Did I Maibock correctly?

[wdavis2003]

Over the weekend I brewed "Maibock by Gary Glass" Morebeer recipe kit. Brew day went well and hit my intended OG (1.069). Pitched directly on top of Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager yeast from my last brew. Fermentation took off and got down to 1.020 where it has stalled out the last 2 days.

Note: Fermented under pressure at 65 degrees. Measuring current gravity with a Tilt hydrometer. I understand carbonation could skew the results. Going to check tonight with traditional hydrometer.

At first glance, 1.020 seems high. I've only had 1 Maibock from a local brewery and it was fantastic. Seemed to be on the dryer side like a typical lager. Wyeast 2206 is listed to attenuate 77%. Mine is only at 70%. However, the recipe states OG should be 1.067-1.073 and ABV should be 6.7%. According to Beersmith, that would mean the FG would be around 1.019. So I'm pretty much bang on. But this seems high to me..

Again, never had a commercial example of a Maibock. Maybe this is expected FG. I certainly don't want to drink an 8% malt liquor style lager so 6.5% is good enough for me. Just seems high at 1.020

10 lbs Pilsner
5 lbs Vienna Malt
1 lb Carapils
1 lb Crystal 15L

 

[Miraculix]

Why is everybody trying to judge a beer by numbers? Finish the beer brewing and then have one. Does it taste good? Then everything's fine. Btw. There's usually no crystal in German bock beers.

 

[AlexKay]

Over the weekend I brewed "Maibock by Gary Glass" Morebeer recipe kit. Brew day went well and hit my intended OG (1.069). Pitched directly on top of Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager yeast from my last brew. Fermentation took off and got down to 1.020 where it has stalled out the last 2 days.

Note: Fermented under pressure at 65 degrees. Measuring current gravity with a Tilt hydrometer. I understand carbonation could skew the results. Going to check tonight with traditional hydrometer.

At first glance, 1.020 seems high. I've only had 1 Maibock from a local brewery and it was fantastic. Seemed to be on the dryer side like a typical lager. Wyeast 2206 is listed to attenuate 77%. Mine is only at 70%. However, the recipe states OG should be 1.067-1.073 and ABV should be 6.7%. According to Beersmith, that would mean the FG would be around 1.019. So I'm pretty much bang on. But this seems high to me..

Again, never had a commercial example of a Maibock. Maybe this is expected FG. I certainly don't want to drink an 8% malt liquor style lager so 6.5% is good enough for me. Just seems high at 1.020

10 lbs Pilsner
5 lbs Vienna Malt
1 lb Carapils
1 lb Crystal 15L

Just a WAG, but with that much Carapils, I'd expect FG to be on the high side. Or maybe you mashed a little hot. Or maybe your Tilt has some yeast on it and is off by a few points. As @Miraculix says, don't sweat it until you taste it.

Was your previous batch (where the yeast cake came from) also pressure fermented? I'm not up on the latest, but generally you don't want to repitch stressed yeast ... and pressure fermentation does cause some stress. What's the CW on repitching pressure-fermented yeast?

 

[wdavis2003]

Why is everybody trying to judge a beer by numbers? Finish the beer brewing and then have one. Does it taste good? Then everything's fine. Btw. There's usually no crystal in German bock beers.

Thanks for the reply.

Don't want my lager to be overly sweet and looking for input about the style from experienced brewers.

 

[wdavis2003]

Just a WAG, but with that much Carapils, I'd expect FG to be on the high side. Or maybe you mashed a little hot. Or maybe your Tilt has some yeast on it and is off by a few points. As @Miraculix says, don't sweat it until you taste it.

Was your previous batch (where the yeast cake came from) also pressure fermented? I'm not up on the latest, but generally you don't want to repitch stressed yeast ... and pressure fermentation does cause some stress. What's the CW on repitching pressure-fermented yeast?

Yes the previous batch was pressure fermented. Duly noted about repitching stressed yeast. First time using this yeast and the starter took about 36 hours to get going. Probably underpitched the initial batch. Fermentation was very "uneventful" compared to other lager strains i've used in the past like 34/70.

 

[Miraculix]

Thanks for the reply.

Don't want my lager to be overly sweet and looking for input about the style from experienced brewers.

I thought so, but there's no real way to say how the beer tastes without tasting it. Numbers don't say that much.

 

[wdavis2003]

I thought so, but there's no real way to say how the beer tastes without tasting it. Numbers don't say that much.

I thought about tasting it last night but I'm going to be patient. I assume this is one of those styles that needs to lager for a while to really peak. Talking 2+ months. Am I correct?

 

[Miraculix]

I thought about tasting it last night but I'm going to be patient. I assume this is one of those styles that needs to lager for a while to really peak. Talking 2+ months. Am I correct?

I would say so, yes. If you could taste some without introducing air and oxygen, I would do so, just to see the development over time.


.... At least this is what I keep telling my impatient self .