Schwarzbier Stormin' Norman Schwarzbier

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osagedr

Recovering from Sobriety
HBT Supporter
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Apr 17, 2009
Messages
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Location
Winnipeg
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
W-34/70
Yeast Starter
4.5 litres (decanted)
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.054
Final Gravity
1.014
Boiling Time (Minutes)
75
IBU
27.2
Color
26.4
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
5 days @ 51
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
17 days @ 70
Additional Fermentation
60 days @ 33
Tasting Notes
great hop aroma ; well balanced with fairly big malt (used decoction) and hops
4.5# Munich
4.5# Vienna
1.0# Munich Dark
0.5# Carafa III
0.5# Caramunich

1 oz Perle 67 minutes
1 oz Perle 10 days dry hop

20 minutes @ 119
60 minutes @ 155
20 minutes @ 170 (decoction 8 litres to hit mashout temp)

This recipe is based on Northern Brewer's. Hit this one out of the park!

**Gold Medal, 2012 Cowtown Yeast Wranglers Homebrew Roundup (Calgary, Alberta)
**Gold Medal, 2012 Vanbrewer Awards (Vancouver, British Columbia)
 
Hard to tell from the picture, but the beer is exceptionally clear.

schwarzbier.jpg
 
So you were the one to beat me out? I got Bronze for mine.
Next year will see a completely different recipe from me. I now have Carfa special ll
Muuuhhhaaaa

Congrats on the gold.
 
osagedr said:
Hard to tell from the picture, but the beer is exceptionally clear.

Looks good! Can you tell us about the yeast and fermentation temps/times? Also tasting notes? Thanks!
 
So you were the one to beat me out? I got Bronze for mine.
Next year will see a completely different recipe from me. I now have Carfa special ll
Muuuhhhaaaa

Congrats on the gold.

LOL...I gotta stop posting recipes or at least medal tallies--I've been "outted!". Congrats on your medal as well! This one didn't get a medal in Lethbridge where dark lagers were combined with porters but some of my other beers did well. We'll see what the judges had to say plus hope for the best in Regina in a few weeks. I don't know that I have enough left for Edmonton, Victoria, Vancouver, and Montreal--must be time for a re-brew!
 
I'm about to brew a similar beer and was wondering what sort of water profile you used for this.
 
One more quick question, was the 34/70 starter slurry from a previous batch or did you build from a single packet?

I'm obsessing a bit about trying to get an adequate pitch of lager yeast for a schwarzbier a friend requested for his wedding. Unfortunately the timeline means I'll be brewing when it's 100+ here, so pitching two packets of 34/70 sounds really appealing.
 
I can't believe I never noticed the mistake in this thread before, but there is no way I used a starter with W-34/70. I either used the equivalent liquid variety with a big starter chilled and decanted (as noted above) or 34/70 rehydrated. Looking at my brewing records I'm certain I used two packages of W-34/70 rehydrated. I think you are safe doing the same as per the manufacturer's product sheet (could be different from the instructions on the package), but you might need more if pitching very cool.

http://www.fermentis.com/fo/pdf/HB/EN/Saflager_W-3470_HB.pdf
 
I was going to aim for pitching at 46 or so and letting it rise to 50, I have more experience using 34/70 for steam beers and s-23 for pilsners. On the other hand I might just talk myself into getting a stir plate and sticking it into my fermentation freezer earlier in the brew week so that I can use the liquid version.
 
A stir plate is a very wise investment.

You don't need to do your starter at the same temp as your main batch. I've done it both ways (same temp as main batch and room temp) and there is no difference except one takes a lot longer...however if you're married to the idea of doing your starter at the same temp as the main batch go right at the top end of the temp range; it'll save you some time.
 
It's a touch hot here this time of year, currently approaching 102F, and my friend inconsiderately planned his wedding in early September then asked me to brew 30 gallons of lager for it. As it is I've got the go ahead for a second chest freezer and a stirplate. I'm probably going to use WLP833 because it's my go to lager strain, and steal a friend's stirplate and flask to complement my own. Thanks for the replies.
 
Cripes, 102...it snowed not far from here last weekend!

You can't beat having a lot of refrigeration capacity for brewing and storing lagers. Pitch lots of yeast, aerate well, control fermentation temps, and you'll be a good lager brewer.
 
Just part of the fun of living in the central valley of California, I can still see snow from here on the Sierras. Starters just become problematic this time of year as I usually set my thermostat at 80+.
 
I want to try some Lagers ..This sounds like a great Brew.. Might be in the near future..
 
I want to try some Lagers ..This sounds like a great Brew.. Might be in the near future..

Just won a gold medal this weekend with this year's version of this beer. About 40% Munich Type II, 40% Vienna, 13% Pils, the remainder evenly split between Carapils & Caramunich, and a pound of CaraFa II Special for colour. Gr Magnum for bittering and Mittelfruh late for flavour/aroma. I really like it. Truth be told, it's a bit too roasty, even after I cold-steeped the CaraFathis time around rather than mashing them.
 
I'd really like to brew this, but I'd also really like not to have to do a decoction mash! Can this be done with a single infusion?
 
Opened the first one last night. Lagered using the instructions in this thread, plus a week or so. I can confirm that this recipe makes a great beer.
 
I brewed up 10 gallons of this yesterday. I made a couple of changes using midnight wheat instead of carafa. I used bohemian in one and Munich in the other for yeasts, both with 2L starters. I used hallertau mittlefruh for hop additions. Fermenting at 50 right now.
 
I entered this into a comp this weekend and got gold in lagers with a 39.5 score. One correction yeasts used were bohemian and bavarian. Great recipe.
I brewed up 10 gallons of this yesterday. I made a couple of changes using midnight wheat instead of carafa. I used bohemian in one and Munich in the other for yeasts, both with 2L starters. I used hallertau mittlefruh for hop additions. Fermenting at 50 right now.
 
Haven't made a Schwarz for quite-some-time but am gonna give this one a go this weekend. This was a very successful competition beer for me back in the day but I see a lot of things I would do differently now--guess I'll mostly keep the recipe the same, with a few changes:
- gonna use Wyeast 2007 Pilsen Lager instead of dry yeast
- not sure what made me decoct it in the first place; might skip that
- prolly go to H. Mittelfrueh for flavour/aroma
- might skip the protein rest or add some flaked barley or malted wheat for head retention
 
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