Festbier Oztoberfest (1st place with score of 43!)

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Zaphod

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
108
Reaction score
16
Location
Denver, CO
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WYeast 2124 Bohemian Lager
Yeast Starter
Yes
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.056
Final Gravity
1.008
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
23
Color
12
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
60
Tasting Notes
Simple, easily drinking Oktoberfest.
My second attempt at an Oktoberfest (Named Oztoberfest after my son Oz). I was really happy with how it turned out.
It took gold in Euro Amber Lagers at the Rocky Mountain Homebrew Club Challenge last night with a score of 43 (scored 41 by a National rank judge).
I did a beta rest and alpha rest for the mash (just added 2nd round of hot water to raise temp) which is why it finished so dry, but has a good malt backing.

[size=+2]Oztoberfest II[/size]
[size=+1]3-B Oktoberfest/Märzen[/size]
Author: Kyle



Size: 5.50*gal
Efficiency: 69.56%
Attenuation: 85.7%
Calories: 176.58*kcal per 12.0*fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.054 (1.050 - 1.057)
|=================#==============|
Terminal Gravity: 1.008 (1.012 - 1.016)
|================================|
Color: 12.29 (7.0 - 14.0)
|====================#===========|
Alcohol: 6.07% (4.8% - 5.7%)
|==============================#=|
Bitterness: 23.2 (20.0 - 28.0)
|==============#=================|

[size=+1]Ingredients:[/size]
4*lb Pilsner Malt
4*lb Munich Malt
4*lb Vienna Malt
0.50*lb Caramunich® TYPE I
0.25*lb Cara-Pils® Malt
1.5*oz Hallertau (4.2%) - added during boil, boiled 90*m
0.25*oz Hallertau (4.2%) - added during boil, boiled 15*m
1.0*ea WYeast 2124 Bohemian Lager™

[size=+1]Schedule:[/size]
Ambient Air: 80.0*°F
Source Water: 60.0*°F
Elevation: 0.0*m

00:26:48 Mash - Liquor: 2.87*gal; Strike: 151.81*°F; Target: 140*°F
00:56:48 Beta Rest - Rest: 30*m; Final: 139.3*°F
00:20:20 Mash - Liquor: 1.59*gal; Strike: 173.35*°F; Target: 150.0*°F
00:50:20 Alpha Rest - Rest: 30*m; Final: 148.8*°F

[size=+1]Notes[/size]
Awesome beer. Lighter and easier drinking than standard Oktoberfests, but that's just fine with me.

[size=-1]Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.20[/size]
 
Congrats!

Any idea if the overall results are posted anywhere or were you there for the awards ceremony?

Cheers,
Scott
 
I was the beer steward at that table this past weekend, the table judges actually gave me a taste of the beer, it was "beertastic"
I was in awe of the beer and was going to ask the winner what the recipe was, but look no further, here it is!
Thanks,
And if followed correctly, you will have a great Fest beer on hand...
 
Just made this on Sunday Nov. 11. I had to use tettnange because lhbs was out of Hallertau. I also didn't step mash. I started my mash @ 155deg and after an hour it was @ 149. I also used Oktoberfest yeast wlp820.
 
I made this as a half batch to test and it was amazing- I started AG brewing about a year ago, and everyone said that this was by far my best batch! The only thing that was different was that my OG was 1.0595 and I had to use more hops because my Hallertau’s were only around 3.6%. My ferment temp was 45-46 deg F, so with the slightly higher OG, it took longer to finish, and I lagered it longer… But it was delicious! I will be making up another batch as soon as I have a free carboy.
 
So I kegged this on 12-21-12 and I just tasted it last night 1-23-13. I know it could use more time lagering but it is a really good beer. I tasted it to see how it was doing. I plan on serving it on SuperBowl Sunday. I think I will make this again.
 
I realize this is 10 months late, but glad you guys liked it!
I brewed it again for this year, but couldn't get my normal yeast. I don't remember what I ended up getting, but it finished sweeter than usual. I definitely prefer the Bohemian Lager yeast.
 
Just Kegged this recipe. Fermented it using WLP830 (German Lager) at 48 degrees. Did the step mash using my RIMS system to maintain steady temperatures. My OG was at 1.050 and my FG ended up 1.015. My FG seems a little bit high since the yeast is supposed to have 74-79% attenuation and I only got 69%.
 
This beer recipe is awesome. It is definitely the best lager that I have brewed and has been getting nothing but raving reviews from friends and families. I will definitely brew this one again!
 
A delicious and refreshing beer to drink after a hard day's work.

Oztoberfest.jpg
 
Does anyone experience a slow start with wlp820? My pitches should be above what calculators say I need, but there still seems to be a 48 hr lag period. I only seem to have this with this yeast.


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I did a 1.050 Munich at 48 degrees and a 1.052 Vienna at 52 degrees. Same lag for both.


I redid the Munich this Saturday with Wyeast 2308 and I had signs of fermentation within 15 hours. I don't get it.

Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I'm using WY2124 on this recipe (2 packs in a starter), and had a weird experience. Brew day was great, cooled to 50F, added O2 as normal, and pitched.

Once fermentation started, the airlock bubbled away for about 4-5 days and slowed. I took a gravity reading, and was about 75% of the way to terminal gravity. I slowly increased the temp as Chris White recommends to encourage full attenuation and to bring it to the D-rest.

Unlike all of my previous brews, this one seems to have taken off again. The airlock is going nuts anyway, bubbling as much/fast as I've ever seen it, and a renewed krausen appears to have formed. That's going by the shadows outside my speidel fermenter, which isn't transparent. I never really got the typical sulfur smell from the first "stage" of fermentation, but this morning it's quite strong. I kind of want to drop the temp again... I don't want an Okto-steam/CA Common beer, but I think I'm just going to let it ride at this point.

Anyone else ever had things stutter/stop and then kick back into full gear? It's certainly never happened to me. I'd like to hope the first 10 days or so of fermentation got me past the ester production, but it might be that this batch has a nose full of fruit. I'll keep updating as time passes.
 
I am gonna snag this recipe and start it next week after I rack current lager into secondary.
QUESTION: do you think I would see a huge difference in character/flavor if I wash current yeast (wyeast 2007 Pilsen lager) which is somewhat a neutral strain. does it play that much off of the bohemian character enough that I should start new with the bohemian starter?
 
I brewed this about a month ago. Mashed at 153 for an hour. Everything else was same. OG was 1.053. FG was 1.013. Fermentation fluctuated between 50-55 as I had to put in my old coal cellar for that temp. Racked to secondary a few days ago. Upon tasting, I am getting a great oktoberfest flavor upfront, however it sems to finish with a very strong malt character. Did others get this? This is my first lager attempt. I am planning on lagering at ~40 degrees for a month in my basement fridge. Will this help ease the strong flavor?
 
Johnny1211. How did yours turn out?? I plan on doing an 11 gallon batch of this in a couple weeks to have on tap through October and November. Plan on using YEAST STRAIN: 2633 | Octoberfest Lager Blend. It will cool to see what flavor differences I will get with having 2 kegs of this and tapping one about a month later than the first.
 
Ok guys I have two really dumb questions but I've never brewed a lager before so i'd appreciate an answer. Really wanna brew an octoberfest as my first lager attempt.

1. Do you ferment lagers at lagering temperatures for both primary and secondary? My fridge is going to be about 52F, can i keep it there for both the 14 days of primary and 60 days of secondary?

2. Do you really need to rack to secondary? I know in ales everyone says its just a myth....do lagers have to be transferred to a secondary though?

I ask because my 5 gal carboy doesn't fit in my layering fridge but the 6 gal primary does. Go figure.
 
Hey bass. This will be my first lagering too. From what I can gather and since I'll be using the Wyeast Oktoberfest strain for this one, I contacted them directly and they said 50 degrees primary (also to pitch at this temp) for this one is perfect for 14 days with a 58 degree diacetyl rest for 24-48 hours. Lagering should be done at around 33-40 degrees. My current temp of my kegerator is 36 and Im fortunate to have enough space to store a keg or two extra in there for my up coming lagering phase for 4-6 weeks (Which Wyeast says is a good amount of time too). I take it your not kegging yet and only bottling?? If that's the case then I would just scale this one to fit your 5 gallon fermenter for primary then YES TRANSFER to secondary into your sixer and lager in that one since it fits. Low temps are gonna be pretty necessary for this recipe so make sure you got the proper set up to accommodate for it (ferm chamber with temp control)
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1438471330.106548.jpg
Here's my sweet little DIY temp controller set up that I got hooked up to my $170 criterion chest freezer I got from Menards. 7 cubic footer.
 
Cooper,

Thanks for the help. The problem is I share this space with other Brewers so my lagering fridge is stuck at 50F and ferm chamber is stuck at 63. Other than that I have a refrigerator that's at 34 for lagering if I want it. So then maybe I do a 50 F primary and my diacetyl rest is a bit higher than recommended at 63 and I lager in the refrigerator for the last 4-6 weeks?
 
Sounds like that's the best you can do with what ya got man and shouldn't be a problem. Go for it. The diacetyl rest isn't required. The Wyeast guy said "it wouldn't be a bad idea" so I interpret that as not required. I just have the set up to do it so I'm just gonna. But maybe you could skip that part and just stick it at 50 for two weeks then lager in ur fridge for 4-6 weeks at 34. That should be perfect. Like I said this gonna be my first lagering too so if anyone else can offer some more experienced info by all means correct me and chime in. I'm just going based off info I'm finding in here and other sites on lagering.
 
Awesome good luck! I'm brewing monday so i'll keep this thread updated as I go to let you (and anyone else who cares) how it turns out. I'm thinking with the diacetyl rest its more just necessary if you taste diacetyl in the beer after primary fermentation is done. Octoberfest beer needs to be very drinkable
 
I'm doing Monday too!! I just startered my yeast yesterday. 2 packs in 4 liters of 1.040 to give me almost double more than I need for my 10-11gallons (which is recommended for lagers). It's happily starting away at a cool 50 degrees on the stir plate in my ferm chamber. Gonna cold crash it when it's done so the yeast takes a nice little nap and settles out before I pitch on brew day.
 
@copper2hopper

You don't need to do your starter at the same temps as a lager fermentation. Room temps are fine and will get you a much more rapid level of yeast growth. Things are pretty slow to get going at 50F.

Room temeprature starters for lagers or ales is not a problem from what I've read. I do my lager starters at room temp following the advice of folks with a lot more knowhow and experience than me. I'm just regurgitating it here.

All the starter beer gets decanted off so the vast majority of any undesirable flavors are removed. No worries.

This looks like a great reipe BTW. A little more alcohol than I would want in a fest beer but looks great. Hope it works out well for you.
 
Thanks Gavin! I'll take it out to room temp as soon as I get home then. Hope that doesn't shock or hurt it.
 
I'm no expert but as far as I know, you generally don't need to make additions with a view to reaching a specific magnesium target level.

I would omit the MgCl and just shoot for "some trace" Mg. I think you're Chloride levels are unnessescarily high as a result.

Get rid of the MgCl and kill two birds with one stone.

You have enough Mg in the MgSO4 or if you used RO water without any Mg addition. If you're set on using distilled just shoot for a trace amount of Mg. Plenty in the MgSO4.

Hope I'm not too wrong
 
Nice chigundo!! I used 2633 as well for my 10 gallons I just did on Monday. It's in my ferm chamber at a cool 50 degrees on day 4 of primary. Make sure you have enough yeast for this. I had to step up 2 packs of this yeast TWICE with 4LITERS of 1.040 starters. I also boiled off 3.5 gallons and ended with a solid 10 in my 2 six gallon fermenters. I was aiming for an 11 gallon batch but boiled really really vigorously (which is what these styles call for) for 90 minutes. OG was 1.063 (too high for a Oktoberfest according to BJCP) but whatever. I just hope my flavor is there by the end of it all on first drink day from my tappers. Keep us posted man as I will do the same. Cheers.
 
Mine on the right based on this recipe. Sam Adams on the left. I know it's not a clone was tasting each side by side.

20150806_201409.jpg
 
Wow that's a lot of yeast. I'm just doing one step up of a 2l starter, and pitching the slurry only..but calcs put me around 400 billion which I thought was target.
 
Yeah I used brewers friend.com pitch rate calc. I used "high gravity lager" selection from that drop down menu and with 10 gallons of 1.063 it targeted me at needing 1204 billion. So I had to 2 step it.
 
Yeah I got 2 brew buddies that are checking this recipe out. One is getting his ingredients today for this and is literally just gonna take one my fermenters the same day I transfer off of primary and brew his 5 gallon batch that day and pitch all his wort right on top of my yeast cake that's all settled out. Free super healthy tons of yeast for him!
 
Oof!! My OG was 1.070. I missed my strike temp so I had to add an extra gallon to the mash. And then to get 5.5 on a 90 min boil I had to start with 7.75 gallons, but with the messed up striking I ended up just a hair under 9 gallons pre-boil. Got 85% efficiency at least. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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