Oktoberfest!

Okay so I have 3 brews under my belt now.

German wheat beer
German Pilsner
Britain IPA

All BB kit's. I found them to be a little watery, but nothing overly bad. As long as my friends found it delicious I'm okay with it for now. They love their commercial light beers .. oh well... moving on.

Oktoberfest is coming up and My friends have a great tradition of going to the second largest Oktoberfest festival in the world. In Waterloo, Canada!

Our plan is to get a hotel and go for 3 days straight.

My personal plan. Brew a Masterpeice Oktoberfest beer for use in our hotel before the tents open up.

Any suggestions? I want to start this as soon as possible so I can allow time for it to age properly.
Extract recipes please...

Extract might make it harder for an Oktoberfest, or for a proper one at least. You'll need Munich Malt Extract and/or Vienna Malt Extract, preferably both. From the looks of things you can already get Pilsner Extract, so that's good.

If the munich and vienna extracts are mixed with pilsner, than you probably need about 3-4lbs of each, aiming for about 1.055. I've never used them, but I doubt they'd be 100% vienna, or munich malt extract. Unfortunately, you can't 'steep' munich malt.

You can then also add some crystal 60-80, or Caramunich if you have it has a steeping grain.

Use any nobel hop, with restraint for falvour and aroma additions. Target about 20-28 IBUS I believe.

Do you have access to those products in the Shwa?

noeldundas said:

Extract might make it harder Oktoberfest, or for a proper one at least. You'll need Munich Malt Extract and/or Vienna Malt Extract. From the looks of things you can already get Pilsner Extract, so that's good.

Do you have access to those products in the Shwa?

Click to expand...

I can most of that from places in the states... but for obvious reason it would keep costs down if I order locally.

This is what I can get locally:

Liquid Malt Extract, Wheat 1kg (2.2 lbs)
Liquid Malt Extract, Dark 1kg (2.2 lbs)
Liquid Malt Extract, Amber 1kg (2.2 lbs)
Dried Malt Extract, Light 1kg (2.2 lbs)

DME Amber Malt Extract 3 lb Bag
DME Pale Malt Extract 3 lb Bag

Grains: (can I use this for Specialty steeping?)
Light German Munich 5 lbs
Dark German Munich 5lb"s
Pale Wheat Malt 5lb's

I can't get Pilsner DME/LME but I can get the grain:
Pilsner Malt 5 lbs Bag


all of this is from:
www.homebrew-supplies.ca
Homebrewers Retail Home Page

I edited the above post after you replied. oops.

You can't really 'steep' munich malt. You really need to do a partial mash to get the enzymes converting starch to sugar. But I would wager that there is some munich and or vienna in that amber malt. However it is based on 2 row, so you won't have an 'authentic' Oktoberfest.

But if you use noble hops and a good clean lager yeast it should be fine.

Looks like you'll have to comprimise somewhat, but you should be able to make a fine beer.

Check out some of the recipes here: Fred's Home Brew Pages

Use them as a basis to play with what you have available.

William's Brewing makes a fantastic extract that is perfect for Oktoberfests:

GERMAN GOLD EXTRACT 8 LBS @ Williams Brewing

It's 50% Moravian Pilsner malt and 50% Munich malt. I use it as the base for my Oktoberfest, but I also supplement it with a partial mash of some Vienna malt.

-Steve

noeldundas said:

I edited the above post after you replied. oops.

You can't really 'steep' munich malt. You really need to do a partial mash to get the enzymes converting starch to sugar. But I would wager that there is some munich and or vienna in that amber malt. However it is based on 2 row, so you won't have an 'authentic' Oktoberfest.

But if you use noble hops and a good clean lager yeast it should be fine.

Looks like you'll have to comprimise somewhat, but you should be able to make a fine beer.

Check out some of the recipes here: Fred's Home Brew Pages

Use them as a basis to play with what you have available.

Click to expand...

Oktoberfest is based on what then 6 row malt?

I think I really need to get into All-Grain... It seems so much easier to get the recipe you want. Plus ordering bulk grain seems cheaper as well.

With extract it seems I always need to sub ingredients out.

No, it's Pilsner and Vienna, based traditionally, with Munich. Some recipes are roughly equal parts of each, some of much less Munich. It is appropriate to have some caramel in there, though it shouldn't be sweet.

Definitely AG is better suited to a variety of styles. Though you always find yourself wishing you had access to whatever products you can't get! Trust me!

PS - I'm originally from Whitby.

I'd say it's a Pils/Vienna/Munich base. That is one of the big pluses of all grain, or partial mash--the whole world of base malts and even adjuncts are up for grabs. Mashing is just steeping with a controlled temp and measured watter volumes.

You can get some extracts with Munich, some are even 100%. I don't think I've ever seen one with Vienna. There might be a hopped kit with some.

I mis extract because for the shorter brew days, but it would cost me twice as much. I don't think it's worth it.

And technically, you are already late. Oktoberfest is brewed in March (Marzen), and then it ages until the actual 'fest'.

Not saying you can't pull off a good beer by then, but next year start sooner