German-ish Dampfbier

[z-bob]

I brewed a Dampfbier a few years ago. I was unimpressed with the first bottle I opened, but I had opened it too young. After another week or two, it turned out to be a fine beer. That one was about 84% pilsner malt, 13% dark (20L) Munich, and 3% acid malt. Mt Hood hops (18 IBU) and WY3333 yeast. It's time to circle back to it, and I have some fresh Munich Classic trub in the fridge.

I'm going to use either Hallertau Tradition or Crystal hops this time. 18 IBU is probably a little too bitter for the style but I liked it and will keep it the same. I'll be shooting for about 5.2% ABV. I'm wondering whether to keep the grain bill the same, or make a SMaSH beer using all Vienna malt. I have all the ingredient already for either. The SMaSH idea appeals to me, but I believe is quite a departure from the style.

I won't be entering it in any contests, and there are no BJCP guidelines for this style anyway... What do y'all think?

 

[BeerHolic]

Brew it, I often don't follow any style.

 

[Miraculix]

I brewed a Dampfbier a few years ago. I was unimpressed with the first bottle I opened, but I had opened it too young. After another week or two, it turned out to be a fine beer. That one was about 84% pilsner malt, 13% dark (20L) Munich, and 3% acid malt. Mt Hood hops (18 IBU) and WY3333 yeast. It's time to circle back to it, and I have some fresh Munich Classic trub in the fridge.

I'm going to use either Hallertau Tradition or Crystal hops this time. 18 IBU is probably a little too bitter for the style but I liked it and will keep it the same. I'll be shooting for about 5.2% ABV. I'm wondering whether to keep the grain bill the same, or make a SMaSH beer using all Vienna malt. I have all the ingredient already for either. The SMaSH idea appeals to me, but I believe is quite a departure from the style.

I won't be entering it in any contests, and there are no BJCP guidelines for this style anyway... What do y'all think?

Sounds like a nice beer to me!

 

[z-bob]

I brewed it Friday night; I decided to use the Tradition hops because I used Crystal last time I brewed. The initial gravity was 1.057 (that's a little higher than I was shooting for)

Saturday morning at about 73°F I aerated with a wire whisk and pitched a pint of yeast slurry that had a lot of flour in it, and I moved it to my basement that's in the 60s. That was probably a huge overpitch but I don't know because of the flour. In just a few hours I could see yeast rafts on top. The temperature dropped to 70°, then rose briefly to 73, now (Sunday night) its back down to 68 and the gravity is 1.023. I just top-cropped the yeast (the first time I used this yeast I waited too long to crop it and the Krausen fell.) In a day or two I will transfer it to a carboy to finish.

I'm really curious to see how this yeast does in an all-barley beer; if it's not too spicy or banana-y, I might use it like a general purpose ale yeast until it gets too hot here and I switch to kveik yeast.

 

[z-bob]

I bottled it about a week ago. The plastic bottles told me it was fully carbed about 3 days later; I just opened one of the glass bottles (because they are smaller) tonight. It's a very good light-bodied ale. No spice or banana that I could detect, although I had just eaten some chocolate and that might have masked it if it really was there but subtle. And the beer is nice and clear. The beer I brewed with Munich Classic and 50% wheat flour 50% Vienna is totally different; that one is spicy and a little ester-y, and is clear when it's warm but lots of chill haze when cold (the haze was expected and is not a fault)

I think I'll be brewing with Munich Classic a lot this year. I have some cider I started with MC a couple of weeks ago that is about finished but I'm waiting for it to clear. It's clearing a lot slower in the cider than it did the beer, I wonder why that is?

 

[Miraculix]

I bottled it about a week ago. The plastic bottles told me it was fully carbed about 3 days later; I just opened one of the glass bottles (because they are smaller) tonight. It's a very good light-bodied ale. No spice or banana that I could detect, although I had just eaten some chocolate and that might have masked it if it really was there but subtle. And the beer is nice and clear. The beer I brewed with Munich Classic and 50% wheat flour 50% Vienna is totally different; that one is spicy and a little ester-y, and is clear when it's warm but lots of chill haze when cold (the haze was expected and is not a fault)

I think I'll be brewing with Munich Classic a lot this year. I have some cider I started with MC a couple of weeks ago that is about finished but I'm waiting for it to clear. It's clearing a lot slower in the cider than it did the beer, I wonder why that is?

Might be because of a lack of Ca in the apple juice or other minerals/nutrients are lacking.

 

[dmtaylor]

I have some cider I started with MC a couple of weeks ago that is about finished but I'm waiting for it to clear. It's clearing a lot slower in the cider than it did the beer, I wonder why that is?

Cider is not beer. It ferments much more slowly. I can finish fermenting most beers in 4-10 days. Cider on the other hand takes more like 4-10 weeks. Just needs patience & time.

 

[z-bob]

I saw a YT video last night about using eggshells to clarify wine and mead. I need to bake a bunch of cookies for a church bazaar later this week, I might crush one of the shells and add it to the cider to see what happens.