Oktoberfest/Märzen with Wyeast Urquell 2001

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ferm.adventures

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jun 3, 2012
Messages
266
Reaction score
74
Location
Hartford
I'm currently finishing up a Pilsner on Urquell 2001 yeast and plan on brewing my standard Oktoberfest recipe next weekend. Since there is s beautiful yeast cake sitting in the fermentor I'm debating just using that yeast cake for the new brew.

Has anyone used this yeast in a malty amber lager? Should I abort my plans and just use some Saflager 34/70 as planned? This was the first time I used 2001.
 
I have not tried this but since you already have a cake, I would encourage you to try it. Or split the batch and do half with 2001 and half with W-34/70, that might be an even better idea to find out what tastes best if you have the extra equipment to do that.

Cheers!
 
Hmm, that's a good thought. I don't have the ingredients or system space for a double batch, but I could easily up the wort enough to get two 3 gallon batches.
 
Brewday complete with this experiment.

Still learning my new eBIAB system but I got better efficiency than expected. Was shooting for a OG of 1.057, but hit 1.063. As well, had about a quart more boil off than estimated.

I have a fermentor with 4.5 gallons wort for the Urquell slurry and 2.75 gallons for a single package of W-34/70.

First variable right now is wort oxygenation. About 15 seconds of pure o2 for the small batch. And about 30 for the larger one.

Next will be temperature. Will ferment at 55 based on a thermowell in the Urquell batch. Likely means the 34/70 batch will effectively be fermenting a little colder.

Haven't pitched yet. Chilling wasn't great since I didn't have ice on hand, so I put in the 90 degrees wort in the fridge to get to pitching temperature.
 
Last edited:
So, due to work, etc, I finally pitched last night, around 24 hours after brewing was complete. The fridge is on it's last legs as wort was only chilled to 56 degrees at time of pitching.

After a few hours, there was no krausen, but activity in the airlock. This morning, a little krausen in the Urquell carboy, and a few spots in the 34/70. Temperature in the at 52.5, while target is 53.
 
So pulled some samples this morning, as the 34/70 carboy looked close to being complete. they refractometer corrected gravity samples were 1.014 for the 34/70 and 1.020 for the Urquell 2001, so I just bumped the temperature up to 65 degrees for the Diacetyl rest.

I tried to take some tasting notes of the samples to see which direction they are heading:

34/70
Aroma - Originally a great deal or warm toasty malt character. Sample warmed and has a definite white breadiness to it now. Not surprising for yeast still in suspension maybe.
Taste - some astringency, puckery feel. Diacetyl is certainly there, with some harsh bitterness on the finish, which is fairly dry. But good malt character.

Urquell 2001
Aroma is dominated by a sulfur character, which will have a chance to mo on. Hint of fruity esters. Some toasty malt in there as well.
Taste - still over sweet as it's has another .006-.008 gravity points to go. some fruity and oversweet malts flavors. This is going in a direction that I typically don't expect for this recipe, but I think will be a real good complement to the 34/70.
 
Here is the recipe I am working with. I was changed from my usual recipe to stretch for an additional 1.5 or gallons of wort for the experiment.

Target 7 gallon batch

5 lbs Munich malt
5 lbs Pilsner malt (Weyerman)
2 lbs 12 oz Pilsner malt (Valley Malt)
1 lbs Caravienne Malt (Belgium 20 SRM)
8 oz Caramunich II (German 45 SRM)
8 oz Acidulated Brumalt (Valley Malt)

2 oz German Tradition (4.6% AA at 60 minutes) 24.1 IBUs
 
Packaged to kegs and not carbonating. After two days of DR, I started to gradually drop the temperature again by about 1 degree every 12 hours. Got down to 54 degrees, and both kegs are now lagering in the kegerator at 35 degrees. Tasting notes as it were from the hydrometer samples:

34/70
Aroma - Sample warm and still has has a definite white breadiness and a warm toasty malt character.
Taste - malty goodness with a great, clean bitter finish. I don't get any Diacety any longer. Some nice carbonation already in suspension.

Urquell
Aroma - sulfur is gone. fruity esters are gone or muted. toasty malt is dominating.
Taste - malty goodness again, but less pronounced than 34/70. Very clean. Very flat from dropping the carboy and knocking a lot of C02 out of suspension! A little overripe fruity character and subdued, roasty malt. bitterness on the finish is a little harsh.
 
Quick update. I've been tasting these on and off. After lagering these at kegerator temperatures for 60 days they are both brilliantly clear. The 34/70 keg is a better beer. More Malt character and aroma. The Urquell is very drinkable, but more "boring". I certainly wish I had brewed more of the 34/70. Fun experiment, but wouldn't try a "Märzen" with Urquell again. I may post a more detailed taste test later.
 
I did this exactly. Brewed an Urquell clone that came out OK (fermented at 55f which was maybe too warm). Tasted almost a bit like a pseudo Mexican lager. Will ferment cooler next time.

Then I pitched an Oktoberfest on some of the yeast cake. After a few months it's good but too crisp. Not as rich and malty as my previous batch with white labs Oktoberfest...
 
Back
Top