OP
OP
Sounds like a hit. Thanks for the update. Hope it fares well in competition for you. Best of luck.
Altbier Gavin's Altogether Alluring Altbier
- Thread starter Gavin C
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Sounds like a hit. Thanks for the update. Hope it fares well in competition for you. Best of luck.
Hey Gavin, I was too lazy to read through the entire thread. My brew buddy is German from the region around Dusseldorf. He's super excited to try an alt. I think I'm gonna go ahead and go with your recipe, since you won the boot and all! 
Have you made any changes to the original recipe? Or do you have any recommendations for me? Do you think that wlp029 would work for this style, it's the only "hybrid" yeast I have available to me? Or should I just go with a lager strain. I've got a pils fermenting right now using saflager w-34/70 (with an ideal temp range of 12-15C), that I plan on harvesting for later use, would that be a better option than the kolsch yeast?
Have you made any changes to the original recipe? Or do you have any recommendations for me? Do you think that wlp029 would work for this style, it's the only "hybrid" yeast I have available to me? Or should I just go with a lager strain. I've got a pils fermenting right now using saflager w-34/70 (with an ideal temp range of 12-15C), that I plan on harvesting for later use, would that be a better option than the kolsch yeast?
OP
OP
Hey Gavin, I was too lazy to read through the entire thread. My brew buddy is German from the region around Dusseldorf. He's super excited to try an alt. I think I'm gonna go ahead and go with your recipe, since you won the boot and all!
Have you made any changes to the original recipe? Or do you have any recommendations for me? Do you think that wlp029 would work for this style, it's the only "hybrid" yeast I have available to me? Or should I just go with a lager strain. I've got a pils fermenting right now using saflager w-34/70 (with an ideal temp range of 12-15C), that I plan on harvesting for later use, would that be a better option than the kolsch yeast?
No changes. I've brewed it twice now.
WLP029 would likely work well. If that's what you have that would certainly be my second choice. I've not tried it with a lager yeast.
Have you always done the multiple infusions + the one decoction? Or have you tried a single infusion? I do BIAB with a batch sparge, but I mash in a bucket. So the infusions would definitely generate a challenge. But then again, I do want this to be a really good representation of the style, for my brew partner.
OP
OP
Yes. Step mash and decoction both times. A single infusion at 150F would work fine I reckon.
What mash pH did you end up targeting. I was reading through the Bru'n water website yesterday and it actually said that for a malty beer one should be aiming for 5.2-5.3. I ended up having to up the acid malt to 7.2% just to get it down to 5.4 (it says if I would add just .1lbs more it would actually drop to 5.3, but I have to order my malts in .1kg increments, so it makes these kinds of things a bit more difficult in getting it 100% precise). But I also need to add a bit of calcium chloride and gypsum in order to hit the malty amber profile.
When I typed in the other malts according to your percentages, beersmith predicted the color to be above the range for the style. What do you think about the idea of substituting for carafa I, and upping the caramunich?
Here's what I was thinking in order to adjust:
Pilsen malt - 80%
Acidulated malt - 7.2%
Caramunich I - 5.6%
Aromatic Malt - 4.3%
Carafa I - 2.9%
Ended up with 45g each addition of Spalt select - 4.6%AA - at 60 min and 30 min.
Mashing at 150 that puts a predicted FG of 1.011, but I usually get slightly better attenuation than what beersmith predicts (often on purpose by either allowing the temp to drop a degree or two after 30 mins in the mash, or by mashing for 90 mins).
OG - 1.054
FG - 1.011
IBU - 37
EBC - 32
When I typed in the other malts according to your percentages, beersmith predicted the color to be above the range for the style. What do you think about the idea of substituting for carafa I, and upping the caramunich?
Here's what I was thinking in order to adjust:
Pilsen malt - 80%
Acidulated malt - 7.2%
Caramunich I - 5.6%
Aromatic Malt - 4.3%
Carafa I - 2.9%
Ended up with 45g each addition of Spalt select - 4.6%AA - at 60 min and 30 min.
Mashing at 150 that puts a predicted FG of 1.011, but I usually get slightly better attenuation than what beersmith predicts (often on purpose by either allowing the temp to drop a degree or two after 30 mins in the mash, or by mashing for 90 mins).
OG - 1.054
FG - 1.011
IBU - 37
EBC - 32
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OP
OP
Measured pH was as planned
Original Recipe and Style guide
90% Pils was the plan for the back-bone of the recipe. Your grain-bill is very different (which may be a good thing), best of luck with it.
Original Recipe and Style guide
90% Pils was the plan for the back-bone of the recipe. Your grain-bill is very different (which may be a good thing), best of luck with it.
Ok. So I'll stick with the 5.4 pH.
It's weird the discrepancy between the colors. I don't really get it. Do you think it could be because I've scaled it to a 25L batch? Yours is technically a lighter color than what mine ended up at with those substitutions. If I change everything back to the percentages in the OP and using the carafa II, I still end up with 32.1 EBC, which is 16.3 SRM.
OP
OP
No. Recipes are scalable to any size.
Your grain-bill is just for a very different beer. Example is OG. You have 1.054
Good point. Ok, now everything is adjusted back to match the OP recipe, minus the fact that I would need 7.3% acid malt, compared to the 3.3%. That shouldn't make any difference.
SRM now - 15.7...
