Munich Dunkel Munich Dunkel SMaSH

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AnOldUR

fer-men-TAY-shuhn
HBT Supporter
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Messages
6,841
Reaction score
857
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager
Yeast Starter
Slurry
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.056
Final Gravity
1.014
Boiling Time (Minutes)
75
IBU
21
Color
16
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
10
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
54
Tasting Notes
Need an unbiased opinion on style match, but this is an excellent beer!
Munich / Tettnang SMaSH

11½ lb Light Munich / Weyermann
1oz American Tettnang / Alpha 4.2% - FWH
½ oz American Tettnang / Alpha 4.2% - 20 min
½ oz American Tettnang / Alpha 4.2% - 10 min
½ oz American Tettnang / Alpha 4.2% - 0 min
Slurry of Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager – Second Generation

Roasted 1-1/2lbs of the Munich @ 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Decoction mashout w/ 20 minute boil to darken wort.
Use enough grain to shoot for an OG of 1.056 depending on your efficiency.

Step mash:
20 min @ 104 dgrs (infusion)
30 min @ 140 dgrs (infusion)
60 min @ 154 dgrs (decoction)
15 min @ 168 dgrs (decoction)

Pitched at 58 degrees
Brought temperature down to 50 over next 24 hours
8 days in primary @ 50 degrees
2 day diacetyl rest at 65 degrees
54 day lager in secondary glass carboy
Temperature dropped from 50 to 38 degrees over first three days of lagering
Kegged and conditioned for 3 weeks before tapping.


Munich_Dunkel_3.jpg


Munich_Dunkel2.jpg


Edit: Added second picture courtesy of 944play
 
AnOldUR's is on the left, mine is on the right (MoreBeer Vienna in pint glass):
3511994291_c68d3f130a.jpg

His is deep, complex, rich and spicy. Mine reflects its simpler process - I'm calling mine a Märzen.
11 lb 6.5ºL Munich
140-154-168F double decoction
1.75oz 3.4% Tett 60min
0.25oz 3.4% Tett 10min
200ml 838/2308 slurry, ferment @52F 7 days, @61 another 10
Rack to keg and lager for a month
 
AnOldUR sent me a bottle, too. Here are my thoughts:

Aroma – Malty, bready, nutty character of raw or lightly toasted almonds – definitely Munich malt and very, very rich; mildly fruity – very mild; medium-mild, earthy, spicy noble hops; no diacetyl; I might be picking up mild DMS, which is quite acceptable; fruitiness fades a bit with time; melanoidins definitely present. – 9/12

Appearance – deep copper with red hues; clear; poured dense, finely-grained, off-white head that lasted for some time. – 3/3

Flavor – richly malty and bready; sweetness is quite bold for a dunkel but not to the point where it is unappetizing; finish is sweet and a bit cloying, at first, but then dries out and actually becomes bitter; low noble hop flavor; notes of toast; very mild, almost fleeting roasty note; some sweetness seems to come from caramel malt; melanoidins most certainly present and add wonderful complexity throughout flavor – tough to tell if melanoidins come from decoction or melanoidins malt. – 14/20

Mouthfeel – Very full-bodied; rolls around in the mouth, and is too heavy for style, almost distracting; chewy; moderately low carbonation could be a bit higher to help lighten the body and balance sweetness; slightly warm in back of throat and, in time, in cheeks. – 3/5

Overall Impression – This is a very nice beer. However, it is so rich and sweet, I find it more akin to a low alcohol bock than a dunkel. The finish takes too long to dry out. The body is too full for the style and weighs down what should be a beer you can drink by the liter. Basically, all this adds up to the conclusion that this beer either contains too much unfermentable sugars from the decoction or is underattenuated. Fix that, and you probably have a very nice (although potentially low alcohol) bock on your hands.

Again, as a beer, I like this one very much. I don’t know if I would want more than one at a time, though, as it is so full-bodied and heavy. However, I very much enjoyed the one that I did have! Thanks! - 7/10

Total – 36/50
 
..Step mash:
20 min @ 104 dgrs (infusion)
30 min @ 140 dgrs (infusion)
60 min @ 154 dgrs (decoction)
15 min @ 168 dgrs (decoction)

I know its a long time ago but I was wondering if you could answer a few questions on the mash.

  • Did you pull a single decocoction and add it back in two steps to reach 154 and susequently 168.
  • Did you do a sacch rest on the decoction itself
  • Did you pull it before, during, or after the 140F rest

Apologies if this is all implied in your schedule. I'm just beginning to experiment with different mash profiles and looking for pointers on decoctions. Also I know it's 6 years since you posted the recipe. If the details have been lost to the sands of time, no worries. Thanks
 
Apologies if this is all implied in your schedule.
For a while there I was decocting everything just to get the feel for it. Lucky if I do it once a year now.

The only thing I can think of is that I tried to simplify it when I entered it in the HBT recipe database. Those time were the actual rests, but not the time in-between.

Here's the actual mash schedule from my notes. I pulled two decoctions. One thick and one thin. I did do a sacc rest before raising the first to a boil, but the second was a mash-out decoction, so it went straight to a boil.

Damn! That was a long brewday.

Munich Dunkel Mash Schedule.jpg
 
For a while there I was decocting everything just to get the feel for it. Lucky if I do it once a year now.

The only thing I can think of is that I tried to simplify it when I entered it in the HBT recipe database. Those time were the actual rests, but not the time in-between.

Here's the actual mash schedule from my notes. I pulled two decoctions. One thick and one thin. I did do a sacc rest before raising the first to a boil, but the second was a mash-out decoction, so it went straight to a boil.

Damn! That was a long brewday.

Brilliant stuff. So detailed and clear. Really appreciate you sharing that. Lots to get my teeth into there.
 
Thanks, but more necessity than brilliant. Without a detailed plan I'd be lost on brewday.

If I was born today, my parents would have me on every OCD/ADD drug out there. :eek:
 
So I'm going to necro this thread because I just tapped my keg of Munich Hallertau SMaSH which used a double decoction mash and 34/70 yeast.

My tasting notes are very similar to what TexLaw described. At first I thought it had an off flavor, and then I realized that it's just a little too sweet in the finish.

Roasted almonds is a stronger flavor component than I would like, and it has a grainy flavor that might be easily mistaken for DMS, but I think it's just the Munich malt.

Overall its not a bad beer, but if I were going to improve the recipe I would add some pale malt or pilsner to help dry it out, and I would probably skip the decoction and just add a handful of melanoindin malt.
 
I just tapped my keg of Munich Hallertau SMaSH which used a double decoction mash and 34/70 yeast.


Overall its not a bad beer, but if I were going to improve the recipe I would add some pale malt or pilsner to help dry it out, and I would probably skip the decoction and just add a handful of melanoindin malt.

I've made a Munich/Hallertau SMASH several times now.
I don't do a decoction mash nor do i use any melanoindin malt.
Instead, i mash lower. Usually at 150-F
I use S0-5 as a yeast usually though. Get good attenuation mashing at that temp with it.
Also, a trick you could employ is adding a small amount of table sugar to aid in drying out the brew. Somewhere between 4-8 ounces for a 5 gallon batch. Allthough i guess you `could` do a full pound if you wanted more of an ABV kick.
 
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