Dopplebock extract recipe feedback

I am trying to brew a dopplebock soon and it will be my first attempt at lagering. I've been lurking these forums for the last few months trying to learn as much as I can. I have only been brewing since march. Let me know what you think.

Briess Pilsen (Extra) Light Dry Extract 8 lbs, 0 oz
Weyermann Cara Munich I 1 lbs, 8 oz
Weyermann Melanoidin 0 lbs, 8 oz
Crisp Chocolate Malt 0 lbs, 4 oz
Hallertau Pellets, German 1 oz @ 60 mins
White Labs German Bock 833

70% efficiency
OG: 1.079
FG: 1.021
IBU: 18
SRM: 18.63
ABV: 7.6%

I was going to try mini mash for the first time with this recipe because I read that caramunich must be mashed.

I really like all the dopplebocks that I have tried so far such as Paulaner Salvator, Ayinger Celebrator, and Spaten Optimator. So I want to know if this would turn out anything like one of these.

Caramunich can be steeped- its a crystal malt.

I have been reading Brewing Classic Styles (get the book if you can- it's great!) and studying up on dopplebocks a bit. The first thing is to make sure you make a big enough yeast starter- you want to pitch it cold and ferment it cold, so you need to have about twice as much yeast as you would need for a similar OG sized ale.

I like Jamil's extract recipe- instead of all DME like you have, he uses a combo of Munich and Pilsner LME. I don't know how easy it is to find those for you, but I believe Northern Brewer has them. I'd definitely try to find the Munich LME, or go ahead and do a mini-mash with some Munich malt because you can't duplicate the Munich taste with DME.

Jamil's recipe uses caramunich as well, and that's it for grains besides the LMEs.

I'd probably increase the bittering slightly- it's a malty sweet beer but still with enough bittering to not make it cloying. I'd go with 25 IBUs-ish.

Thanks for the feedback Yooper. I would be buying ingredients from brewmasters warehouse. Heres what I got now:

Briess Munich Liquid Extract 5 lbs, 0 oz
Briess Pilsen (Extra) Light Dry Extract 4 lbs, 0 oz
Weyermann Cara Munich I 2 lbs, 0 oz
Weyermann Melanoidin 0 lbs, 8 oz
Crisp Chocolate Malt 0 lbs, 4 oz
Hallertau Pellets, German 1 oz @ 60 mins
Hallertau Pellets, German .5 oz @ 15 mins
White Labs German Bock

OG 1.082
FG 1.022
IBU 22.3
ABV 7.86
SRM 22

I'm pretty set on using a little bit of melanoiden and chocolate malt. From all the different dopplebock recipes that I have read alot of them have a small amount of these ingredients. I have never worked with melanoiden before but from what I read it should add a layer of complexity to the beer similiar to ayinger celebrators dopplebock.

slawre5 said:

Thanks for the feedback Yooper. I would be buying ingredients from brewmasters warehouse. Heres what I got now:

Briess Munich Liquid Extract 5 lbs, 0 oz
Briess Pilsen (Extra) Light Dry Extract 4 lbs, 0 oz
Weyermann Cara Munich I 2 lbs, 0 oz
Weyermann Melanoidin 0 lbs, 8 oz
Crisp Chocolate Malt 0 lbs, 4 oz
Hallertau Pellets, German 1 oz @ 60 mins
Hallertau Pellets, German .5 oz @ 15 mins
White Labs German Bock

OG 1.082
FG 1.022
IBU 22.3
ABV 7.86
SRM 22

I'm pretty set on using a little bit of melanoiden and chocolate malt. From all the different dopplebock recipes that I have read alot of them have a small amount of these ingredients. I have never worked with melanoiden before but from what I read it should add a layer of complexity to the beer similiar to ayinger celebrators dopplebock.

Click to expand...

I'd probably increase the Munich LME and reduce the DME a bit more- maybe go up to 6-8 pounds of Munich LME and use whatever DME you need to bring the OG to where you want it. I'd probably move the flavor hops addition to bittering- I can't think of any bocks or dopplebocks that have definite hops flavor it them. I've never used melanoidin malt, but I think it would be fine, as it should simulate a decoction.