Octoberfest attempt- what did I wind up with?

[macaronijones]

So I set out today to make a "mocktoberfest" based on the recipe from brulosophy- http://brulosophy.com/recipes/moktoberfest/. Supposed to be about 1.052 w/ about 23 IBU's using Saaz at 60 and 15, fermented with kolsch yeast WLP 029.

The grain bill is:
4 lbs 15.0 oz Vienna Malt (46.5%)
2 lbs 7.0 oz Munich Malt – 10L (22.9%)
2 lbs 2.0 oz Pilsner Malt, German (20%)
8.0 oz Crystal 60 (4.7%)
8.0 oz Honey Malt (4.7%)
2.0 oz Special B (1.2%)

Well, I was using a new homebrew shop where you weigh your own grains out and something went.... wrong. The bag felt too heavy walking out, the mash felt way too thick. Somehow i WAY overshot my gravity. My best guess (and I still can't really fathom having this much of a brain fart) is that while chatting with an employee while weighing stuff out I accidentally did 4lb 7oz of the munich and 4lb 2oz of the pilsner instead of 2lb's of each. So like four extra pounds of base grain.

My post-mash gravity was 1.088(!), so after diluting with 2 gallons water and boiling I wound up with 5.5 gallons of 1.072 beer.
Added what little additional Saaz I had in order to maintain about 23 IBU's. I've got two packets of WLP029 so should be good there. My best guess is my ACTUAL grain bill is something more like-

4 lbs 15.0 oz Vienna Malt (33.7%)
4 lbs 7.0 oz Munich Malt – 8L (30.3%)
4 lbs 2.0 oz Pilsner Malt, German (28.2%)
8.0 oz Crystal 60 (3.4%)
8.0 oz Honey Malt (3.4%)
2.0 oz Special B (1%)

Basically my question to yall is... what exactly have I made here? My first thought was will this almost be like an imperial octoberfest? But my IBU's are so low compared to the gravity, my IBU to gravity points ratio is 0.32 whereas an octoberfest ought to be like 0.45. Based on BJCP guidelines would this be closer to something like a dunkles bock or a doppelbock? Beyond that I have no idea. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[jodell]

You are pretty much right...its going to be a strong sweet Oktoberfest and will drink more like a doppelbock. Not really a bad deal but I get it's not like what you wanted... still beer though

 

[macaronijones]

Ok cool, thanks. I'm hoping it can still attenuate well so not be too cloyingly sweet. I mashed at about 150. Yep, still beer...

 

[jodell]

To be honest if you are wanting to be more Oktoberfest what I would consider doing is boiling about a quart of water with an ounce of magnums or whatever hop you used and add that at really any point. Would bring your ABV down some (although not much) and bitterness up

Edit: or a hop shot

 

[macaronijones]

Interesting... have never thought of back-adding bitterness. At any point you say? I'll probably let it go and see where we wind up post fermentation

 

[jodell]

Just don't over do it..enough hops to add maybe 5-7ish ibus. The longer you boil them the more it'll be like buttering hops instead of flavor/aroma

 

[macaronijones]

Already down to 1.018 in a week. 7.1% and may drop a few more points. I'm pleased, assumed it wouldn't get below 1.020 or so. tasty malt flavors on the front with a hot boozy taste on the back end. hopefully this will mellow with time.

 

[anotherbeerplease]

I personally would drink as-is but you could always brew another low OG batch with proportionally less Vienna and Munich, then blend the two together.

 

[65C]

I suspect this is going to end up a legendary brew - but not for sessions

you can always do another brew for the recipe

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

It sounds like it has potential. Since it's already gone off track, you could also try dry hopping a bit to give it another twist. If a brew goes off the rails, sometimes it works to pull the old musician trick when they play a clunker...play it again to give the perception it was intentional. In other words, if you're no longer dealing with an oktoberfest, play another "wrong" note to take it further off course (but potentially in a new and interesting direction). It may not be an Oktoberfest, but it may be really good.

I'd love to try a sample.