German style ale

[chillhuman]

I wanted to make a nice Alt beer this weekend. The recipe I cooked up was this

9.25 # 2-row
.75 # 120L crystal malt

Mash @ 153-154 for 90 minutes

Sparge and boil 6.5 gal

@90 minutes - 1 oz Northern Brewer @ 7.5 AA
@15 minutes - 1 oz First Gold (never used before, smells sharp, spicy)
@3 minutes - 1/2 oz Saaz

Cool to 70F, pitch White Labs German Ale / Kolsch yeast - no starter

OG - 1.060

I'll keep updating this post as I go. I have used WL Kolsch before, and as long as I don't guarantee failure by getting too cute and fancy with the recipe, I am expecting a good beer. I've never used First Gold before, but it smells good.

Also - I crushed the grains really finely, which gave good yield, but I think I ended up getting tannins in the beer too. I'll know better in a few weeks.

--edit--

After 2 days the yeast has started fermenting vigorously. A slight sulfur smell is noticeable, but the beer looks healthy. So far, so good.

 

[pjj2ba]

As always, brew what you like. To be true to style, I'd back off on the 2-row - unless you're shooting for the Sticke or special version. The style guidlines have the OG at 1.046-1.054. I'd add maybe 1-2 oz of some kind of roasted malt to help darken the beer without adding any roasted flavors. I like to use 2 oz of dehusked Carafa III. I personally skip the aroma hops, but that is my preference. I've had a number of different Alts in Germany (brother-in-law lives near Dusseldorf) and I never really noticed much hop aroma although the style guidlines says up to moderate is OK. Bitterness varied from low to moderate. All were fairly malty in flavor. I like the ones with more bitterness (Ureige).

I also use a mix of pilsner malt with some munich as a base, but I think 2-row would work just fine

If you brew it as you've got it right now, keep me posted on how the aroma hops worked out. I am a bit curious to see how the malty flavors compete with the hop aroma

 

[jezter6]

Check out the amber Hybrid section of the recipe database. There are a number of good Alts in there worth checking.

However, I don't think an Alt of 2-row and Crystal is even remotely Alt-like. Depending on which kind of Alt you're brewing I guess, some guidelines call for an almost IPA like german ale (lighter in color and malty flavor), whereas most of the Alts I've seen and brewed are nice and malty (and sort of dark copper/amber - but not quite brown) with a decent hop bite, but not quite as harsh as an IPA.

I have 3 alts in the database, and I know there are a number of others in that section (and one in another section, but I can't remember where i saw it...).


Edit: didn't realized you already did it - let us know how it turns out!