Vienna Lager Brother's Modelo

This beer has been carefully designed to be like a much, much better version of Negra Modelo. People who like Negra Modelo and the BMC beers, in general, like my brother, will likely discover this beer is everything they could ever want in a beer and more. (ETA: This is NOT a clone brew, but tries to take what is good about the NM and enhance it.) I could make this every week and send it all to Matt, and he'd drink it all. I'm about to make it again for his birthday coming up. It comes out very smooth and drinkable, with hints of hop and caramel, all balanced by the clean lager fermentation and flavorful, toasty base malts. It's pretty close to a Vienna Lager, but a little darker and a little richer.

3 pounds of American 6-Row
3 pounds of Vienna Malt (US)
3 pounds of Munich 10l (US)
8 ounces of American Caramel/Crystal 80l
4 ounces of Briess Chocolate Wheat Malt
1/2 ounce of Magnum @60
1/4 ounce of any noble-heritage, low-alpha aroma hop @30 and @15 (Mt. Rainier, Liberty, Santiam, and Crystal all work great, but my brother is partial to Mt. Rainier, while I'm partial to Tettnang)
A single pack of Saflager S-23 : No starter, just pitch the packet and aerate.

A multi-step mash with an (optional) protein rest at 122 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, to the mandatory Alpha Rest at 146 F for 30 minutes, followed by a Beta Rest at 156 F for 30 minutes

Boil for an hour, minimum.

Drop the temperature quickly down to about 40 degrees before pitching, and sprinkle in the yeast and aerate. Then, let it ferment at the low end for Saflager for about two weeks. Diacetyl rest is strongly recommended. I usually just pull it out of the fridge and let it sit next to the fridge for a few hours, checking to see if the temperature is up above 60, then hold it there overnight. Then, I transfer to secondary and start lagering.

Requires the ability to lager. After a low, slow primary, lagering is critical to push off sulfur notes and improve smoothness of the finished beer. It's very nearly a Vienna Lager, if a little dark. They don't need to be lagered quite as long as other styles, but the lowest I'd go is about 21 days. Keeping the primary fermentation on the low end makes a shorter fermentation possible, I've found, with fewer off-flavors in the glass.

I am always looking for a close of NM that is smooth. I like the looks of your recipe. Why choose the 6 row? Also - did you mean the Breiss midnight wheat? Or does Briess offer a chocolate wheat?

I have used both Chocolate Wheat and Briess Midnight Wheat successfully, and never noticed a meaningful difference between the two.

6-Row is a traditional American grain, more like what the local brewers down here would have used to supplement their expensive imported stuff, and it tastes great in this. It is very neutral, lacking the nuttiness of a true pilsner, imparting more of a grainy flavor. It gets out of the way of the toasted malty sweetness of Vienna and Munich.

Thanks for the info, I'll post here again after I brew it.

I am getting ready for a double-batch of this on Sunday. I cannot make enough to satiate both my brother and myself.

I bought the grains for this over the weekend - will be mashing in sometime this week.

Brewed a variant of the original recipe using (gasp) warrior to bitter and Crystal hops for flavor and aroma. Its a good beer. I would stick to the listed hops next time. It starts smooth and sweet like a Negra Modelo but then finishes with the same late taste you get from the hops in F-W Pivo Pils. I know F-W uses saphir, but I think the Crystal hops shine through too much in the end. Otherwise, this one is pretty interesting.