octoberfest split lager/ale

I wanna do 2 things here. First, Im looking to try my first 12 gallon batch on my system (was previously doing 5-6 gallon batches). Second, I wanna split the batch and use lager yeast in half and ale yeast in the other. I put together an octoberfest recipe of 15 pounds munich, 5 pounds vienna, 1 pound cara munich II, 1 pound Dark munich, and 2 ounce Hallertau and 1 ounce Tettnag at 60 min. going to use the wyeast 2633 octoberfest for the lagering, but im curious as to what would go for an ale. considering the scotish ale 1728.

You could try the Weihenstephan strain 3068. Look up dampfbier.

EDIT: Or try two different lager yeasts side by side, then compare when done.

California Ale, Nottingham, German Ale, Kolsch, European Ale. Alternatively make it a steam beer using WLP830 or WLP810 or their respective wyeast equivalents. The scottish ale will make a nice beer of course.

If you want to do them both at the same temp you can use the Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale yeast. I have used that at 48 and the Octoberfest Blend I have gotten started at 45 and then bumped to 48-50. I also pitched the Scottish ale like I would a lager with about 400 billion+ cells going into it. It would be an interesting comparison. PS. The Scottish was very fruity afterwards because I only cold conditioned it for a few weeks before bottling.

TyTanium said:

You could try the Weihenstephan strain 3068. Look up dampfbier.

EDIT: Or try two different lager yeasts side by side, then compare when done.

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I've never heard of a dampfbeir until now. This really sounds like an interesting idea. I need to read up on it a little more, but I kinda like what I've read so far. I don't want to keep brewing the same thing over and over, so something a bit different would be great to try.

SwampassJ said:

If you want to do them both at the same temp you can use the Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale yeast. I have used that at 48 and the Octoberfest Blend I have gotten started at 45 and then bumped to 48-50. I also pitched the Scottish ale like I would a lager with about 400 billion+ cells going into it. It would be an interesting comparison. PS. The Scottish was very fruity afterwards because I only cold conditioned it for a few weeks before bottling.

Click to expand...

I was planning on using different temps. It's good to know that the scottish yeast would work well enough. Maybe I should get a few smaller carboys and try 4 different yeast/temps...

joenads said:

I was planning on using different temps. It's good to know that the scottish yeast would work well enough. Maybe I should get a few smaller carboys and try 4 different yeast/temps...

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Perfect way for harvesting 4 yeasts at once and getting a head start on the next lager batch.

joenads said:

I've never heard of a dampfbeir until now. This really sounds like an interesting idea. I need to read up on it a little more, but I kinda like what I've read so far. I don't want to keep brewing the same thing over and over, so something a bit different would be great to try.

Click to expand...

Just odered everything for the octoberfest/dampfbeir split. i cant wait to try these.

Awesome! Keep us posted on how you like the dampfbier.

I forgot I started this thread...but I just sampled the octoberfest and I think I did well enough considering i had everything go wrong for this beer. First, while I cleaning one of my carboys during the mash, it slipped out of my hands and shattered causing me to get 8 stitches in the webbing between my pinky and ring finger... I did a quick sparge to get everything in the boil kettle before going to the hospital. i returned a few hours later to finish brewing, but with the quick sparge, i ended up missing my target by a few points (fine by me since i still had my finger...) i stuck my carboy in my chest freezer and set it for 48 F. it was good for a couple days, but then my compressor crapped out and it slowly rose to 60... happened to be just in time for my D rest. i spent the next 2 days tearing apart a refrigerator i had to get the compressor and condenser out, and managed to transplant it into my chest freezer. (am in the process of building a keezer and had the cabinet already built around the keezer. would have been harder to replace the chest freezer). so two months after brewing, i finally got to taste my first lager. tasted pretty clean and crisp.

the dampfbier half taste so much different, which is amazing from just only having a different yeast. i like it, but i dont know how to describe it. also, light and crisp with slight bit of clove and banana. i tried fermenting it at about 72 degrees.

Stories like this make more than happy to stick with better bottles and plastic buckets. Glad to hear you're okay and your beer turned out well!

i purchased 3 better bottles that night afterwards