Festbier: Favorite yeast?

[3toes]

Well the trappist single in my keg is about empty, my baltic porter is fermenting and lagering for about 4 months... I'm gonna need something else to drink.

I'd really like to do a festbier, and hope to turn it around pretty quickly. I'm planning on brewing in the next few weeks, hoping it ferments out by the end of August, then lager for a month.

Any recommendations? I'd like to keep it to-style. Not quite as malt-forward as a märzen, clean but not dry, etc. etc.

 

[oujens]

I have recently brewed a festbier using Wyeast 2206 (Mr. Malty says White labs equivalent is WLP830). So far so good. At 4 weeks grain to glass I'm pretty happy with it for my first lager. Will be interested to see how it ages over the next two weeks. If you read about the quick lager method, you might be able to turn this beer around quickly.

This yeast seems versatile too, which is a big plus. I harvested it and will try it in the next few lagers I brew.

 

[3toes]

I have recently brewed a festbier using Wyeast 2206 (Mr. Malty says White labs equivalent is WLP830). So far so good. At 4 weeks grain to glass I'm pretty happy with it for my first lager. Will be interested to see how it ages over the next two weeks. If you read about the quick lager method, you might be able to turn this beer around quickly.

This yeast seems versatile too, which is a big plus. I harvested it and will try it in the next few lagers I brew.

Those two have probably been the front runners on my radar.

How was the lag-time with the 2206? What temp did you ferment at and did you do a starter?

 

[porterpounder]

I like the WLP 670 Munich Helles yeast for Festbiers. It's a bit less finicky than the first generation of the O-fest yeasts.

 

[3toes]

I like the WLP 670 Munich Helles yeast for Festbiers. It's a bit less finicky than the first generation of the O-fest yeasts.

That makes a lot of sense since I've heard Festbier described as basically a beefed up Helles.

 

[oujens]

Those two have probably been the front runners on my radar.

How was the lag-time with the 2206? What temp did you ferment at and did you do a starter?

I made a 2 step starter to build up the proper amount of yeast (I use a 2L flask on stirplate). I don't know the exact lag time, but I had signs of fermentation within 24 hours (I use a bucket but peeked in to see if it had started). I pitched at 48F and held it at 50F. The yeast were churning nice and steady for 5 days at 50F. After 5 days had passed, the power in my house went off and the beer rose during the day to 56F since my fridge didn't kick back on. You can imagine my panic when I got home to see this. However, I kept the beer at about 54-55F since I was at 1.026 and then slowly bumped to 65F by day 7-8. I hit FG after 9-10 days and kegged at 14 days. I did not at any point detect diaceytl or off-flavors due to my temp issues, but still did an extended D-rest as a precaution.

I'm not an expert since this is my first lager, but I'm very happy with the results. Its definitely malty for sure, but I also used 90% vienna and 10% munich. Would be interested to see changes if I cut this recipe with pilsner. As I said before, at 4 weeks since brew day, the beer was very drinkable. I'm testing each week to note the improvement, so I will be interested to see how the next 2 weeks changes the beer.

 

[3toes]

I made a 2 step starter to build up the proper amount of yeast (I use a 2L flask on stirplate). I don't know the exact lag time, but I had signs of fermentation within 24 hours (I use a bucket but peeked in to see if it had started). I pitched at 48F and held it at 50F. The yeast were churning nice and steady for 5 days at 50F. After 5 days had passed, the power in my house went off and the beer rose during the day to 56F since my fridge didn't kick back on. You can imagine my panic when I got home to see this. However, I kept the beer at about 54-55F since I was at 1.026 and then slowly bumped to 65F by day 7-8. I hit FG after 9-10 days and kegged at 14 days. I did not at any point detect diaceytl or off-flavors due to my temp issues, but still did an extended D-rest as a precaution.

I'm not an expert since this is my first lager, but I'm very happy with the results. Its definitely malty for sure, but I also used 90% vienna and 10% munich. Would be interested to see changes if I cut this recipe with pilsner. As I said before, at 4 weeks since brew day, the beer was very drinkable. I'm testing each week to note the improvement, so I will be interested to see how the next 2 weeks changes the beer.

Awesome, really appreciate the info!

I'm planning an 80/20 Pilsner/munich split, but I may throw in a little biscuit as well (since I have some lying around).