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

[copper2hopper]

Anyone familiar with a solid water profile for this? Here's what I came up with on Brun from building up distilled water.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1438803834.724627.jpg
If ya can't read it......

Calcium 53
Magnesium 15
Sodium 7
Sulfate 80
Chloride 79
Bicarbonate 19

Puts me at a 5.5 pH
Hardness 194
Alkalinity 16
RA -31

Any advice would be great full!!

 

[Gavin C]

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

 

[chigundo]

I'm trying this recipe tomorrow with 2633 yeast and using Brulosophy's black box quick lagering profile.

http://brulosophy.com/2014/07/23/the-black-box-is-beyond-cool-and-hot/

 

[copper2hopper]

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.

 

[part16john]

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.

 

[chigundo]

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.

 

[copper2hopper]

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.

 

[chigundo]

Oh didn't realize you did 10g

 

[copper2hopper]

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!

 

[chigundo]

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. ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

 

[copper2hopper]

Holy crap!!! This is an awesome brew. My first five gallon keg kicked in less that a week. Had my kids birthday party yesterday and we destroyed it. Everyone LOVED it! My second keg is on the gas right now next to my pumpkin ale.

 

[anteater8]

Brewed this up and its tasting great.

Beautiful clear copper color with a thin off white head, color seems a touch too dark for festbier. Honey, fresh baked white bread crust, and faint floral in the aroma. Biscuit, white bread crust, lemon, medium hop spiciness, light caramel flavor. Very clean, no sulfur or esters. Overall I love it but I’m wondering if it would be better classified as a Marzen.

 

[LokiM4]

Brewed this up and its tasting great.

Beautiful clear copper color with a thin off white head, color seems a touch too dark for festbier. Honey, fresh baked white bread crust, and faint floral in the aroma. Biscuit, white bread crust, lemon, medium hop spiciness, light caramel flavor. Very clean, no sulfur or esters. Overall I love it but I’m wondering if it would be better classified as a Marzen.

OP’s original recipe says “3-B Octoberfest/Märzen”

His title does say Festbier, but that’s a 4-B and his recipe doesn’t reference either aside from the title/recipe category

 

[anteater8]

OP’s original recipe says “3-B Octoberfest/Märzen”

His title does say Festbier, but that’s a 4-B and his recipe doesn’t reference either aside from the title/recipe category

Fair point! I guess I was stuck on Festbier because that's what I filtered on to find the recipe. In any case, this is a recipe I will return to... delicious!

 

[Jeff...]

This is my first post here. I seen this recipe and said to myself, Wow this is so close to what I've tweaked over the years from scratch for my Mazen, that I couldn't believe it.

There is only 3 differences.
I use 5 lbs of Pilsen instead of 4

My IBU is slightly higher @ a solid 24 the top for the style.

I brew 6 gallon batches instead of 5. That way I end up with a full corny and growler.

 

[Fly_Guy]

Well, after reading the entirety of this thread I will definitely be making this. Only question do any of you bottle? If I lager for the 60 days as OP says, will there be enough yeast left to bottle carb, or should I grab some of the cask conditioning yeast when I buy the other necessary ingredients?

Also, thank you for sharing this recipe!

 

[Immocles]

Well, after reading the entirety of this thread I will definitely be making this. Only question do any of you bottle? If I lager for the 60 days as OP says, will there be enough yeast left to bottle carb, or should I grab some of the cask conditioning yeast when I buy the other necessary ingredients?

Also, thank you for sharing this recipe!

When I've brewed lagers, or chose to lager some ales, I flop the two processes. I ferment, bottle/carb, then lager after a couple weeks. My experience is limited, but it has worked out well for me so far.

 

[Jeff...]

Well, after reading the entirety of this thread I will definitely be making this. Only question do any of you bottle? If I lager for the 60 days as OP says, will there be enough yeast left to bottle carb, or should I grab some of the cask conditioning yeast when I buy the other necessary ingredients?

Also, thank you for sharing this recipe!

My opinion even after a long lagering phase there should be plenty enough yeast left to bottle prime. You going to want to prime at room temperature for a couple of weeks anyways.

You can always pull a sample bottle from your lagering vessel and add priming sugar, cap the bottle, set out at room temperature and wait a couple of weeks to see if it primed. Ofcourse you will want to add CO2 to your lagering vessel to protect the beer that's still in lager after you open the keg.

If for some unknown reason it doesn't prime then you could always pitch a yeast stater at bottling time or even better yet, pitch a krauesening yeast starter at bottling time.

I'm no where as experienced as many here. So take what I say with a grain of salt. But I've never had a problem bottling even after 6 months of lagering @ 35 degrees. I do this in a 1/2 gallon brown glass grower for my daughter in law when she asks. I just add .5 ounces of white table sugar to a clean and sterile growler, syphon off the top of my lagering keg. cap the growler and give it a good shake. I tell her to set the grower on her kitchen counter for 14 days. Then refrigerate, open and pour a glass. I haven't had a dud, bottle bomb or skunk bomb yet.

 

[Norberto Adrian Desimone]

Hello, I want to make this recipe, but where am I not getting liquid yeast, just dry, I want to know what dry yeast should I use for this recipe?

The easiest to get here are the danstar lallemand (my favorites) and the saf fermentis.

Thank you in advance for the recipe.

 

[Norberto Adrian Desimone]

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]

In my brew store there are 2 types of Viking brand Munich malt: light 6 ° L and dark 9 ° L.
What is the one you use in this recipe?

 

[Jeff...]

Hello, I want to make this recipe, but where am I not getting liquid yeast, just dry, I want to know what dry yeast should I use for this recipe?

The easiest to get here are the danstar lallemand (my favorites) and the saf fermentis.

Thank you in advance for the recipe.

I have not brewed this exact recipe, but self developed and tweaked one over the years that is so close to this one, it's scary.

You mean Diamond Lager? ---> Diamond Lager Dry Yeast (Danstar)

Sounds like a great substitute to me. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Give it a try and report back.

 

[Jeff...]

In my brew store there are 2 types of Viking brand Munich malt: light 6 ° L and dark 9 ° L.
What is the one you use in this recipe?

Run with 6L and don't look back

 

[LokiM4]

Hello, I want to make this recipe, but where am I not getting liquid yeast, just dry, I want to know what dry yeast should I use for this recipe?

The easiest to get here are the danstar lallemand (my favorites) and the saf fermentis.

Thank you in advance for the recipe.

You could also use Fermentis 34/70, it’s a German Lager yeast and should do well in this and suggested as an alternate by the OP-in fact it’s what I plan on using when I brew it warm this summer so I can have it ready for the fall.

 

[rtstrider]

I'm going to be brewing this in a few weeks. Since w34/70 is pricey for a dry yeast I wanted to get a few brews out of it to offset the costs. I pitched one pack into a 2L starter on the stir plate. I brewed, and warm fermented (66F until the krausen dropped and airlock slowed to bubbling every 15 seconds then bumped to 70F), a Sam 76 Clone pitching all 2 liters of starter wort in there. I adjusted the hop additions to hit the right ibus with the extra 2L of starter. I then repitched a quart of slurry into a Helles (warm fermented) and it went nuts! I will be repitching the slurry into the Cats Tits Pilsner (recipe on these forums) and finally this Oktoberfest. This will all be warm fermented

 

[rtstrider]

I've never brewed an Oktoberfest/Marzen before. Would adding in .25 lbs of Melanoidin malt, to emulate a decoction mash, and bumping the base malts down a touch work out fine with this brew or would it make it too malty? I will be using Saflager w34/70

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I've never brewed an Oktoberfest/Marzen before. Would adding in .25 lbs of Melanoidin malt, to emulate a decoction mash, and bumping the base malts down a touch work out fine with this brew or would it make it too malty? I will be using Saflager w34/70

It’s your beer, and Marzen is meant to be malty, with that said this recipe scored very well in competition. I say, brew it as is the first time then if there’s something you think you could improve then tinker with it.

 

[rtstrider]

I brewed this and added .25 lbs Melanoidin malt to mimic a decoction mash. Also I mashed at 140F for 30 minutes and then I raised to 150F for 60 minutes (instead of the 30 minutes mentioned in the recipe). I wanted to eek out a tad more efficiency for giggles. Ended up spot on. It's been fermenting at 66F since Friday night. Oh another first is this is the first time I've direct pitched dry yeast for the heck of it. It took off just fine Really curious to see how this bad boy turns out!

 

[rtstrider]

Well after 3 weeks in the bottle at room temp the carbonation is right where I want it. You know I’ll say I’m not a fan of this beer style by all means. Your recipe though...Is WAY too drinkable lol! I added a pinch (2%) melanoidin malt to mimic a decoction. I’m putting these bad boys in the lagering fridge for 6 weeks or so till they clear. Thanks for the recipe!

 

[bamcisman]

Brewed this on July 26th. Benn in the keg for 27 days.... Wow. This is my first lager. Used Saflager 34/70. This came out delicious. Only thing I'd change is less hop bitterness. I had to add some Liberty because the Hallertau was like 2.8%. Anywho, thanks for the recipe, it's great.

 

[rtstrider]

Cracked open one of these bad boys a week early. I will say lagering is an ABSOLUTE with this brew. No way around it! It has really smoothed things out and it’s way better than it was before Doing an official Octoberfest grill out next Friday