Does this look like a good Marzen recipe?

So I have a ton of pils malt, dark Munich (though I don't see much a difference between that and light), and wheat. I want to create a marzen I think as my basement is currently stuck at about 50 and my chest freezer can lager for a very long time, also marzens are excellent beer.

My recipe is thus:
30% dark munich
70% pils

OG: about 60
FG: about 15
OG:BU about .5 so about 30IBU with about 20 coming from bittering hops

hops could be....
X halertau (60)
.5oz spalt (15)

Double decoction 10min boil each:
infusion 1.5qt/lb to hit 135
decoct to 155
decoct to 168
drain and sparge

With this well modified malt I am finding that I can completely skip the protein rest and should because my beer doesn't hold carbonation.

Does this sound about right? I don't have Vienna malt because pils and Vienna are very similar and I buy in 50# bags. My book from the classic beer series goes into how this needs to be Moravian barley which is awesome except it stopped being exported in about 1995 which sort of dates the book.

I think this recipe should give a nice malt flavor profile without being totally overbearing with a deep rich molasses like a bock is. I might even try to do like, 80/20 pils/Munich? The hops should be present and balance out the huge amount of malt with a nice flavor. I have not used spalt before and I am looking forward to seeing how it tastes and what sort of aroma it adds.

30% dark Munich malt may make it too "heavy" even with pilsner base malt. I'd go with Vienna base malt, and then just a tad bit of Munich malt, for the grainbill. Pilsner malt and Vienna malt are not at all similar, in my estimation. If you want to use pilsner base malt anyway, I'd still use the lighter Munich if doing such a higher percentage.

I think 155 is pretty high for a single saccrification rest. I'd either do a beta rest at 148, and then bump it up to 155, or do a single saccrification rest at 150-152.

I'm a fan of equal parts Pils, Munich, and Vienna. And like Yooper said, I used the lighter Munich.

asterix404 said:

So I have a ton of pils malt, dark Munich (though I don't see much a difference between that and light), and wheat. I want to create a marzen I think as my basement is currently stuck at about 50 and my chest freezer can lager for a very long time, also marzens are excellent beer.

My recipe is thus:
30% dark munich
70% pils

OG: about 60
FG: about 15
OG:BU about .5 so about 30IBU with about 20 coming from bittering hops

hops could be....
X halertau (60)
.5oz spalt (15)

Double decoction 10min boil each:
infusion 1.5qt/lb to hit 135
decoct to 155
decoct to 168
drain and sparge

With this well modified malt I am finding that I can completely skip the protein rest and should because my beer doesn't hold carbonation.

Does this sound about right? I don't have Vienna malt because pils and Vienna are very similar and I buy in 50# bags. My book from the classic beer series goes into how this needs to be Moravian barley which is awesome except it stopped being exported in about 1995 which sort of dates the book.

I think this recipe should give a nice malt flavor profile without being totally overbearing with a deep rich molasses like a bock is. I might even try to do like, 80/20 pils/Munich? The hops should be present and balance out the huge amount of malt with a nice flavor. I have not used spalt before and I am looking forward to seeing how it tastes and what sort of aroma it adds.

Click to expand...

It's up to you and how dark you like the beer to be. Modern versions are lighter and the really old brews were probably a lot darker. I like 'em dark and rich. If the Munich you have is German, please don't use the nasty 20L domestic stuff, the go for it. My favorite homebrewed version used 70% dark German Munich and 30% pils malt.

Not all Munich is created equal! What is the lovibond?

My Marzen/festbiers are 100% Munich (I usually use 10L, but my current which is lagering is like 7L, can't wait to taste it)

Yea, I would use Vienna malt but I don't have any and I do have pils and dark Munch (I have 50# of each so I am not going to buy more malt, as I said I have a TON of the stuff). Both are top shelf Weyermann German imported grain. The LVB on the Munich type II malt is 8.1 - 9.9. The bag actually doesn't say what the LVB rating is. Pils is the same way.

I don't think I would introduce 20L anything to my German lagers, I try to stick with only Weyermann and imported hops. If I have to I use muntons chocolate for some beers but I can't remember the last time I mixed the two.

See, actually I am sort of torn on this. I have a great recipe for a bock which is basically 50/50 pils, Munich, so I figured maybe 70-80/30-20 pils Munich with a more balanced hop bitterness and flavor/aroma might still make this a Marzen. I think I will do an 80/20 to see what it is like, then do a .5oz spalt flavor addition at about 10min. I have to say, I love the deep richness of the Munich, I find that it is cozy in the depths of winter and my 100% dark Munich bock is a very fortifying brew. This will be a great spring time beer!

Right also, the 135 might go up to like, 142. I read about this being an interesting combination rest. You get some protein rest but mostly a low 1st sac rest and go up to a moderate 2nd sac rest. I think maybe infuse to 142, decoct to 155 and 168.

The bittering hops will be 1.5oz of 6.9% AA German tetnager.