Oktoberfest recipe help

So Ive been reading different Oktoberfest recipes and taking info from the different recipes to try and come up with one on my own. Its pretty simple so far, just an extract Oktoberfest Style Ale. Here it is so far.

5oz German Munich
5oz CaraMunich
2oz Choclate Malt
2oz Crystal Malt

3lb Amber Liquid Malt Extract
3lb Light Malt Extract

1oz Tettnanger Hops 60mins
.5oz Tettnanger Hops 30mins
.5oz Hallertauer Hops 15mins
.5oz Hallertaur Hops 5mins

Corn sugar for priming

Steep Grains in 2gal of water at 160-170 degrees. Bring water to a boil, follow hop schedule.

Are the ingredients ok so far? Is there anything else I could add, or take away for that matter? My next question has to do with yeast and aging. What yeast would be good to use? Is a dry yeast ok? And is the typical 1-2-3 fermenting/aging/bottling process ok? This is my first crack at putting together a recipe, so anybody wise in the brewing of Oktoberfest feel free to spread the advice. Thanks guys.

I'm no expert, but I've made an Oktoberfest and am drinking it now. It's a lager, using Marzen/Oktoberfest yeast. I used an ounce of Tettnanger at 40 minutes, and an ounce of Hersbrucker at 30 minutes. Munich malt and caramunich are ok, but I've never heard of putting chocolate malt in an Oktoberfest. The one I have now is All grain, but converted it's:

3.3 Pounds LME
3.3 pounds LME (at knockout)
.5 pounds caramunich malt
.5 pounds crystal 80L
Marzen/Octoberfest yeast
Primary 2 weeks at 45 degrees, secondary by lagering for 6 weeks, dropping temperature gradually. ou

Hopping schedule as I noted above.
This recipe is from How to Brew by John Palmer. I'm not sure how it'd come out as an ale, but it might be really good if you can ferment at the lower range of the yeast's temperature range.

I did an extract/steeping grains Octoberfest ale last year when I couldn't lager. The recipe was not anything like an Octoberfest, but it really was ok! It used Nottingham dry yeast. It was a good beer, but like I said, not really an Octoberfest.

Definetely lose the chocolate malt.
Crystals are not really approiate, but the amount you're using, probably won't make a difference.
You could bump up the munich a tad also. If it's light, go to 1#, if dark 1/2#
Late additions of hops is a no-no, unless you're Samuel Adams

Another note: munich isn't a steeping grain, it must be mashed. This isn't really a difficult thing though because it does have enough diastatic power to convert itself.
About the recipe, I agree with the above posters that you should ditch the chocolate and also keep your hop additions to the first 30 minutes of the boil. You don't want much hop aroma/flavor in an Oktoberfest.

If I were going to do it, I'd use:
1# pilsener
1# light munich
8 oz. caramunich

Put the 2.5# of grain in a large grain bag and steep it in 1 gallon of 150-155 dF water for 60 min. If possible, rinse the bag of grain with another gallon of 150-160 dF water and your good to go. Additionally, use 1# less extract to account for the fermentables you will be getting form the grains.

good luck!

Here's another vote for ditching the chocolate malt. That's not a malt that you wannt to be a part of an Oktoberfest.

ohiobrewtus said:

Here's another vote for ditching the chocolate malt. That's not a malt that you wannt to be a part of an Oktoberfest.

Click to expand...

Yup I agree too. Chocolate belongs in Bocks and brown ales, etc, not Marzens

I got the chocolate malt from another recipe I read online. I was basically reading different recipes and comparing the ingredients. One had chocolate malt, and I thought that was interesting. I will definately loose the chocolate malt. Thanks alot. Since the munich cant be steeped do i just need to do a partial mash on that? Sorry for the basic questions.

Well, it's true that Munich malt can't be steeped and must be mashed- but it can convert itself so it's just like steeping. (Does that make sense, by the way? It makes sense to my female mind, but sometimes what I'm thinking doesn't really translate to others.)

So, you can still put your grains in a grain bag and steep at 155 for 45 minutes or so. It's actually mashing it because some conversion will take place. You have a pretty small amount of grains, so you can use a small amount of water for this. I'd use around 1.5 quarts of water. Then, you can sparge it by lifting out the grain bag, put it in a colander, and pour 170 degree water over it to rinse the sugars out of the grains. You could use 3 quarts of water for that. Then just add water to do your boil.

Makes perfect sense. Thank you.