Festbier Bee Cave Brewery Oktoberfest Ale

[TTB-J]

Thanks for the recipe, Ed, it turned out great for me. I can't do AG, so I just brought the Pilsner down to 2 lbs. and susbtituted in 3 lbs. of Amber DME. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to a T and it tastes fantastic after a month in the bottle. Can't wait to let a bunch of bottles sit in the fridge for a few weeks, I think they will taste even better after a touch of cold conditioning. Thanks again!

 

[josh-h]

My o.g. Was 1.071. And it tasted delicious. Thanks, I'm looking forward to this one.

 

[Beernewb]

do you bulk age it for months, or bottle carb it and then age it in fridge?
thx

 

[mmelbert]

do you bulk age it for months, or bottle carb it and then age it in fridge?
thx

Beernewb, I have bottled this, but have not yet tried it, but the advice I give you should be pretty sound.

You can bottle this. Follow the fermentation directions up to the point of carbonating it. At that point, you will want to bottle carb it and let it sit at about 60F for another 2 weeks to bottle condition before putting it in the fridge. If you put the beer in the fridge right away, you will put your yeast to sleep and your beer will be flat and sweet. Gotta give the yeast some time to convert the priming sugar into carbonation before putting it in the fridge. After it has bottle conditioned for about 2 weeks, you should be able put it in the fridge safely.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dhack61]

Made the EW Kolsch on Sunday, its voilently fermenting away. I plan on using the Yeast cake from it to make EW O-fest in about 10 days. Since this WLP029 puts off such a odor and did read that it might have skunked up a O-fest brew for someone who bottles like I do.. Would I be better off to wash the yeast first before pitching or just pitch right on top of the old cake. Thought being that washing may get rid of some of the trapped sulfur odor that the dead yeasties may be holding.

 

[GreenDragon]

So after a month or so in the primary I moved it over to the keg so it can condition under pressure for a few months. As required by brewing law, I drank the gravity sample. Aside from being flat is pretty damn good already. It's a little sweet still and finished higher then I was expecting, but tasted pretty good and cleared out real well after 2 days of cold crashing before kegging.

Now I'm wondering if I didn't use a big enough starter. As long as the sweetness mellows out a bit before Oct 16th I think it's going to be an awesome beer.

 

[Talljake6110]

This will definitely be my next brew. I really wanted to do an Oktoberfest style beer this year but i don't have a way to lager, so this will be great. I'm just pissed my busy ass schedule (and this damned Texas heat) have kept me from brewing much this summer.

 

[mantooth]

Well, I followed the recipe exactly except I used a packet of US-04. I think I had a OG much higher, however I failed to take a reading. After three weeks in primary, I bottled. I was worried when I tried a sample and found it extremely sweet. I took a reading and it was 1.028! Unfortunately I already bottled. I guess I'll have to wait and see if this is drinkable. Maybe the alcohol content is high enough to counter the sweetness. I'm worried that I didn't pitch enough yeast and that's why it ended up so high. Hopefully I won't have any bottle bombs.

 

[Bmorebrew]

If you have/had the ability to take a SG reading, it would have been prudent to do so prior to bottling. What's done is done and I almost admire such a cavalier attitude towards brewing, but it just might behoove you to put those bottles in a safe location in the event you discover what the term "bottle bomb" means firsthand.

 

[Dhack61]

Anyone tell me the benifit the 90 min. mash has on this recipe? Has anybody done the 90 min. mash? I have been hittin high 70' low 80's with my last two 60 minute mashes. I usually mash a 1.5 gals/lb with a fine crush. So I dont want to get the OG to far out of range. Was thinking also going to 156-158 to keep a bit more Malty full flavored brew. Any thoughts?

 

[mtngoat]

I believe it is ensure complete conversion. If you are getting that kind of predictable result a 60 min mash should be fine.

 

[Dhack61]

I believe it is ensure complete conversion. If you are getting that kind of predictable result a 60 min mash should be fine.

THanks. I'll make sure to do an Iodine / conversion test.

 

[slothorentropy]

I've had this guy in the fermenter at around 60F for about 3.5 weeks now. I don't have any kegging equipment; anyone had advice on bottling procedures/conditioning times for this? Should I just bottle as normal and let it condition longer than I normally would?

 

[Beernewb]

I am 1.015 after 12 days at 65, ok to drop to 60, or will I stall the fermentation...white lads say to ferment this a bit higher..thx

 

[slothorentropy]

Those white lads say all sorts of things

 

[rockytoptim]

I ferment my @ 60-62 degrees

 

[slothorentropy]

Anyone have any insight on bottle carbing this? C02 vols. around, what? 2-2.5?

 

[pm5k00]

Comment deleted

 

[slothorentropy]

Well, bottled this today. Shooting for about 2.5 vols.

My batch had a slightly higher OG than I was shooting for (ended up at 1.069) and attenuated nicely down to 1.016. The taste I had a bottling was... okay. Very grain-forward, kind of sharp (ABV is around 7%). I get some diacetyl and maybe a bit of cooked veggie/DMS kind of stuff going on. Reasonably dry finish with a bit of hop bitterness. Pretty much nothing like what I imagine an Oktoberfest to be, but I'm expecting it'll be reasonably drinkable. This batch had a complex history--the temp got dropped too low immediately after pitching; repitched another Kolsch tube three days later, then fermented steadily at 65F for a week, followed by about 63F for ~20 days, cold crashed for 3. There was still a big frothy krausen on top when I popped the lid off but I'd hit gravity so decided to go ahead and bottle. Need to get this one through the pipeline, especially since I've got so much coming behind it.

 

[nootay]

im a little late to the party but have this boiling right now. i just finished a smoked porter and will have this one done in a bout 2 hours. plan on fermenting both at 62 degrees. ill let you know how it turns out! thanks for the recipe

 

[nootay]

so i got much better efficiency than normal and ended up with a SG of 1.074. Its now holding steady at 1.017 after 3 weeks. I crash cooled it for 5 days, however im now wondering if the FG is too high? Should i warm it up and swirl the yeast?

 

[Beernewb]

I am bottling this tonight, final gravity 1.015. i,e never seen so much yeast in suspension after sitting at 40 degrees for 20 days. It smells very green, i can see why you need to age this for two months.

 

[johnnybrew]

Ed or others: so, I brewed this up and after pouring a sample from the keg (after about 1 week on CO2), it has a very fruity nose and flavor profile. Below is my fermentation schedule. I can't understand it. I guess it's possible I had the wrong yeast, or the Wyeast packet was mis-labeled. Or, could my starter (which was at about 70F on the stir plate) have caused this much of a flavor and aroma change? My keg was clean and over-sanitized (I am the sanitation nazi and can safely rule out any contamination or flavors/aromas left over from a previous brew). Anyone else have any thoughts? This result has me stumped (and a little ornery). Thanks in advance.

OG 1.058; FG 1.011; 26 IBU;
9/4 - Brewed and pitched yeast (from a 1 liter starter on a stir plate; pitched entire volume - did not crash and decant). Good fermentation before EOD. Fermentation at 65F.
9/5 - Great activity; going strong. Started to slow down by EOD.
9/6 - At 8AM, very little swirling, but still releasing CO2 out of the airlock.
9/7 - 10AM, no activity visible. Only some minor airlock activity or CO2 coming out of solution.
9/12 - Lowered fermentation temp to 59-60F.
9/28 - Racked to keg at 45F. No fruity aroma/flavor.
10/10 - Fruity / estery nose and flavor profile. Letting it lager and hoping for the best.

 

[bknifefight]

When you say fermentation was at 65, do you mean the room you were fermenting in was 65?

 

[johnnybrew]

When you say fermentation was at 65, do you mean the room you were fermenting in was 65?

The mini fridge is controlled by an analog Johnson temp control, that I had set to 61'ish (the strip on the inside of the fridge read 62F). The strip on the carboy read 65F.

 

[johnnybrew]

I think I may have found my answer. I used Wyeast.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/fruity-kolsch-starter-issue-154336/

http://www.tastybrew.com/forum/thread/145860

 

[bknifefight]

I think I may have found my answer. I used Wyeast.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/fruity-kolsch-starter-issue-154336/

http://www.tastybrew.com/forum/thread/145860

I used WYeast as well but didn't get any fruitiness. I fermented in the upper 50's though.

 

[johnnybrew]

Thoughts on dry hopping this with something to 'mask' the fruity aroma profile? Or, do folks think that the fruitiness will dissipate with lagering? Bummed.

 

[bknifefight]

It wouldn't fit to style to dry hop but if you think it would help the beer, go for it. If I were you, I wouldn't judge the beer until it's been bottled for a few weeks and carbonated.

 

[Dhack61]

I had the same experience. Batch is about 3 weeks old now and very estery (if thats a word). I pitched mine on a yeast cake I stored for a few days in the fridge from an EW Kolsch. Fermented out in 3 days. you would think that would eliminate any esters, but no. The original post said to condition for 2 months. Maybe he had the same problem and this took care of it. I hope so. Might try a different yeast next time. The Kolsch is grreat though.