Mocktoberfests

[coalpha]

Hey guys/gals.

Planning on doing a Mocktoberfest. Can someone please chime in on making one of these? I dont have the lagering facilities at this time. If you could suggest a kit and the temperatures you fermented at/times in primary/secondary and results I would really appreciate the deets. Also I am only up to extract/partial cooking comfort levels.

Thanks for your time and suggestion,

 

[elkdog]

This one seems well-liked. Extract recipe on page 2 of the thread. BierMuncher's recipes are winners.

 

[djinn88]

The only thing I know after two brews is that you can use the "California Lager" style yeast to achieve something similar to a lager at ale temperatures. It is what I used for an Oktoberfest anyway. I'll let you know if it came out right in 2 days

 

[coalpha]

This one seems well-liked. Extract recipe on page 2 of the thread. BierMuncher's recipes are winners.

couple questions from the recipe i post below grabbed from page 2 as listed above. (I still need some hand holding here)

1. so i could use roughly 6.6lbs pounds of DME?, or just 6.6lbs of some type of LME? what kind would you guys use and how much total?

2. With the DME or LME if I did an hour boil should I add it all at the start of boil or half at flameout like I have heard talked about before?

thanks again!



"I ran the recipe through BS and did their conversion function and this is what it came up with for an Extract Recipe:


Oktoberfest (BierMuncher)
Oktoberfest/Marzen

Type: Extract
Date: 7/5/2008
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 3.25 gal
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)

Ingredients

3.86 lb Pilsner Liquid Extract (3.5 SRM) Extract 41.16 %
1.40 lb Amber Liquid Extract (12.5 SRM) Extract 14.95 %
1.33 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 14.23 %
1.15 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 12.25 %
1.09 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 11.61 %
0.54 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5.80 %
1.27 oz Tettnang [3.20 %] (60 min) Hops 11.0 IBU
0.63 oz Tettnang [3.20 %] (45 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
0.63 oz Tettnang [3.20 %] (30 min) Hops 4.2 IBU
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale


Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.050 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.83 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 20.2 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 12.5 SRM Color: Color

Steep grains as desired (30-60 minutes)
Recipe by BierMuncher

Im by far an expert but..
I would sub. most or all of the LME with DME and I guess the malts are steeped. Also probably don't need the 90min boil since our grain will be steeped beforehand."

 

[elkdog]

The mixture of the different liquid extracts there is going to help give you the malt complexity you're after in this beer, so if you can get them, follow that recipe as closely as possible.
If you go with dry extract, the rule of thumb is 1 lb grain= .75 lb LME = .6 lb DME, so 1 lb. LME= .8 lb. DME. So you'd need about 5.25 lbs of DME. Whichever route you go, try to use a mixture of pale, amber, and pilsner (if you can find it) extracts, in the proportions suggested.
The Late extract addition technique is a good way to increase your hop utilization and keep the beer a little less dark. This thread is a good place to start learning about it. I've used that technique with good success.

 

[hal2814]

Vienna and Munich malts are going to be the only things that get you the malt complexity of a Marzen. I firmly believe that you can make a good example of most beer styles out there with extract plus steeping. Unfortunately, this just isn't one of those cases. If you read that entire post, there are 2-3 extract recipes posted an absolutely NO feedback on how they turned out. There are however, at least as many PM recipes listed on that post along with mostly favorable feedback.

 

[coalpha]

I still have no idea what the difference is between seeping and partial mash is?

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

I still have no idea what the difference is between seeping and partial mash is?

The method is somewhat similar, though grains used and the results are what differs.

With steeping you're soaking the grains in hot water and trying to extract the colors and flavors from the specialty grains but not so much the fermentable sugars. Highly kilned grains like any of the degrees of Crystal L are "specialty" grains and don't contribute fermentable sugars, thus they typically just need to be steeped. The temperature when steeping is not critical, just needs to be somewhere between 150 and 170.

With mashing you're still soaking the grains in hot water, and you're still getting/colors and flavors, but the main purpose is to activate the enzymes within the grain to convert the starches to fermentable sugars. Base and lightly kilned malts need to be mashed (2 Row, Vienna, Munich, etc.). The temperature needs to be held constant (~152 or so) for the enzymes to activate.


The reason why all of this comes into play is that a traditional Oktoberfest (Märzen) requires Munich and/or Vienna malts for the malt profile, and they must be mashed. Therefore you'd want to follow a "partial mash" type procedure rather than an "extract plus steeping specialty grains" type procedure.

Hope this helps.

 

[HickoryMike]

I just put the Bee Cave Oktoberfest on gas. It tastes pretty darn good flat. It calls for a kolsch yeast. Check out the recipe database for the info....

 

[hal2814]

I still have no idea what the difference is between seeping and partial mash is?

Not much. Basically, steeping is soaking specialty grains in water to get out sugars. Mashing is soaking base grain in water to activate enzymes that convert starches to sugars. The biggest difference is that mashing only happens in a narrow temperature range and being off by even 5F can severely impact your finished product. DeathBrewer has a sticky out there outlining a simple and non-equipment-intensive partial mash technique.