Maibock Help

[DonRikkles]

Hey all

I've never made a Maibock before - here's my first crack at a recipe. What do you think?

5 gal
OG: 1.070
FG: 1.017
SRM: 7.2
IBU: 36

8.75 lb Pils
4 lb Vienna
1 lb Munich
.66 lb Biscuit

1 oz Perle @ 60
.5 oz Tettnang @15
.5 oz Hallertauer @ 15
.5 oz Tettnang @ 0
.5 oz Hallertauer @ 0

2L WLP833 starter, pitched and fermented at 48

Thoughts? Any suggestions for water treatment?

 

[BigEd]

I'd delete the biscuit malt. With lots of good quality Vienna and Pils it isn't needed. My preference is more Vienna than Pils but either way is OK. I'd also move the 15 min hop addition back to 30 minutes, especially with a dry hop (not typical for the style BTW). Your IBUs are at the very high end of the scale here, my choice would be about 30 IBU with that OG.Without knowing what your water is like I'd say in general you want low sulphate and moderate chloride.

 

[DonRikkles]

BigEd - Thanks for the feedback! I've been debating the biscuit. I don't intend to dry hop, just give a bit of Tettnang and Hallertauer at flameout.

 

[giraffe]

Id delete the biscuit too, It has a bit of harsh toast to it, I cant see being a positive. If you want a hint of something darker, id go with 1-2% melanoidin malt instead. But really, i just use pils/munich.

Keep the water pretty low in minerals, and use cacl2 over sulfate to hit mash ph. Id aim for a Ca around 20-40.

 

[fantomlord]

I'd go with 9 # Pils
5 # Munich

and decoction.

that's pretty close to what I did for my last Maibock, and it was fantastic

 

[DonRikkles]

that's pretty close to what I did for my last Maibock, and it was fantastic

What was your hopping schedule like?

 

[fantomlord]

I did about 20 IBU of tettnanger at 60, and about 0.2 oz (5 gallon) at 15

 

[gbarron]

Maibock is one of my favorite styles and I've made many. Would definitely drop the biscuit. You really just need a blend of Pilsner and Munich/Vienna. If you add melanoidin that is fine, but use a very light hand - I once used some at 3% of the grain bill and it was too much in terms of color. The taste is nice though.

A clean bittering charge (I usually use Magnum) for roughly 25 IBU (depending on your OG), no need for any other hops. WLP833 is perfect. You want a malty mineral profile for your water.

 

[gspot]

I'd lower the pils and up the Munich. I just finished the Bock book, and it seems like your going for a malt-forward beer which the Munich/Vienna provide. Here's my interpretation that I'm going to brew tomorrow. I added some aromatic to boost the maltiness perception. Any comments on that addition would be appreciated.

 

[brewcat]

Get that biscuit out of there.

 

[DonRikkles]

@gspot - how did the brewday go?

Here's my new balance:
6.5 lb vienna
6 lb pils
2.5 lb munich

 

[gspot]

It was good. Nobody commented on the aromatic, so I just left it in. We'll see how it tastes in a couple months. Planned on 1.072, got 1.065. Strangely, I narrowed the gap on my mill from .03 to .025. Don't know why I got worse efficiency. Pitched my starter this morning after letting it reach temp over night.

Your new bill looks good. Let us know how it turns out.