advice on an Oktoberfest/Marzen

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TechyDork

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So this is my first attempt at a lager and my wife has been wanting me to brew and Oktoberfest style beer for a bit. Here is what i have come up with. Also this will our first attempt at a decoction mash, i am sure i will have a few questions on that process in the near future.

But how does this recipe look?

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WLP820 Octoberfest/Marzen
Yeast Starter: BIG
Batch Size (Gallons): 10.5
Original Gravity: 1.054
Final Gravity: 1.012
IBU: 23.1
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 8.8

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days @ 54
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 3 days @ 62
Age/Lager (# of Days & Temp): 30 days @ 35

14# Vienna
5# Munich
2# German Pils 2 Row
1# Caramunich

2 oz Tettnang 60 min
1 oz Hallertauer 30 min
1 oz Hallertauer 15 min

MASH

20 minutes @ 131
30 minutes @ 147
30 minutes @ 154
10 minutes @ 168
 
It looks kinda "heavy" to me. That's a boatload of dark Munich, and normally an Oktoberfest is nice and lightly malty, and not heavy. I'd definitely change up the malt bill, and go with Vienna malt as the base, with a touch of Munich malt. the crystal malt (the caramunich) is fine.

I like to do my protein rest at 131 or 133 for a short time, then decoct to the lower saccrification rest and then the higher saccrification rest. I do more like 131/147/158/mashout.
 
It looks kinda "heavy" to me. That's a boatload of dark Munich, and normally an Oktoberfest is nice and lightly malty, and not heavy. I'd definitely change up the malt bill, and go with Vienna malt as the base, with a touch of Munich malt. the crystal malt (the caramunich) is fine.

I like to do my protein rest at 131 or 133 for a short time, then decoct to the lower saccrification rest and then the higher saccrification rest. I do more like 131/147/158/mashout.

I see my mistake on the grain bill now and have edited it. I meant to use the light Munich malt. Would you still bump up the vienna and lower the munich?

I originally had the lower and upper sach rests, but changed it before posting. Is there any benefit to doing the multistep rests that you suggest? Is the decoction mash necessary? or could i do a simple infustion mash at 154 and then mashout?
 
I see my mistake on the grain bill now and have edited it. I meant to use the light Munich malt. Would you still bump up the vienna and lower the munich?

I originally had the lower and upper sach rests, but changed it before posting. Is there any benefit to doing the multistep rests that you suggest? Is the decoction mash necessary? or could i do a simple infustion mash at 154 and then mashout?

Yep, I'd lower the Munich a lot to get some "toasty" and malty flavors, but keep mostly Vienna malt so that it's a quaffable Oktoberfest.

You could do an infusion mash, and skip the decoction, if you want. You could sub a pound of melanoidin malt in there, or aromatic malt, and sort of "fake" the decoction with pretty good results. I don't do many decoctions, but when I do I like the higher protein rest temperature as it has less chance of interfering with the foam retention and head and I make sure it's quick.

there is quite a bit of debate on multi-step mashes and the benefits (?) of dong them well modified malt, but I still will do them occasionally. partly for the tradition of doing them, and partly because I think I discern the difference in flavor.
 
How does that look? Would you lower the Munich even more and maybe up the Vienna or Pils to make up the SG?

I edited the mash schedule to reflect your recommendation. Does a decoction really take almost 3 hours? I think it is an interesting process and want to give it a shot. i am referencing this diagram.

Mash_diagram_double_decoction_classic.gif
 
Well, you want to do a VERY short protein rest, as it can destroy head and foam retention. Otherwise, you can hold the saccrification rests quite a bit longer.
 
Well, you want to do a VERY short protein rest, as it can destroy head and foam retention. Otherwise, you can hold the saccrification rests quite a bit longer.


How does this schedule look?

131 - 5 min
147 - 40min
158 - 40 min
168 - 10 min






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Brewed up 10 gallons of this a few weeks ago. Decided to do a little experiment. I was able to get a couple of gallons of Saison yeast from a local brewery to use on a Belgian Wit we did and we had enough left over to pitch another beer. Used the Saison on one fermenter and US05 on the other.

Kegged them both a few nights ago and the hydro samples were both good, but the one with the Saison yeast was really good. it had so much more flavor than the US05 version did. I am sure the US05 is more along the lines of the style, but the Saison yeast really surprised me.

I'll post back after the kegs have had a chance to carb up and age for a week or two.
 
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