Another Lager

[Mapleroots]

An Idea I had for a Dark Lager. This is a recipe for 4.5 gal.
10 LB. Golden Promise
1/2 LB. chocolate Wheat
1/2 Lb. Carafa Special 2 413-450L
1 Lb. Crystal Malt
I was Thinking about using Chinook and Willamette Hops?
Maybe-
1oz Chinook 60min.
1/2 oz Chinook 30min.
1 oz. Willamette 30min.
1/2 Willamette 15min.
1/2 oz Chinook+1/2 oz Willamette 0min
The Yeast I have Is a White labs German Bock Yeast WLP833, Is this a good yeast for this style, or should I be looking for a better yeast?

 

[Oldsock]

Sounds like an interesting style-less beer. Personally with all the malt/hop complexity I would just use a clean ale yeast and be done with it in a hurry, I'm not sure you will appreciate the subtle lager flavors in a beer with so much going on. That said Bock is a great strain for big/dark lagers, so it is certainly a good choice if you want to make it a lager.

 

[Mapleroots]

I want to re write this recipe into something along the lines of samuel adams dubble bock. any ideas on how I can use these ingredients minus the hops? I' just read that you should not use aroma hops for any dubble Bock. what are some good hops for this style?

 

[Mapleroots]

all right here is what I was thinking about for a 7 gall batch for this bock_-
1LB. Special carafa 2 413-450L
2LB. German Munich
5LB. German Pilsner
2LB. caramunich
5LB. Golden Promis
1LB. Chocolate Wheat
1LB. crystal Malt 45L
Grain Bill Total=17LB.
My Hop situation is that If I want to brew this next week when the grain comes in, I'm looking at using cascade and Citra hops. Is there any way these hops will work with this style? of should I wait, order hops, and then attempt this brew? Ok Hops are going to be something like
1oz. Citra_60min
1oz. Cascade_ 30min.
1/2oz. Citra_15min.
1/2oz Cascade_15min.
1oz. Cascade/Citra_0min.

 

[Oldsock]

Bocks generally have just about 0 hop aroma, but traditionally German noble hops like hallertau are used. That said since it would just be a bittering addition you could get away with cascade or citra (just drop everything after that).

Sam Adams Double Bock has just two malts, pale and crystal 60. I like Munich in my bocks though, so I would probably up it. I would drop the chocolate wheat and most/all of the carafa, you just have too much dark malt for the style. I would also lower the crystal/caramunich.

If it was me I would go:
6 lbs each pils/GP/munich
1 lb caramunich
4 oz of carafa

20-25 IBUs of Cascae at 60 minutes.

Make sure to pitch a lot of yeast, pitch/ferment cool, and lager for as long as you can (months).

Good luck.

 

[Mapleroots]

Here is what I came up with-
2LB. German Munich
7LB. German Pilsner
7LB. Golden Promise
2LB. CaraMunich
1LB. Carafa Special 2 413-450L

 

[Oldsock]

Sort of a Schwarzbock, should be tasty. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Mapleroots]

Thanks, here is the complete recipe
Grain Bill
2LB. German Munich
7LB. German Pilsner
7LB. Golden Promise
2LB. CaraMunich
1LB. Carafa Special 2 413-450L
protein rest @ 120* for 1 hour
mash in @150* for 1 hour
Batch Sparge
Mash out @178*
Hops
After drinking a rececent beer for the first time last night that I had used the citra hops in, I came to realize, with the strong grapefruit flavor and citrus notes that are present in this strain, that This is not the flavor that this beer is looking for. So I'm going to bight the bullet and predominantly use the Cascade. This is what I'm thinking-
1oz. Cascade 60min.
1oz.Cascade 30min.
1oz. Cascade 15min.
1/2oz Citra 15min
1/2oz. Cascade 0min.
Yeast- 2 Pitchable White Labs German Bock-WLP833-
-Lager entire Winter-

 

[Mapleroots]

I gust realized that I have some year old centennial hops, about 2oz. I was thinking about eliminating the Citra from this beer altogether. These hops have been in the freezer for a year now, will they still be good to use? They still smell decent.

 

[Oldsock]

They'll be fine, but they have a similar citrusy character to the citra, so it won't be that big of a change.

Just brewed a hoppy, dark, lager my self today:

'Round About Midnight

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 10.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 19.11
Anticipated OG: 1.052
Anticipated SRM: 22.6
Anticipated IBU: 44.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain
-----
17.50 lbs. Pilsener
0.56 lbs. Carafa Special II
0.56 lbs. Roasted Barley
0.48 lbs. Toasted Flaked Rye

Hops
-----
3.00 oz. Hallertauer Select @ 55 min.
3.00 oz. Czech Saaz @ 10 min.

Yeast
-----
WYeast 2124 Bohemian Lager

 

[Mapleroots]

Sounds good! how long do you plan on Lagering?

 

[Oldsock]

Probably 6 weeks.

 

[Mapleroots]

Just brewed this one last night:
7 gal. 2009 German Bock
Grain Bill
2LB. German Munich
7LB. German Pilsner
7LB. Golden Promise
2LB. CaraMunich
1/2LB. Carafa Special 2 413-450L
1/2lb Chocolate Wheat
mash in @ 150* 60min. 1.25 qt. per pound
mash out and batch sparge 178* 1.25 qt. per pound
2oz Cascade 60 min.
1/2oz. Citra-1oz. Cascade 60 min.
German Bock Yeast- White Labs
O.G. 1.060
I will be looking forward to bottling come march. This is my first Lager and I have one question. Do I let this sit all winter in the primary or should I rack off into a secondary some time?

 

[Oldsock]

Rack to secondary in 2-3 weeks, once primary fermentation is finished. You will probably want to add some fresh yeast at bottling to ensure carbonation

 

[Mapleroots]

Is 10 days to early to rack this lager into a secondary.

 

[Mapleroots]

I ended up racking this one in to the secondary at 2 weeks and let lager in my cellar at 45-50*; temps ranging variously, for 4 months.
my O.G was 1.060 and finished at 1.010. I had a sip straight from the carboy, and thought the beer was crisp for being in this state, with a hint of roasted almonds coming through. To early to tell but I think this is going to end in a great overall beer. I will keep posted on what it tastes like after bottling.