Octoberfest

I am still a green horn, having only brewed a half dozen batches now (each better than the last), and am unable to lager yet. That said, I am looking for a good recipe that is in the Octoberfest style yet does not HAVE to be lagered. I know this could be a sin to the traditionalist but I'm working with I got right now.

Thanks
OldSoup

It probably is a sin to a purist, but my advice (having never done this or really looked into it) would be to just brew an Octoberfest recipe with a lot of a neutral ale yeast and ferment down at the jagged edge of its temperature tolerance-should give you a clean, relatively ester-free profile that would be somewhat close...

There are two GREAT oktoberfest ALE recipes in out database. Not a true Marzen but they have a malty backbone that satisfies and are quick to make!

D'oh Here are the links I forgot!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/bee-cave-brewery-oktoberfest-ale-38880/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/biermunchers-oktoberfast-ale-ag-39021/

I am in the same boat as you, and made an Octoberfest Ale down here in the heat wave of 2011 in Texas - and I keep my house at 79 degrees. Put the fermenter in a tub of water with a tee shirt over the carboy and a fan blowing right on the tee shirt. Added gallon jugs of water frozen three times a day (when I got up, when I got home, when I went to bed) swapping them out. Kept the brew well under 70 degrees during the peak of fermentation. I used SafeAle S-05 which is listed good up to 75 degrees without off flavors to give me a bit of breathing room. Let it sit for three weeks to give the yeast a chance to clean up.

It can be done.

I'm doing an Oktoberfest kit and fermenting it with 1728 (Scottish Ale). It obviously won't taste much like it would have if i lagered it with the correct yeast, but I'm sure it will be a decent beer (or at least i hope!)

Has anyone tried using Wyeast 2112 or WLP810 for an Oktoberfest? This is the Anchor Steam strain - been a long time since I've used it, but from my understanding its whole reason for existence is to make pseudo-lagers at ale temps. Any reason it would be a good candidate?

cjb said:

Has anyone tried using Wyeast 2112 or WLP810 for an Oktoberfest? This is the Anchor Steam strain - been a long time since I've used it, but from my understanding its whole reason for existence is to make pseudo-lagers at ale temps. Any reason it would be a good candidate?

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It doesn't really make "pseudo-lagers" in my opinion. It's a great strain that ferments well up into the 60s (at least the WLP810, the Wyeast 2112 can be cooler) but it does have a decidely fruity flavor to it that is not like any lager I've ever had. I've had better results with pacman ale yeast at 60 degrees than Wyeast 2112 at 58 degrees or WLP810 at 62 degrees.

Thanks for all the feedback fellas!
I'll let you know how this little experiment works out. I'm also interested in finding a way to brew with Wyeast 2112 since I'm a huge Rush fan - as if that's a good reason to choose yeast. To hell with it, I'm doing this for fun anyway. I'll wait till it gets cold here in New England so I can let it ferment at cooler temps more suited to that strain.

Germelli1 said:

D'oh Here are the links I forgot!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/bee-cave-brewery-oktoberfest-ale-38880/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f63/biermunchers-oktoberfast-ale-ag-39021/

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I can vouch for the second recipe. I based my Mocktoberfest on it. It is excellent.