Munich Dunkel Lager Recipe Feedback

[Invertalon]

Hello everyone! Looking for some thoughts/suggestions on my Dunkel I am preparing to brew in the next two weeks.

This will be for a 5gal batch, all grain. 72% brewhouse efficiency.

9# Dark Munich (15L - Avangard)
10oz Caramunich
8oz Cara-Pils
5oz Melanoiden
2oz Acid Malt (this is to reduce the pH to hit a 5.3 mash pH)

0.75oz - Mt. Hood, First Wort Hopping
0.50oz - Mt. Hood, 15min Boil

German Bock Lager Yeast - WLP833 - (will do a step starter to bring cell count up, 0.75L to 1.5L)

Plan to mash at 152F for 60mins, batch sparge. Primary ferment at 50F for 8 days, 58F for 4 days, 68F for 3 days before cold crashing to 32-35F for 5 weeks.


Projected:
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.012
Est ABV: 5.1%
Color: 16 SRM
IBU: 25 (although due to the FWH may seem lower in the finished product)


Water wise, Cleveland city water is basically good to go without any additions aside from campden tablets to remove any chlorine and such. Projected water profile:

Ca: 37
Mg: 10
Na: 15
SO4: 30
Cl: 20
Bicarb: 128 (will reduce with use of acid malt, I believe?)


Have at it!

 

[giraffe]

Some commercial examples have some crystal (ayinger, i believe) , but 7% plus carapils is alot. Really, use dark munich, a little pils (15%) if your dark munich has conversion problems, and a tiny bit of debittered black malt, like a carafa special for color adjustment. Its a malty beer, but commercial examples arent really heavy or sweet, you are should be able to drink several liters of it if you wanted to.

If you really wanted the caramunich flavor, you could use a split sac rest, like 145(30 min)-156, to ensure a more fermentable wort.

Water looks fine, as long as your mash ph is in range.

 

[Yooper]

Some commercial examples have some crystal (ayinger, i believe) , but 7% plus carapils is alot. Really, use dark munich, a little pils (15%) if your dark munich has conversion problems, and a tiny bit of debittered black malt, like a carafa special for color adjustment. Its a malty beer, but commercial examples arent really heavy or sweet, you are should be able to drink several liters of it if you wanted to.

If you really wanted the caramunich flavor, you could use a split sac rest, like 145(30 min)-156, to ensure a more fermentable wort.

Water looks fine, as long as your mash ph is in range.

I just was going to say almost exactly the same thing! I probably would use a lighter Munich malt, or sub some of it with pilsner malt if using the dark, and a bit of Carafa II special, and that's it. I normally don't use carapils or cara- malts in a dunkel. It should be malty and rich, but not sweet.

The aromatic malt is not needed since the dark Munich is basically the same thing.

 

[Invertalon]

Appreciate the info! I revised the recipe a bit... I want to stick with Munich malt as majority without using pilsner or 2-row. The Dunkel I would like to "clone" is Hofbrau's... When I had it on tap in Pittsburgh, it had such a nice malt presence and a little caramel in there, which is why I added a little caramunich... I figured that may be where that caramel note is coming from, or at least emulate it. I decided to switch to a mix of light/dark munich (to perhaps dry the beer out a tad) and add a little carafe II for color as suggested. I reduced both the cara-pils and caramunich additions, combined they are just shy of ~7% of the bill.

I revised my recipe a bit to:

6# Light Munich
4# Dark Munich
6oz Caramunich
6oz Cara-Pils
2oz Carafa II (going to add this near the end of the mash)
2oz Acid Malt

I may try a step mash as giraffe suggested... Going to look into that. I have about a week and a half until brew day to figure it all out...

 

[Yooper]

Appreciate the info! I revised the recipe a bit... I want to stick with Munich malt as majority without using pilsner or 2-row. The Dunkel I would like to "clone" is Hofbrau's... When I had it on tap in Pittsburgh, it had such a nice malt presence and a little caramel in there, which is why I added a little caramunich... I figured that may be where that caramel note is coming from, or at least emulate it. I decided to switch to a mix of light/dark munich (to perhaps dry the beer out a tad) and add a little carafe II for color as suggested. I reduced both the cara-pils and caramunich additions, combined they are just shy of ~7% of the bill.

I revised my recipe a bit to:

6# Light Munich
4# Dark Munich
6oz Caramunich
6oz Cara-Pils
2oz Carafa II (going to add this near the end of the mash)
2oz Acid Malt

I may try a step mash as giraffe suggested... Going to look into that. I have about a week and a half until brew day to figure it all out...

I like the looks of that! Maybe reduce the acid malt a bit- try to hit 5.5 for a mash pH. Otherwise, I think it'll be great.

 

[Bilsch]

I brew a lot with very similar recipes and second what Yooper said keeping the ph closer to 5.5 and reducing (or eliminating) the acid malt. I can taste even small amounts in this type of malty beer and prefer to use a little phosphoric if any acid is required. I know and love the beer your going for and would also say to be careful with the carafa as well. I use a wee bit of sinimar instead to try and not step on the munich flavor but still get the color. Just a thought.

 

[Invertalon]

Thanks!

Noted on the acid malt.. I have phosphoric acid so I can use that instead...I should only require minimal adjustment, expected pH is 5.6 as-is with my default water profile.

I may end up just cutting the carafa all together... Color is not a huge deal for me, I would rather have a better and more accurate flavor profile. Without any carafa, my color is around 13 SRM. With the 2oz of carafa (~1.2% of the total mash bill) it is expected to be around 16 SRM.

Also, should I do all my hopping at the start of the boil or do an early and late addition? As of now, .75oz for 75min and .25oz for 15min for a total of 21 IBU projected.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks!

Noted on the acid malt.. I have phosphoric acid so I can use that instead...I should only require minimal adjustment, expected pH is 5.6 as-is with my default water profile.

I may end up just cutting the carafa all together... Color is not a huge deal for me, I would rather have a better and more accurate flavor profile. Without any carafa, my color is around 13 SRM. With the 2oz of carafa (~1.2% of the total mash bill) it is expected to be around 16 SRM.

Also, should I do all my hopping at the start of the boil or do an early and late addition? As of now, .75oz for 75min and .25oz for 15min for a total of 21 IBU projected.

Traditionally, a Munich dunkel has 18-28 IBUs, with the hops added at 60 and 15 minutes. I like your schedule just fine, but may consider .5 oz at 15 minutes instead of .25 ounce.