Schwarzbier May the Schwarz-bier With You

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BarleyWater

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Messages
2,199
Reaction score
29
Location
Elmhurst
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
German Lager WLP830
Yeast Starter
2L
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.046
Final Gravity
1.011
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
29.6
Color
31.2
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
15 @ 50
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
25 @ 40
Tasting Notes
Gold Medal Winner
:ban: This is my first gold medal beer, in my second competition. I have been working with this recipe in some form since I began brewing. It was originally extract, but no longer really resembles the Black Lager of the past. Hops used were only because I couldn't get anything German, but they turmed out fantastic, and are in the Hallertau family. This is a very rounded schwarzbier, not quite as roasty as some American examples, but very similar to something like Kostritzer, with a bit more body.

FOAM Cup 2008
Category: Dark Lager
Gold

Batch Size: 6.00 gal (5.00 gal into the bottle/keg)
Boil Size: 8.08 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00%

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU

5 lbs Munich Malt (6.0 SRM) Grain 48.78 %
4 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 39.02 %
8.0 oz Carafa III (425.0 SRM) Grain 4.88 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.44 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (475.0 SRM) Grain 2.44 %
4.0 oz Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM) Grain 2.44 %

1.00 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] (60 min) Hops 22.4 IBU
0.33 oz Vangaurd [4.40 %] (60 min) Hops 5.4 IBU
0.33 oz Vangaurd [4.40 %] (20 min) Hops 1.8 IBU
0.33 oz Vangaurd [4.40 %] (0 min) Hops

1 Pkgs German Lager (White Labs #WLP830) Yeast-Lager


Mash Profile

Fly Sparge, Single Infusion, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 10.25 lb

75 min Mash In Add 12.00 qt of water at 164.3 F 151.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 8.00 qt of water at 198.3 F 168.0 F
 
Looks great. I've been wanting to do a Swartzbier for a while now... I had actually thought about that name for it!! "Only one man would dare give me the Raspberry Wheat" seems a little lang though!
 
Looks great, pretty close to one I have. I use a little less Carafa II than you do III but the base amounts are the same. Can't think of my hop schedule off the top of my head but I know I don't use those varieties. Swartzbier is a great style


got home and pulled up mine
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 57.69 %
3.75 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 36.06 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.40 %
0.20 lb Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 1.92 %
0.20 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 1.92 %
28.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.30 %] (60 min) Hops 34.6 IBU
14.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.30 %] (20 min) Hops 10.5 IBU
14.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.30 %] (1 min)

I usually use Hallertau for my hops but I was out so subbed NB


Edit for crappy formating
 
Ya, I really only used those varieties due to hop shortage, otherwise it would have been Hallertau instead of Vangaurd. American "noble" varieties are a lot easier to come by than the real nobles from Germany these days. You could really use any noble German hop, or reasonable substitute.

I wanted it really dark, that's why the carafaIII. It is a little roastier than a typical schwarzbier like Kostitzer, and has gotten dinged in comps for it, but that's how I like it, and it has won a gold, so I'm not changing a thing, except maybe the hop varieties.
 
Here's mine. It seems to be a crowd pleaser.

10.00 lb Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 47.06 %
10.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 47.06 %
1.00 lb Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 4.71 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.18 %
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
3.00 oz Hallertauer [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 24.0 IBU
1 Pkgs Bavarian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2206) [Starter 125 ml] Yeast-Lager

Est Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.053 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.24 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.21 %
Bitterness: 24.0 IBU Calories: 236 cal/pint
Est Color: 27.7 SRM


By the way, it's a 10 gallon batch.
 
1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

You dry-hopped your schwarzbier?!? :fro:

Here's what I have in the keg in the fridge:

8lb 2-row
2lb Light Munich
10oz Carafa Special III
4oz Black Roasted Barley
Single infusion @152F 60min
.66oz Tradition 6.8% FWH
.66oz Tradition 6.8% 15min
.66oz Tradition 6.8% 5min
WLP830, 3qt starter
OG 1.052 FG 1.014 32 SRM 29 IBU (Rager)

Should be ready to tap in two more weeks. At racking time it was distinctly chocolatey. I want more fridge space so I can brew more lagers!
 
Just tapped a keg of this. It's damned delicious. Really and excellent example of the style. I think the only change I would make is deleting the roasted barley. My only other complaint is that it goes away too quickly!
 
I'm looking to make a similar recipe, but I'm having a hard time finding the Carafa Special II.

I'm going to check with the LHBS, but none of the on-line shops I've been looking at seem to have it.

Where do you'all get your Carafa?

Edit: Never mind, Brewmasters Warehouse has it.
 
Big thanks to BarleyWater for this recipe. I brewed this on 4/17/2011. I had to substitute Carafa Special II for the Carafa III, and I accidentally used 2 oz of black barley instead of 4 oz of roasted barley. (after discovering I got black barley instead of roasted barley I pulled it back.

Anyhow this beer won Gold in 4C, and went on to win Best In Show at the 2011 All Idaho Hausbrau Battle!

Great beer!
 
I did this one a while back, and I can remember doing a side-by-side with Sam Adams Black Lager. Although I could tell the difference side-by-side, I would not have been able to identify either on its own. The difference I did taste was really small; if I had tried to clone that, it would probably taste like this.

Nice job, BarleyWater. Still one of my favorites!
 
Barleywater,
I have never brewed a lager and thought this would be a great one to start with. Do the times you listed for fermentation (the 15 & 25 days) include all the time, or was there additional time for lagering?

Thanks!
 
Barleywater,

Last night I took a sample of my attempt at your recipe after three weeks of fermentation. THANK YOU!!! This tastes amazing. What a great recipe. I can't wait (but have to) for it to lager so I can start drinking it. How long do you typically lager it for? Thanks again!!!!!
 
I'm thinking about brewing this sometime this year so it's ready for my Oktoberfest party in Sept/Oct. Does anyone who's made this have any more comments on it or have pics. I'd love to see how dark it is in real life. Thanks. Happy brewing everyone!
 
I did a similar partial mash version of this recipe with the BIAB method on my stove top. I mashed 5 lbs of grain at 150 for 60 min in 2 gal H2O (roughly 1.5qt/lb) and sparged with about 1/2 gal H2O at 170, then added another 1.5 gal for a preboil vol of 4.25gal. Post boil vol was 3.9 and I topped up to 5 gal in the fermenter. Anyway, here's the recipe:

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 1 25.0 %
1 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 12.5 %
12.0 oz Carafa I (337.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.4 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.3 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.1 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 6 3.1 %
4.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7 3.1 %
3 lbs Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 8 37.5 %
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 21.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 10 6.4 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 11 -
0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 12 0.2 IBUs
1.0 pkg German Ale/Kolsch (White Labs #WLP029)

The WLP029 was washed from a batch of Kolsch that I brewed on New Years. I used a 2L starter to make sure I had enough viable yeast. I fermented at 64*F (beer temp) with an ambient temp of about 59-62*F. I saw 3-4 days of vigorous fermentation and now it has leveled off, with the beer temp matching the ambient temp almost perfectly. I will probably move it to a warmer area of my house (around 66-68*F) for a few days to allow the yeast to clean up, rack to a secondary and then lager in my garage for a month or so at 35-40*F. The color was perfect, almost as dark as a porter, but the mouthfeel was much lighter. It definitely has a lager smell to it, but I haven't taste-tested it yet.

I will make sure to come back to this thread and update on the progress and outcome of this batch in case anyone else is interested in making my partial mash version. Happy brewing to all!

EDIT: I'll also try to take a picture the next time I take a sample so we can get an idea of the color of this brew.
 
ArizonaDB said:
EDIT: I'll also try to take a picture the next time I take a sample so we can get an idea of the color of this brew.

Please do! Sounds good...
 
Hairbomb said:
I saw that it had to be fermented at 50 degrees but my beer smith said 67? Help?

Ferment according to your yeast. Those of us that used lager yeast fermented cold. Ale yeast would ferment warmer.
 
Just thought I would pop in for a quick update on my batch of this beer.

It fermented pretty quick from the 2nd to the 5th, at which point the beer temp dropped to match the ambient temp pretty well, figuring most of the heavy fermentation was done. I let it sit for another 8 days at ferm temp (about 62) and then brought it to a warmer area of the house for a couple days for a diacetyl rest (altho not sure if one is needed or not with WLP029, but I did it anyway).

Today I racked it to a secondary and moved it to my garage to lager at the low 40s for a month or so. However, we are expecting our second baby any day now, so who knows when I'll be able to bottle. :p The gravity reading of the sample was 1.012, down from the OG of 1.050. It tasted great although didn't have any discernible lager character, but rather resembled a delicious porter. Hmmmm? Oh well, we'll see what lagering does, hopefully making it more "lager-like". Either way, it will be a good beer, just maybe not very Germanish.

See my recipe at post #18 in this thread if you're interested in doing this thing in partial mash form and with a lager-like ale yeast. Also, here is the picture I promised on my last post.

IMG_2912-1.jpg


IMG_2914.jpg
 
I used BarleyWater's recipe and have it lagering now after three weeks in the primary @ 67 F. Smells great, looks nice in the carboy. I'll post a pic when I keg it.
 
Just started cracking into a batch of your recipe I made around three months ago, my friends and I love it. Made it point for point and it turned out great. Thank you!
 
I see why this recipe won a gold medal. An excellent beer. I tapped my keg this weekend and have not been able to stop drinking it since. Cheers! :mug:
 
75 min mash?? Did everyone do that? or just go 60?

I made a 2.5 g batch of this last winter and mashed 60 min at 153. OG was 1.056, only alteration to the grain bill was I didn't have any crystal so I threw in a few ounces extra of base.

I used all hallertau but in equivalent additions. This has been one of my favorite beers I've made, thanks for the recipe BarleyWater!
:mug:
 
sgraham602 said:
What does a 90 min boil on this beer add? I've only got the capacity to boil 6.5 gallons, would a 90 min boil would boil off too much?

There is a fair amount of pilsner in here, so I imagine that the 90 min boil is to drive of dms. You could either bool less forcefully, or reduce the batch size to compensate. You could always use pilsner lme instead, which has already been boiled so you could probably get away with a shorter boil time.
 
15 days @50 and 25 @ 40.

is this a primary and then a lagering phase? would it suffice to do a primary for 15 days @ 50, then rack it to a keg and lager it at 40?

Also...no diacetyl rest necessary??
 
I'd check your FG after the 15 day primary to make sure it's finished, and check for diacetyl. You might want to warm it up to the 65-70F range at the end of primary to clean up diacetyl if it is present. Depending on your yeast it may or may not be there. I wouldn't pull it off the yeast until you're sure it's done fermenting and diacetyl is cleaned up.

Good luck!
 
I was looking at making a schwarzbier but didnt realize it was a lager type beer. I bought all the grain already but want to switch the yeast to make it an ale where i can ferment room temperature. Please give me sugeations im very new at brewing.
 
Some say that using the California common yeast or Notttingham dry yeast will ferment with lager like character, though you will still need to be relatively cold - like 60F in the beer (air in the mid 50's would get you there).
 
Also Wyeast 1007 German ale is very clean. My altbier that I'm drinking now is very clean and lager like.
 
I brewed another batch of this yesterday. This time I'm fermenting half with the White Labs Mexican Lager yeast, and the other half with Augustiner lager yeast from BSI. I'll post back with results later.

EmsY8Qn.jpg
 
BRILLIANT!!!! I've been wanting to brew a schwartzbier, but I was also intrigued by a Cinco de Mayo beer I had last spring. Great experiment; be sure to let us know how it goes!
 
Brewed this up yesterday. The only change I made was the yeast. I decided to try WLP029 and am using the "Brulosophy Lager Method" using my new BrewPi controlled fermentation chamber.

It's my first lager and I am very excited to see how it turns out.

Thanks for the recipe!
 
Making this as an ale because I'm using 05 @ a 66F ferment. I got it mashing right now. Looks like a great recipe.
 
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