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Read a book?! Learn the ABCs?! What a revolutionary idea. :bigmug:

Didn't realize you were in Germany, so yes it makes little sense to look for Mt. Hood. My favorite are the Spalt, I use those in many of my lagers although you could not go wrong with any of the traditional German noble hop family.

Willamette hops always have a metallic taste to me. Maybe some other types can have a similar effect. I'm not familiar with Bravo and don't know their lineage.

Spalter, Mittlefruh, and Strisselspalt would all work well in the style. Northern Brewer is actually English in origin but it does work nicely as a bittering hop in many lager styles. Saaz would be another hop to consider. Fuggles certainly has the grassy aspect going for it but I'd leave it...

Yes the pH value changes throughout the process. For homebrewing purposes if you get in that mash target range the beer should be just fine. Over the last 25 years the view on water in the homebrewing community has gone from "don't worry about it" to an almost societal OCD. Pay attention to...

The mash pH is what you need to pay attention to not the water. Using water with some alkaline qualities should provide a good mash pH range when balanced with the 70% Munich malt in the grist bill. Have you looked at the brewing water information in the Brew Science section of the forum...

You didn't mention alkalinity but with a large portion of Munich malt and this beer's Bavarian roots I'd use a modestly alkaline water with 100-200 ppm bicarbonate. I would also bring the SO4 way down to around 25 ppm.

There is a nation-wide shortage of olefin plastics (polypropylene and polyetheylene) currently. It's possible that is affecting the used market if barrels/drums previously thrown or given away are now being re-used or sold before they reach the e-bay stage.

Bear in mind that these recommendations are often done by brewers who do not do and think you should not do a decoction While there may be other nuances in the production process from a superficial standpoint melanoidin is a more highly kilned Munich malt. A rest at that temperature range...

The "old fashioned" oatmeal unlike the run of the mill stuff is probably not gelatinizatized. That said oats have a fairly low gelatinization temp than many other grains, 60C/140F should do it. Maybe next time giving it a prior mini cereal mash and then going to main mash would help.

That recipe will make drinkable beer but it's not a German pils as has already been explained. My suggestions: 4.75 Kg pilsner malt 250 g light German Caramel malt 10L if desired Use all Hallertau and save the Goldings for your next bitter. Mash 30 min @ 64C and 30 min @ 70C.

The only thing I'm not fully on board with is the brown malt. While I like some brown malt in porter and brown ale I prefer something like a chocolate malt in tiny amounts for color adjustment in an ESB. I am a big fan of the 90 minute boil time.

I've always wondered about that. The small SA brewery in Boston does have decoction capability but it's only a 20BBL system used for test beers, special low-volume brews, and some kegged beer for the very local market. The SA lager for mass market distribution is made in a large brewery...

Ok I'm going to show my old man, blunt side here but unless you can't taste the difference, which I suspect you can since you are jumping into a decoction mash, do yourself and your beer a favor and but some good German Pilsner malt for that brew. It will make a difference.

All brewing barley save for North American 6-row is two row. It does not all taste the same. "Two-row" merely describes the way the corns grow on the stalk head.

If you're going to the trouble of brewing a decocted pilsner at least buy some decent European pilsner malt to make it with. While the 1/3 quantity is the basic rule of thumb you may want to consider pulling a slightly larger amount, up to 40%, as coming up short on temperature is not uncommon...

You can do it if you want to but I can think of no practical reason why it should be done for a batch of homebrew. The reason I suggested 128F to start is that nothing below that is going to accomplish anything worthwhile with modern malted barley. Again, do it whatever way you wish. Our...

It's called a ramped-infusion mash. Some of the mega-brewers (A-B for instance) used it and perhaps they still do. It will help squeeze almost every last molecule of sugar out of the mash which is one of the reasons it was done. If you can save a couple of pennies on every gallon of beer and...

Appropriate? It's not a traditional approach but you can if you want. While I'm a long time decoction brewer I don't use them for styles like a brown ale. Re the question in your title: a melanoiden malt addition does not add the same flavors and nuances to a beer that a decoction does...

Keep in mind that you're making whiskey, not fuel. I think many beginners want to make a high ABV wash because they think it's "better" and will yield more end product. The key to good flavor, if that's what you're after (I know I am), is to keep the wash ABV modest and don't use that turbo...