go with two more lbs of Vienna. German malts are the way to go here. Domestic Munich malts tend to be produced from six row malt and are more highly kilned than their European counterparts. They are really specialty rather than base malts. That said I wouldn't use dark Munich of any kind in a Maibock. For a traditional or dopplebock yes, but for a Maibock stick with pils and Vienna.

Thanks, BigEd. I think I got it now:

6 lbs. Breiss Pilsen Extra Light LME
2 lbs. 4 oz. Vienna
1 lbs. Pilsner
8 oz. Carahell
4 oz. Melanoidin

1 oz. Hallertau @ 60 mins.
.5 oz. Motueka @ 15 mins.
.5 oz. Motueka @ 5 mins.

OG 1.067
FG 1.018
IBU 24.8
SRM 5.64
ABV 6.42