Festbier Bee Cave Brewery Oktoberfest Ale

EdWort · Sep 15, 2007

I wanted to do an Oktoberfest beer for a neighborhood party, but am not ready to invest the time for lagering, so I whipped this up with a Kölsch yeast. I am VERY happy with the results at my first taste at 2 months since brew day. The neighborhood Oktoberfest is October 13th, so almost another month of aging will bring this to a very nice brew.

5.5# Pils
5.5# Vienna
2# Munich
0.5# Caramunich
0.5# Caravienne

Single infusion mash (1.25 qts./lb.) at 154 degrees for 90 minutes.

1 oz. Tettnang 4.4% AA at 60 min.
0.5 oz Hallertau 4.2 % AA at 30 Min
0.5 oz. Hallertau 4.2% AA at 15 min

O.G. 1.062
F.G. 1.012

Ferment at 65 degrees for 1 week, drop to 60 for 2 weeks, then crash cool for a few days at 39 before kegging. Age 2 months in keg on gas before serving.

Robar · Oct 22, 2007

I brewed this seven days ago. It was tossed it on a freshly evacuated yeast cake from my batch of Kolsch.

Planing

It took off like a shot and was making bubles within about thirty minute. My temps got a few degrees higher in the begining, but I managed to get them down to within a degree with in 24 hours.

If I remember right the wort was 71* when i pitched/poured. This has had no bubbles since the end of the second day. It smells pretty good and I anticipate great beer. Thanks again for this and all your fine recipes Ed.

Schlenkerla · Apr 10, 2008

Ed - Looks like another winner!!!

BTW - I 'll be making for Haus PA shortly. Got everything sitting in the man-fridge.

How did this turn out? I love Octoberfests. I've made them with ale yeast and called Oktoberfest Cream Ales.

EdWort · Apr 10, 2008

Schlenkerla said:
Ed - Looks like another winner!!!

BTW - I 'll be making for Haus PA shortly. Got everything sitting in the man-fridge.

How did this turn out? I love Octoberfests. I've made them with ale yeast and called Oktoberfest Cream Ales.

Thanks. Personally, I think this is my best beer brewed Evah! It was mighty fine.

I'll be making 10 gallons of it this year for my neighborhood brewfest as last year it was the first keg floating out of 7.

I'll brew 10 gallons of Koslch before and use their yeast cakes for the Oktoberfest.

Enjoy!

scinerd3000 · May 3, 2008

so hypothetically what would happen if i fermented this at say 73 or so?

EdWort · May 3, 2008

scinerd3000 said:
so hypothetically what would happen if i fermented this at say 73 or so?

It's a Kolsch yeast, so you may get some fruity esters. Remember, when it is 73 ambient, the beer is fermenting at 5 to 10 degrees warmer due to the heat generated from the process.

scinerd3000 · May 4, 2008

do you think it is even worth it. My house is warm (southern california) and i havent made space yet for a fridge for lagering. thoughts because i really like octoberfest beers and i want something that will age well

EdWort · May 4, 2008

For those temps, I would use a yeast that works well at the higher spectrum. Nottingham comes to mind. You could use the carboy in the bucket with water and a t-shirt method, but you need to be vigilant.

scinerd3000 · May 4, 2008

either that or i pray for snow in socal during summer......hmm. thanks for the tip

jacksonbrown · May 6, 2008

EdWort said:
Age 2 months in keg on gas before serving.

Ed - what psi are you keeping it at for those 2 months? And around what temp?

EdWort · May 6, 2008

jacksonbrown said:
Ed - what psi are you keeping it at for those 2 months? And around what temp?

12 psi, 39 degrees.

wildwest450 · May 15, 2008

Stupid question, why do you keep it on the gas for two months? Couldn't you just purge and leave it without co2 hooked up?

Mr. Awesome · Jun 28, 2008

Ed-
Big fan of your recipes.
What "style" of beer is this, as far as Beer Smith is concerned? I'm just trying to be organized.

I'm also going to have to brew this with Nottingham or something similar, my apartment is too warm! This is probably going to be the next beer I brew to make sure it's ready for the fall.

EdWort · Jun 28, 2008

It's an Oktoberfest. It is a European Amber lager recipe but with a Kolsch yeast. Notty might be interesting, but I would wait till you have cooler temps as this is a big beer.

drunkatuw · Jul 3, 2008

I forgot to look at my inventory and now the LHBS is closed and I'm brewing tomorrow. I only have 10lbs of pilsner malt. Should I just brew with 10lbs instead of 11lbs (for 11 gal batch) or should I add 1lb of 2-row pale malt to make up the difference?

I went ahead and added an extra lb of 2-row. Shouldn't affect the recipe too much. Bringing the wort up to a boil now. This is my first time using victory malt, and I love the smell! I tasted a little bit of the grain and it reminded me of grape nuts cereal. Can't wait for this beer to age a little and taste it.

trmacdonal · Jul 9, 2008

Hi, any chance someone could convert this recipe to a 5 gal extract? Thanks!

ohiodad · Jul 16, 2008

trmacdonal said:
Hi, any chance someone could convert this recipe to a 5 gal extract? Thanks!

Don't think you are going to have much luck at making anything like an oktoberfest even in ale form from extract... You would at least need to mash the munich I would think to get the maltiness...

drunkatuw · Sep 22, 2008

drunkatuw said:
I forgot to look at my inventory and now the LHBS is closed and I'm brewing tomorrow. I only have 10lbs of pilsner malt. Should I just brew with 10lbs instead of 11lbs (for 11 gal batch) or should I add 1lb of 2-row pale malt to make up the difference?

I went ahead and added an extra lb of 2-row. Shouldn't affect the recipe too much. Bringing the wort up to a boil now. This is my first time using victory malt, and I love the smell! I tasted a little bit of the grain and it reminded me of grape nuts cereal. Can't wait for this beer to age a little and taste it.

I finally got this on tap over the weekend and it doesn't taste anything like an oktoberfest. So I took a look at the recipe and it's 5.5lb of vienna and not victory. I guess that's what I get when I try to enter recipes into beersmith via a vnc session

The beer is still good, but very dark (victory is 25 SRM compared to 3.5 SRM for vienna). The taste is closer to porter with a strong toasted flavor.

Now I'll have to put this back on my list of beers to brew.

kjones · Sep 23, 2008

edwort, could i just let this carbonated naturally an let it sit for in the fridge for two months bc i cant let one keg sit on gas for that long?

EdWort · Sep 23, 2008

kjones said:
edwort, could i just let this carbonated naturally an let it sit for in the fridge for two months bc i cant let one keg sit on gas for that long?

Once you let it sit on gas for a week or so at 12 psi, you can disconnect and leave it so you can carb another one. I have room for 12 kegs in my chest freezer, but can only carb 6 kegs at one time.

jay415 · Oct 18, 2008

Edwort what is your aeration process?

EdWort · Oct 19, 2008

jay415 said:
Edwort what is your aeration process?

I use 30-45 seconds of pure O2 using this.

WILLIAM'S OXYGEN AERATION SYSTEM @ Williams Brewing

jay415 · Oct 19, 2008

Nice setup. I think I am going to have to continue with the shake method. I ordered ingredients to brew this recipe. It will be my first all grain. Your hefe was going to be my first but I never got around to making it and I like oktoberfests better. I'll let you know how it turns out. I can't wait I haven't brewed anything since early July (besides apfelwein). I am also in the process of building a son of a fermentation chiller so I can get the temps perfect. I should have it complete before everything arrives from AHB.

Boerderij_Kabouter · Oct 21, 2008

This past weekend was my Oktoberfest party and I brewed this recipe to the T, and went grain to totally gone in 7 weeks! This beer was very good and mimicked the Oktoberfest style very well. It was a more fruity example than many of the lagered examples and reminded me a bit of Lakefront Brewery's O-fest this year. I think next time I would drop the fermentation temps down even lower to around 60 (I fermented around 63-65).

5 stars EdWort! This sold out and was appreciated by all :mug:

EDIT: BTW, I used Wyeast Koelsch yeast with a 2 quart starter

EdWort · Oct 21, 2008

Boerderij Kabouter said:
This past weekend was my Oktoberfest party and I brewed this recipe to the T, and went grain to totally gone in 7 weeks! This beer was very good and mimicked the Oktoberfest style very well. It was a more fruity example than many of the lagered examples and reminded me a bit of Lakefront Brewery's O-fest this year. I think next time I would drop the fermentation temps down even lower to around 60 (I fermented around 63-65).

Congrats! I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. My keg blew quickly again this year, but this time, I made 10 gallons. I did drop mine down to 60 this year and noticed a drop in the fruitiness. The malt really comes through.

The best part was dropping this wort right onto a cake from my Kölsch recipe. It took of in 3 hours.

Boerderij_Kabouter · Oct 21, 2008

I also made 10g.

:off:

I also kicked a 5g keg of Apfelwein and it was a huge hit.

jay415 · Oct 24, 2008

I can't wait to try this, I am all out of homebrew. (Due to poor planning and an 18month old at home) Grain should arrive 10/29 from Austin Home Brew.

Ed, By the way not to sound too anal about temp, but is the 65 then drop to 60 the actual fermenting temp in the carboy? or ambient temp around the carboy. I will be fermenting in my newly built Fermentation Chiller so should I set the temp to 65 for a week and then 60? or should I set it lower. Thanks again.

While I was sealing the chiller with aluminum tape my son thought I built him a fort.

kebrown · Nov 2, 2008

EdWort,

I brewed this beer on September 1st and kegged last week. I had my first taste today and it is great. It is the best beer I have brewed yet. Thanks for the recipe. One of the local clubs is having a competition. I am thinking of bottling this and entering it in the contest. What beer style and sub catagory would you think this beer would fall into within the BJCP guidelines?

Thanks again,

Keith :mug:

EdWort · Nov 2, 2008

I would enter it under Oktoberfest and under the Dusseldorf Altbier catagory just for kicks.

jay415 · Nov 10, 2008

OK Now I have a problem, I have all the ingredients to brew which I was planning on doing tomorrow. I made my starter a few nights ago and fermentation never started.

I had a gut feeling this would happen because when I opened the vial the contents were not under pressure like they normally are. I have no local store to get new White Labs yeast, and very limited time that I can brew. So I want to give it a go anyway. What would be your second or third choice in yeast? I have Nottingham on hand, and a local brew shop (30 min away) sells Wyeast but not White Labs. I can also get other dry yeasts. My brew room is currently 67 degrees, and I have a fermentation chiller so I can ferment colder. But warmer may be a problem this time of year. Thanks

Boerderij Kabouter said:
.....BTW, I used Wyeast Koelsch yeast with a 2 quart starter

Boerderij Kabouter: Is this the one you used? Wyeast Kolsch Ale 2565
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_21_77_327_156&products_id=203

Festbier Bee Cave Brewery Oktoberfest Ale

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