Recipe Maibock - light colored

Hi all,

I want to do a Maibock style lager, with light color (4-6 SRM).
I know traditionaly this style is more forward 8-10 SRM, but i just had a Bock style beer the other day that i fell in love with, and wish to replicate the flavor.

The beer i had was about 3-4 SRM , very very creamy foam and good mouth feel. This was complemented with a very fresh hop flavor, not too bitter.

I was leading towards something like this :

- 95% Pils
- 5% Carapils (for foam and mouthfeel)
- Saaz hops

BUT...almost every recipe of Maibock i see, has Munich Malt in it, wich will darken the beer. Do you think this is necessary to keep the style?

Also i plan to use dry SafLager Yeast (fermentis) 34/70 .
I dont have access to liquid yeast for lagers.

My temperature control in fermentation is a minimum of 45F.
So i would start fermentation at 45F, rise to 50F and do a dyacetyl rest at 55F. Then back to 45F which is my minimum.
After this i can bottle , let carbonate and tranfer to a freezer at 35F to lager...

Opinions on the recipe?
Goal is having a clear beer, light color and creamy foam and thick mouthfeel....

Cheers!

 

Many maibocks (such as ayinger) are lighter in color than what most homebrewers make. Personally I like 15-20% munich malt in mine for the flavor, but i see no problem with an all pils. (though you could add some vienna or like belgian pale ale malt or kolsch malt for complexity. German helles malt is not generally available to homebrewers, and at 3-4L these malts wont darken it too much.)

34/70 will work. I prefer 833 or 838, but its not the end of the world. 34/70 has a higher attenuation, but usually the problem with homebrewed maibocks is that they are too sweet and sticky; if it finishes a little dry thats far preferable.

As far as the carapils goes, personally id prefer to mash well, and ferment with a good pitch of non-stressed yeast; an all pils beer should have no problem with head retention. And a 1.068 beer isnt going to be light in body. Though you can use it if you want to. maybe 2-3%?

I dont know what your water is, but make sure you hit a reasonable mash ph without using too many minerals. Check to make sure you dont need acid malt or otherwise adding acid.

 

Then keep looking for a better recipe. Personally I see no reason to add Munich malt to a Maibock and I love Munich malt. Too many American homebrew recipes want to over complicate or "bump up" German beers. If you want to enhance a simple pils malt bill think Vienna malt. It will add richness and lusciousness and still be relatively light in color.

My recipe is about 60% Vienna and 40% pilsner and the beer is a deep golden color but nothing anyone would ever consider dark. If you want to stay very light in color try 20-30% Vienna. It will still make a significant contribution to the flavor.

 

Ended up in altering the recipe to include 15% Munich and only 3% CaraPils....will see how it will turn out !

Thanks

 

Fermenting now....color is waaay darker than intended...but oh well...as long as it taste good...its all good !

 

I ended up with a recipe of 43% Pils, 39% Vienna, and 18% light Munich. SRM was to be 5.8 as I wanted mine light as well, but given the carboys, looks to be a bit darker. We will see with the finished product.

If you are interested in getting the beer on tap earlier, check out Brulospher's Quick Lager method. Im trying it now for the first time, and hopefully with have a few kegs of Maibock on tap in less than a month.